OOP: Plot/Character development

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 62110

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Gregory Lynn" 
<gregorylynn at a...> wrote:
> > As for the death of Sirius, well, it's really necessary for the 
> continued development of Harry's adult self IMHO.  Going in I 
figured 
> it would be Dumbledore but Sirius makes as much sense if not more.--
ME
> 
> Why is it necessary for a 15 year-old kid to lose the one person 
who 
> was becoming a surrogate father-figure to him?  Are you saying that 
> Harry has to learn to deal with death and loss to become stronger?  
> Are you saying that Harry has to realize that life is unfair?   
> Really, I'm curious why this death makes sense to you.--Marianne
> 
> Me again:
> 
>> 
> No, I think it makes sense because Harry has to become Harry.  It's 
an identity question.  We've seen how much Harry identifies with his 
father, from the way he looks to the stag patronus et cetera and so 
forth.  With the blow to his near idol worship of his father, I can 
very easily see Harry looking for someone else to emulate and landing 
upon Sirius.  Really, he's only had a father figure for five years 
now, his dead father, and Sirius, so he doesn't have the experience 
with that relationship that he should at his age.  And he's at the 
age where kids start to separate themselves from the family context.  
We see Percy, Fred, and George do it in a more literal way just a few 
years older than Harry is in this book.  I'm really not explaining 
this well but I think Sirius needed to die or he'd have stood in the 
way of Harry becoming Harry.  Not Harry growing stronger, not Harry 
growing up, but Harry discovering his own identity, coming to grips 
with his strengths, weaknesses, desires, and suchforth.
> 
> 

Gregory,

I think you've explained this very well.  I am much happier with this 
interpretation of why Sirius had to die than the mythic hero bit. The 
lack of a decent father figure early in his life led Harry to develop 
unrealistic views about James and Sirius.  And, he needs to reconcile 
his rosy-glasses view of them with his new knowledge that they were 
not the nicest people on the planet.  It's a sensible explanation.

I guess I'd have like to see Harry make those realizations while 
still having Sirius around as a sounding board.  But, perhaps, Sirius 
really could not have provided what Harry needed, due to the damage 
he himself had suffered over the previous 14-15 years.  

Marianne