Theoretical boundaries

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 120364


Alla wrote:
"Let's go back to the themes. First of all abuse and these dreaded 
Dursleys. I am not really sure why people are saying that Rowling 
suddenly introduced abuse as theme in OOP, while in my opinion the
abuse was presented VERY consistently throught the books."

Del replies:
I disagree. In the first books, the abuse is presented as something
comical. In the last book, it's presented almost exclusively as
something dark and sinister. This is not a consistent presentation.

Alla wrote:
"I mean, sure, Dursleys looked much more caricature like in the
earlier books,"

Del replies:
Exactly! They were caricatures and then suddenly they are real.
Inconsistent.

Alla wrote:
"BUT Harry's suffering was VERY real,"

Del replies:
Harry's suffering was real, but it was never *presented* to us before
as painful. The narrator told us about the abuse Harry suffered, but
he did it in a dismissive way, he always presented it as a highly
funny thing. And then suddenly he presents it in a very serious and
tragic way. Inconsistent.

Alla wrote:
" Am I being confusing again? I disagree that abuse theme SUDDENLY 
appeared in OOP. I think it was always there, just  looked a  bit more
fairytale like."

Del replies:
The theme was always present, agreed. But it was always presented as a
fairy-tale abuse, which is widely different from presenting it as a
real-life abuse, as Lupinlore so beautifully explains in her (it's
her, right? I've got a doubt suddenly...) post.

Lupinlore wrote:
"Now, the question is, what do we make of this change in tone.  It is,
 as a narrative technique, good writing or not?  And that is very 
subjective.  Some find it original and fresh.  Others, a great many, 
aren't so sure.  By changing genre, JKR in effect changes the rules 
about what can and cannot be expected.  Is that interesting, or is it
 a form of narrative cheating?  One of my friends upon reading OOTP
was highly insulted, as she saw it as an exercise in JKR taunting her
 readers, in effect saying "AHA! Gotcha!  You *thought* you knew what
 was going on but I fooled you!"  I wouldn't go that far, but I'm not
 prepared to say I think the sudden change in tone was a particularly
 good idea.  One can make all sorts of intellectual arguments as to
why it's appropriate, given the developing age of the characters,
etc., but as a *narrative* technique, i.e. as a method used to tell a
story, it left a lot of people with a sour taste in their mouths, and
set the stage for the enormous emotional backlash we've seen the last
couple of years."

Del replies:
I couldn't agree more!

I think our main problem, though, is that HP is an uncomplete series.
What we see as a change in tone might just be the next step in the
natural evolution in the overall tone of the whole series. The tone of
the series *has* grown darker with each book after all, but many
readers (me first) still retained the overall pleasant tone of the
first book. Maybe by the time the series is complete, we will realise
that the change of tone was natural? Though I still think it wasn't
handled very well in OoP.

Del