Theoretical boundaries / Dursleys' abuse/Narration

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 120470


Laurasia wrote:
"By the time we reach OotP the narrator is has less of a presence in 
the story so we are left with the possibility of using our own 
judgment and emotional response, not relying so much on the
narrator's.  Because of this, I would suggest that, at this point in
the series, .  IMO, by making the narrator slip away we are left alone
and are *forced* to engage emotionally with the story and project a
bit of ourselves back into it."

Del replies:
Great post, Laurasia!

I just have a little nitpick about that part above, especially when
you say that "JKR is actively encouraging people to use their own
emotional response to the situation". The fact is, by putting us right
inside Harry's head and heart, JKR isn't really leaving us a chance to
use *our own* emotional response : we're supposed to go with *Harry's*
response. I get the feeling that she really intends us to be angry
when Harry is angry, frustrated when he's frustrated, happy when he's
happy. This made reading OoP difficult for me at times, because I
don't react like Harry, so my own emotional response to events was
often very different from Harry's and yet I was supposed to get
emotionally involved in his response.

It wasn't so much like that in the previous books. Because the
narrator was more telling the story, I felt more free to respond like
Harry or not. I was *told* about how he reacted, but I didn't somehow
feel forced to *feel* like him.

I'm not sure I'm making much sense, sorry.

Del