Maturity as a theme in OoP and Sirius' future plot relevance (WAS: Sirius quite

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 84163

> > Kneasy:
> > Why knock him off in Book 5 of seven? The suggestion that this
> > somehow enhances Harry's passage into emotional maturity is
> > post facto rationalisation IMO. Fans were having great 
difficulty 
> in coming up with a good plot line justifying it and so descended
> > into pop psychology to find an acceptable reason.
> > 
> > Tom:
> > But Kneasy, that's what this list is all about! Post-facto 
> > rationalization is what makes HPfGU go 'round, wouldn't you 
say?  
> > I mean, it's what constitutes nearly all of the theoretical 
> endeavors  that go on around here. I mean, without post-facto 
> rationalization, what would we have to do, anyways? ;-)
> <snip>
> 
 
Laura:
> What Kneasy calls post facto rationalization some of us would call 
> literary analysis.  *grin*  Explaining characters' actions by 
> theorizing about their psychological motivations is eminently 
> reasonable-otherwise the explanation is "because the author made 
> him do it".


Jen:  
Just to descend for a moment into the "author made him do it" 
category, that actually is a good explanation for Sirius' death at 
the moment (as you say Laura, there's still canon to go, so I might 
be swayed <g>).

I mean, what else can you do with Sirius? He's literally and 
figuratively backed into a corner--can't leave the house, isn't safe 
anywhere in the world apparently, can't do much for the Order, has 
massive emotional baggage that the WW is unable or unwilling to deal 
with--can JKR really leave him smoldering in Grimmauld Place for two 
more books? I think she did the noble thing and gave him a way out, 
a hero's way out at that--dying to save his best friend's son.

And while I don't think Sirius *had* to die in order for Harry to 
make a big leap in his moral development, I do agree this is exactly 
what happened (seeing as the character had to die anyway without any 
reasonable plot development left <bg>). Harry is already learning 
about his reckless side, his penchant for 'playing hero' in OOTP 
prior to Sirius' death, but his death does speed up the process of 
realization quite a bit!