CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Chapter 9, The Woes of Mrs. Weasley - Discussion Questions

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 88389

 
 
> > 7. Hermione's analysis of Sirius is the first instance of many in 
> > OOP in which she acts as Harry's emotional interpreter.  Why do 
> > you feel Rowling gave this role to Hermione?  

Marina wrote:

> It's the first instant in OOP, but it's not the first in the 
> series.  Look at her explanation of Ron's jealousy in GoF, and 
there 
> might be other instances I'm forgetting right now.  Hermione *is* 
> more mature than both Harry and Ron (which wouldn't take much, 
> frankly), and she often notices emotional undercurrents that the 
> boys miss -- look at her response to Neville after Fake!Moody 
> demonstrates the Cruciatus curse in GoF.  I think in some ways, 
> Hermione is taking over Dumbledore's role as Harry's guide in the 
> books, as Dumbledore becomes more remote and fallible.  

I think that Hermione is indeed intended to be not only Harry's 
guide, but also a character who functions to bring important points 
or insights about other characters to the readers' attention.  And, 
it's the main reason I have a problem with Hermione.  Yes, she's more 
mature in some ways than Harry and Ron.  However, her role of 
interpreter of other character's internal emotional states seems 
beyond her life experience as a fifteen-year-old.  It's one thing for 
her to try to explain Ron to Harry, or to give the boys a clue about 
girls.  This makes sense to me in that she's dealing with her friends 
and contemporaries, with whom she's shared a lot of time and 
experiences.  It's when JKR uses her to analyze the motivations and 
feelings of the adults around her that I feel a false note.

This dialogue about Sirius is a case in point.  While Hermione's 
interpretation may indeed be JKR's way of telling us the God's honest 
truth about what Sirius was feeling and how that affected his 
actions, she is much too emphatic and definitive about it.  What 
experience does she have with people who have gone through anything 
near what Sirius' life has been like to truly develop an 
understanding of it?  Yet, she is certain that he's being selfish, 
he's lonely, he was hoping Harry would be expelled and felt guilty 
about that, and also suffers mental confusion about whether Harry is 
Harry or James.  And, I suppose we're meant to believe that without 
question because she's described as speaking "wisely."

It doesn't occur to Hermione that maybe Sirius is keeping himself 
apart from the others precisely because he realizes that his mood is 
so surly that everyone else will be more comfortable if he's not 
around.  Or that perhaps he's having difficulty adjusting to simply 
being around people, many of whom are complete strangers, after 
living for over a decade in isolation. 

She's convinced he had his hopes up that Harry would get expelled and 
come to live at Grimmauld Place.  We're not shown any canon evidence 
for that.  Harry, I think, was much more on target when he pointed 
out that Sirius would not give Harry a straight answer when Harry 
asked about that possiblity.  I think that's because Sirius knew 
perfectly well that other arrangements would have been made for 
Harry, but didn't want to let Harry know that because it would have 
added to Harry's anxiety about the hearing.

Again, Hermione's interpretations may be exactly on target.  JKR may 
want someone in Harry's generation to play that part of information 
provider, as a parallel to how Dumbledore has been used, and Hermione 
would be the logical choice. It just makes her a little less "real" 
to me.

Marianne