What if Harry dies?

[erinellii]

No: HPFGUIDX 85189


> Carol:
<snip> Also, think of the thousands (millions?) of young readers who 
idolize Rowling now but would feel betrayed if she killed Harry. 

Erin:
Millions.  Definitely millions (and millions and millions and 
millions... <g>)  I think they are up to like 12 million copies in 
the US alone.  And when you figure in that my copy has been loaned to 
4 people besides myself since June... 



Carol:
<snip> Hardly anyone would buy the books once the word got out, so I 
don't think her publisher would allow her to do it. And she cried 
when she killed off Sirius, who barely qualifies as a major 
character, and she's made it fairly clear that she won't kill off 
Hagrid or Ron, so she probably feels even more strongly about killing 
Harry. 

Erin:
There are so many things wrong with these statements I hardly even 
know where to start :-)   

First off, I highly doubt that at this point her publisher has any 
control over how the books will turn out.  As you noted earlier, in a 
part I snipped, she writes these books for herself.  Period.  If 
Bloomsbury or Scholastic didn't like a certain plotline, she could 
sell it to a different publisher in a hot second.  Any of them would 
leap to take it.

And "hardly anyone would buy the books once the word got out" of 
Harry dying?  Can you truly believe that?  I mean, a tragic ending 
never stopped Romeo and Juliet from being popular.  And there's a 
certain new movie out that's selling pretty well despite the hero's 
death at the end.  Star Wars is still going strong although we all 
realize the main guy is about to become Darth Vader.  I think Harry 
Potter would sell even if she had all the characters bite it and 
Voldemort win at last. If you don't, perhaps you don't realize just 
how big this thing really is.

Next- Sirius not a major character??  The guy had a whole *book* 
named after him.  Harry regarded him as a mixture of father and 
brother.  Probably only Ron or Hermione's death could have hurt him 
more.  How much more major do you want?

And lastly-  I'll give you Ron.  I've seen the interview(s?) where 
JKR says how cliqued it is to kill the best friend.  But where are 
you getting that she's not going to kill Hagrid?  Myself, I think 
Hagrid is dead, dead, dead by the end of the series.


Carol:
 (As for killing him in Book 6--that's not going to happen.
> How's she going to write a whole subsequent book with a dead
> protagonist?) 

Erin:
Ok, this is the one point upon which I agree with you totally.  Just 
plain silly for anyone to think she could kill Harry in book six.


Carol:
<snip> Only an author who can't think of a way to weave all the loose 
ends into the fabric of the story kills off the protagonist and 
considers it a denouement.

Erin:
Actually, having the hero die is a classic... oh, I can't really 
explain it properly, but you should definitely read Joseph 
Campbell's "The Hero With A Thousand Faces" to get a better 
understanding of why so many heros end up biting it.  It has to do 
with the whole heroic journey thing.  I will limit myself to asking 
if you consider Shakespeare to be a substandard author, since several 
of his plays end as tragedies?