Theoretical boundaries / Dursleys' abuse

[cleverestwitchofherage]

No: HPFGUIDX 120576



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
<justcarol67 at y...> wrote:

Carol:
> The "Uranus" joke in PoA would be out of place in
> OoP, for example, not just because the main characters are older 
but
> because the situation is darker and direr. 
...
> But absolute consistency in narrative
> technique is probably rare. Look at "Moby Dick," for example, and 
the
> problems Melville experienced when he realized the limitations of
> having a common sailor as the POV character. He resorted to
> Shakespearean soliloquies and similar devices so that Ishmael could
> hear Starbuck's thoughts and then finally gave it up and used a
> third-person omniscient narrator. The narrative technique is
> inconsistent and seriously flawed, and yet the book remains a 
masterpiece.

Clever Witch:
 
Hi,Carol,
I always enjoy your posts--well thought out, civil, reasonable, and 
well expressed--and I too am interested in point of view. Many 
authors have said it was the key to their works, (though I doubt it 
is such in HP). But I do feel the need to respond to a couple of 
things you mentioned. (See snippets above.)

First: Ron *does* repeat the Uranus joke in the Department of 
Mysteries; (p. 708 in OOP, "Beyond the Veil," British edition) he 
tells Harry he had just seen "Uranus up close." But because of the 
desperate situation in which the DA members are in, running from the 
DEs, you're right--it's *not* funny! It's not funny at all! It's 
grotesque, and to me underscores the seriousness of their plight! 

Second: When I reread Moby Dick as an adult, I realized three things 
about it that I had not caught in college. First, the narrator's 
name is *not* Ishmael. He's adopting the name as a sobriquet with 
which to tell his story. Second, (and here's the part I wanted to 
point out to you), he is *not* a "common sailor." He's a burned out 
schoolteacher! (So he would be very well-versed in Shakespeare and 
the King James Bible in his own right). The third realization, (one 
that is a bit OT, but interesting to me at least), is how funny the 
book is in spots. The specious reasoning that leads Ishmael to 
determine the only Christian thing for him to do is worship an idol 
had me ROFL.
I don't want to argue about whether or not changes in POV are flaws 
or not  but, as you point out so well, often they are necessary. (I 
tend to think multiple voices are *not* flaws, if graceful 
transitions are made between them, as I believe they are in HP.)
Have a very Merry Christmas.

Cleverwitch