Hermione's parents

[jjjjjuliep]

No: HPFGUIDX 103906



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

> As you said four times in this paragraph, that's what YOU *think*.
> Other people think otherwise. And nobody can speak for JKR.

Hi Del,

Thanks for your response to my post.  First, let me say that I am 
sorry if my post and my use of "I think" has upset you.  I use "I 
think" because on another mailing list I participate in I got 
in "trouble" with folks because they felt I didn't qualify my 
statements enough and in an attempt to keep things harmonious with 
them (some of the problems had to do with not being native speakers 
of English), I began to make a point of saying "I think"   It's 
intended to soften, as it were, my comments.

I wrote:
> > the opposite instead.  She's created a fantasy world where the 
usual
> > rules pretty much do not apply, and that's why I think it's 
perhaps
> > not very productive to try to investigate things that really 
aren't
> > there.

Del replied:

> Your last line doesn't make sense to me. When a writer creates a
> world, they can never hope to describe it completely. On the other
> hand, they usually DO hope that their readers will use their
> imagination to fill in the holes and expand this imaginary world,
> according to their own sensibilities and experiences. So saying that
> some things aren't really there is saying that we shouldn't apply 
our
> imagination and emotions to the Potterverse. What's the point of
> reading the books then ?

Please know I'm not saying anything of the sort.  Indeed, if I felt 
that way, why would I join a mailing list devoted to discussing the 
books?  ;-)   I have no problem with anyone "filling in the holes."  
However, at the same time, I spend a good part of my time reading 
documents and trying to figure out what happened, and having to fill 
in holes within a set of relatively strict parameters..

> Nope she wouldn't necessarily, because the story is told from 
Harry's
> point of view. So for JKR to be able to tell us anything, Harry must
> first come to realize it. And Harry is almost the last person on 
Earth
> who could notice a problem in a *family* relationship. Hermione 
would
> pretty much have to tell him flat out, and that's just not her type.

To some extent, the book is told from Harry's point of view.  
However, there are 2, in my opinion, important qualifications to that 
POV.  1.  The book is not told from Harry's eyes, or in the first 
person, and 2.,  the narrator (whether it's JKR or someone else is an 
issue I'll not bring up here) does show us scenes which take place 
apart from Harry, and to which Harry is not an eyewitness.

> If people want to dwell on other aspects of the book, it's their
> *right*. A book is an object like any other : people can use it as
> they want. Objects usually have one or two specific uses, but if
> anyone wants to use them for anything else, that's their problem. 
You
> might not agree, you might choose to keep away from them when they 
do
> that, you might warn them, but you can't forbid them (unless you're
> their mom :-)

I'm in total agreement with you here, but certainly there is also 
room for those of us who disagree?  ;-)

On this list I see a lot of, for lack of a better word, angst being 
expended on topics like this, and a search for discord and disharmony 
within the lives of characters where (in my opinion--and it's just my 
opinion which doesn't mean that I'm forbidding anyone to stop 
discussing it) it does not exist.  I have no problem with folks 
thinking and writing whatever they please.   But authorial intent has 
got to count for something, especially in a closely-plotted and 
written series like the HP books, and I don't think JKR has expended 
a great deal of effort in writing subterranean emotional stories for 
all of her characters.  JKR, in my opinion, is very careful with the 
picture she draws for her readers, and her language and style--her 
trope if you will--is not about deep hidden meanings and conflicts 
(apart from the clues, plot devices, and many other things which are 
at naturally home in a mystery/adventure story).  As they say, your 
mileage may vary.  And that's OK with me. ;-)

Also, from a humane point of view, I also personally don't like to 
see people getting upset over issues like Hermione's perceived bad 
relationship with her parents, mainly because there have been some 
very sad and upsetting events thus far in the series, with more to 
come.  

jujube, who will now resume reading more digests  ;-)