Do we need any more death cases?

[nkafkafi]

No: HPFGUIDX 89781

I recently find it somewhat depressing to log into the group, what 
with all the cheerful predictions of the death of Snape, Molly, Ron 
and even Harry himself. And if you can't find a post that kills your 
favorite character, well then, we have a poll for that. This leads me 
to ask, do we really need any more death cases of major characters? 
Would this advance the plot? Would it make Harry or the reader 
realize something they don't understand yet?

I think JKR killed Cedric and Sirius because (among other reasons) 
she wanted us to feel that nobody, even Harry himself, is secure. She 
knew that until GoF we all said to ourselves: "well, this is a 
children book after all, so of course Good Will Prevail and everybody 
will live Happily Ever After", and even after GoF we said to 
ourselves: "but the main characters are safe from death, because JKR 
must not traumatize all her young readers". So she decided to 
increase the suspense and raise the stakes on us. Now that she put 
the fear of JKR into our hearts, does she really have to kill 
somebody important? If she wants to get somebody out of the game for 
plot reasons, there are ways to do it other than killing him (for 
example, Hermione petrified in CoS). Even self-sacrifice does not 
necessitate death, as we've seen from Ron's sacrifice in SS/PS.

Note that JKR usually uses magical plot devices twice. This is more 
fun than once because by the second time we are already aware of the 
device's existence and may see it coming if we are very perceptive. 
But three times would be predictive recycling. I mean, if we were now 
to discover that Crookshanks or Trevor are unauthorized animagi, we 
would say: "OK, we saw this coming a mile away. JKR must be losing 
her magic touch". But doesn't the same apply for killing a major 
character? IMHO, if there are polls in HPGU about whose going to die 
next, then this is a good indication that this specific dramatic 
device was exploited. From the sudden way JKR killed both Cedric and 
Sirius, I got the impression she doesn't like drown out death scenes 
(and I quite agree since this is one of the most used Hollywood 
clichés). Both death scenes read to me like JKR was quickly getting 
rid off something she must do but does not enjoy. 

OK, I do seem to remember that JKR said in some interview that there 
will be many people dying. But I think this was before GoF, wasn't 
it? Well, since then we did have Frank Brice, Bertha, Crouch Sr., 
Crouch Jr., Cedric, Bode and Sirius (sorry if I forgot anybody). A 
respectable number for what *is* a children book. And don't get me 
wrong, I'm sure there will be many more secondary characters dying. 
This is a war, after all. But my hunch is that by the end of book 7 
all the major characters (except maybe DD) will be left standing, if 
a bit battered.


Neri, 
who is as always good at finding oh so rational justifications for 
his perverse optimism