OotP - feeling just a bit resentful...

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No: HPFGUIDX 61772

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kiricat2001" <Zarleycat at a...> 
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Dennis Grant" <trog at w...> 
> wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "shelaghcol" <ShelaghC at a...> 
> wrote:
> >  
> > > What was the point for him?
> > 
> > Harry no longer has any family ties. He really *is* an orphan now. 
> No
> > more "Sirius to the rescue". He's on his own. The training wheels 
> are
> > gone.
> > 
> > This frees him up to start concentrating on the task at hand. Think
> > Luke Skywalker discovering the burning corpses of his aunt and 
> uncle.
> > 
> > DG
> 
> I just don't get this.  And, no, Dennis, this isn't an attack on you. 
> You're not the first person to see Sirius' death in this manner.  
> But,  I don't understand why the hero, the young initiate, the person 
> on whom the burden is laid, has to have his support or parent or 
> mentor die.  

Actually, this is part of the Hero's Journey - basically, the idea 
that something so radical has happened that you CAN NOT go back to how 
things were. However, this segment usually happens right at the 
beginning, after the Refusal of the Call. No, Sirius didn't "have" to 
die so that Harry could move forward - his death was the result of 
mistakes or plotting by others, but more so, a result of his own 
choices and actions.