OOP: the point of the death?

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 64576

I've been trying to sort out my thoughts about Sirius' death and 
whether or not it was pointless.  This is kind of difficult, since 
I'm so emotional about the whole thing, but I think I've managed to 
reach a few semi-rational conclusions.  Overall, I think that as 
things stand now, the death does seem pointless, but that's only 
because we won't see the actual point until the next book.  I fully 
expect JKR to follow up on the arch, the mirror, and the 
deliberately vague and inconclusive nature of Sirius' demise.

I haven't read every post on the subject (I don't think it's humanly
possible), but here are the rationales I've seen so far for Sirius'
death, and the reason they don't really work for me.

1. "It's part of the Hero's Journey."  The Hero's Journey is a theme,
not a formula.  If some aspect of the myth fits organicall into your
plot -- great, it'll make the story richer.  But killing off a 
character just because Joseph Campbell said you have to is silly.

2. "It's necessary for Harry's character development."  I honestly 
don't see how.  Harry's had his whole life to learn that life isn't 
fair, that parents won't be there to protect you, and that there's 
no point in ever relying on an adult to get you out of trouble.  If 
anything, he's learned it a bit too well, as practically every 
mistake he's made in the past five books has stemmed from this 
attitude.  And frankly, this kid needs another dose of pain and 
angst like I need another twenty pounds on my hips.

3. "The whole point is that it's pointless -- in real life, people 
die for no good reason."  As just about any writer can tell you, 
truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense.  
Real life has no plot, no structure, no symbolism, no foreshadowing, 
and very little in the way of consistent character development.  
There are novels that lack all these things, too, but I don't see 
any vocal fandoms forming around them.  Just like "it's part of the 
Hero's Journey" is not in itself a good enough reason to stick 
something into a book, "it happens in real life" is not good enough 
in itself.

So where does does this all lead?  Well, I think that Sirius' death 
will play a major part in book 6, and not just by giving Harry the
1,657,314th thing to angst about in his life.  I think it will be a
factor in the plot.  One possibility, which I've mentioned in an 
earlier post, is that it will be a factor in temporarily tempting 
Harry to Dark magic in order to get revenge, or to protect his 
remaining loved ones by making himself more powerful.  The fact that 
Harry has already attempted an Unforgivable seems to point in this 
direction, just as the fact that his attempt didn't work suggests 
that he's unlikely to go Dark all the way.  Another possibility is 
that Harry will end up either going through that archway or 
traveling to "the world of the dead" by some other means, either to 
seek out Sirius or with Sirius acting as his guide for some other 
purpose.  This will actually fit in with the Hero's Journey  motif 
while advancing the plot at the same time.  Either way, I strongly
suspect we'll be hearing from Padfoot again, in one way or another.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com