[HPforGrownups] Re: How about... this ending? (was: A portrait of Sirius?)

[Silverthorne]

No: HPFGUIDX 95130

Siriusly Snapey Susan:

.  Again, I'm not looking necessarily for rivers of blood 
& guts, but I am looking for some thing *definitive*...something 
where's it's really, really clear what happened and how...and 
something where Harry DIDN'T get the assistance of a "mechanism" 
such as the veil.  


{Silverthorne}

I agree here (yet again--what did you do, SSS, slip me some sort of potion when I wasn't looking? *winks*). Harry really needs to do this one on his own for once, instead of being rescued for whatever reason, or  by whatever means--whether intentionally or accidentally, and his actions just 'chancing' on doing the right thing to get rid of Voldemort.

I'm not really fond of the bodies-getting-strewn-everywhere scenario, probably because I agree with Rowling's own statement that so many stories (and life itself) lately are so grim, but by the same token, a 'gentle' ending, such as Voldy getting pulled into the veil, seems like a cop-out--especially after all the other gruesome things that *have* been going on (Sans noticable blood and guts trails--I wonder if she would have included a bigger mess if this was an 'adult' series?) in the series (The various deaths, Voldy's different I'm-not-quite-alive-on-my-own-so-this-is-how I'm-managing-to-hang-around techiniques...the sheer violent nature of the WW, and so on. Rowling may not be out for blood, but she certainly doesn't have My Little Pony (and accompanying soppy-ending story-line) waiting in the wings.

Or at least I hope not.

Voldy may or may not buy it, and it may be because of love...or an act of violence, but either way, Harry should at least get a little satisfaction out of it, especially if he gets to live through it. As with Sirius falling through the veil, unless Rowling lets the audience see what happens to Voldemort if *he* does fall through it, we'll once again feel cheated. No body...no resolution...(and a lot of discussion as to whether or not Voldy really *is* dead, or will come back at some point--rather like with Sirius).

Then there's the whole happy ending, talk to the dead and feel better, everyone gets what they want resolution...again, it doesn't seem to fit the pattern of the books. Too neat, you know (although Rowling will probably want to tie up as many loose ends as she can which means somehow everything has got to have a finale, from Voldemort's death, to Harry somehow starting the healing process for himself). Mind you, I'm all for movies like Cocoon, The Abyss, and the like....but thus far, at least in the literary sense, I prefer the ones where there is some irretrievable loss to go right along with the happy endings...(anything from Watership Down to LOTR to various Stephen King books). A little shadow to cut down the glare of the light, as it were...

Also, someone, I forget who (Sorry, my bad!), mentioned the "Veil" is often a literary device where the hero goes through somehow (IE: 'Dies' himself and then manages to 'come back' after he's accomplished his task in the Underworld/Hell/The next Life)....but I seem to remember that even in those stories, there was *usually* some sort of significant loss for the hero, and not something as simple as still leaving behind a dead loved one when when returning to the Land of the Living afterwards (although dead loved ones are often the source of the hero very nearly getting fatally distracted while in the Land of the Dead...). In the oldest ones, the hero sometimes doesn't even manage to accomplish his task for whatever reason--

Orpheus and Euridice is a prime example. Decending into Hades to retrieve his wife, Orpheus goes through all sorts of trials and tribulations to find her and try and bring her back to life. When he finally does manage to get hold of her, Hades says he can take her back, *but* they cannot look behind them as they leave. Well, they almost make it to the gates leading out, and damn if  Orpheus's wife doesn't look back at the last moment...oops. So the legions of hell come and get her, and Orpheus *still* does not have his wife, even though he did everything 'right' (and went through Hell, in more ways than one, doing it).

Actually, that's sort of parallel to what happens to Lot's wife in the bible, isn't it...?

Er...^^;  ...anyway...

I dunno, right now I think its hard to say what Rowling will do, but hopefully it will be good....I *do* hope that there is a resolution, and that the survivors all get something *good* out off it...but I don't expect everything to turn up roses, either. I expect loss (and won't I be pleasantly surrpised if there isn't! ^^).



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Anne/Silverthorne
Silverthorne.Dragon at verizon.net (Nights and Weekends)
Anne-TMC-RCVG.Campbell at tenetheath.com (6am-3pm American Central, Mon-Fri.)

"It is better to die than to loose your wrench"--Paraphrased from a former Navy Mechanic.


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