Detached?Lupin

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 119106


> Pippin:
> Once JKR has established a character's pattern of speech, does 
> she have to keep repeating herself? Or can she do what 
> English-speaking writers are encouraged to do, and keep the 
> adverb tags to a minimum when constructing dialogue?
> 
>  What tone of voice do you impute to "I need scarcely say that I 
> failed dismally." ?  (OOP ch 9)   

Jen: We have proof beyond a shadow of a doubt that JKR loves 
adverbs, and generally uses them with great abandon. I see no reason 
why she would scrimp on Lupin. And as for the quote above, Lupin 
also frequently uses sarcasm to make his point (especially when he's 
wryly musing about his own actions). That's a commonly accepted way, 
and one JKR uses on herself, to point out personal failings without 
drenching ourselves in self-condemnation or everyone else in 
obsequiousness,i.e. Peter's hem-kissing-knee-walking apologies to 
Sirius & Lupin.

Pippin: 
>  Lupin failed as a prefect and he treats that very lightly. That 
he 
> knows he shouldn't is  brought up  in chapter 29, when Lupin 
> explains, in inverted order, that he should have told Sirius and 
> James that they were out of order and should lay off Snape,  but 
> he didn't, because everyone thought that being arrogant berks 
> was  the height of cool. 

Jen: I hope 20 years after the fact Lupin isn't flagellating himself 
for mistakes he made at Hogwarts as a prefect! That would be pretty 
sad if he can't let himself off the hook for being a bad role-model 
and leader when he's almost middle-aged now. Alot of time and 
circumstances have gone under the bridge since that one year of his 
life.

Pippin: 
> Lupin comforts other characters when it won't cost him anything 
> to do so... but he detaches from people and creatures all too 
> easily. Look at the way he disposes of the dark creatures he 
> cared for in PoA, compared to the way everyone else feels about 
> losing their pets in that book.  

Jen: Disposed of dark creatures? I know you will have canon for this 
Pippin. In my mind when I read POA, I immediately assumed the dark 
creatures were released into the Forbidden Forest or given to Hagrid 
to find good homes ;). Now, I have no canon for that, just pointing 
out where my imagination took me based on my perception of the 
character.

Pippin:
> Of course Lupin isn't wholly evil, nobody is. Evil in the 
Potterverse 
> is a *social* problem. You can't pin it down to one person. The 
> Death Eaters as individuals aren't altogether evil, even 
> Voldemort is not, but the Death Eaters as a group definitely are.
> And Lupin is one of them, or I'm a hobbit.

Jen: JKR seems to view evil as a choice problem more than anything. 
A concious choice to pursue a worldview, a community and a doctrine 
that gives rise to oppression, prejudice, and corrupt or extremist 
activities. So far Lupin has not been indicted as one of these 
people. We have no evidence Lupin has engaged in pure-blood 
ideaology, Muggle torture, employment within a corrupt government, 
or affiliation with people engaging in nefarious activities.

Jen Reese