what kind of story is HP? (was:Re: Who will betray the order)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 82965

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jwcpgh" 
<jwcpgh at y...> wrote:
>  Laura:
> will there be a betrayal at all, and if so, why?
> 
>  Kneasy
> > 
> > I'm obviously looking at potential plot developments from a 
very different angle from your own viewing stance.
> > 
> > Why must everything be a learning experience for Harry? 
<snip>
> Laura again:
> 
> You raise an interesting question-are the HP books a personal 
saga  or an epic of a world in crisis?  Can they be both?  Given 
that JKR  has titled the books around her central character, I'd 
argue that  she sees them as being primarily about him.<<


So, um, "Beowulf" is not an epic? What about the "Odyssey" and 
the "Aeneid"? Tale tellers have always centered their stories of a 
land in crisis around the efforts of a brave hero to put things right.

Actually, though, I think the genre is  child exile. These are some 
of the oldest stories recorded in English. The child exile is  a 
young boy who is alienated from home and inheritance in a land 
where he has no social position. He must establish his 
personal identity and win back what has been taken from him by 
natural strength and personal virtue. 

The story always begins with the fall of the father brought about 
by  an invasion from outside the kingdom and treacherous 
individuals within. Since treachery is the ultimate threat to a 
society built on oaths and obligations, it was the foremost threat 
to the medieval hero. The archaic wizarding world, with life-debts 
taking the place of the medieval oaths,  harks back to the age of 
chivalry and sets up the expectation of treachery.

 The modern hero is more likely to suffer from alienation, as 
Harry does in OOP. Harry's task is two-fold, I think. He has to win 
the battle against treachery that the last generation lost, and he 
has to win his own struggle by not remaining alienated. Rowling 
has neatly tied these threads together by setting up the 
expectation that if Harry alienates his friends, they will betray him.



Pippin
who doesn't think Harry will be killed off