Hermione's parents

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 104038

Jujube wrote:
> I think there is a lot of sadness in this book, from last chapters 
> of GOF to a great deal of OotP, and in the latter, especially the 
> loss of Sirius and Harry's growing realization that he's going to 
> have to stop fooling around because he's got a great task before 
> him.  With all of that as the context, and the knowledge that others
> are going to die and that horrible scenes are going to be shown to 
> him (and therefore to us as readers) beginning with the death of his
> parents and ending with who knows what, I think reading these texts 
> with so highly attuned to personal areas of interest may obscure the
> power of what JKR intends to do.  (Also, it may really disappoint 
> folks because issues they feel should be addressed and think will be 
> addressed may never be examined.)

Del replies :
I'm a bit surprised. I don't see any contradiction between feeling
what JKR wants me to feel, and also being attuned to specific
situations. When I read the books the first time, I just can't help
but feel exactly what Harry feels, what JKR wants me to feel for
Harry, because everything is told from his point of view. The biggest
pain is necessarily his, most of the sadness is necessarily his, since
 his is the only life that is truly considered. So logically, Harry's
pain is necessarily the only one I feel when I read a book the first
time. I can't miss anything of what JKR intends to make me feel
regarding Harry.

But that doesn't mean that I'm not open to other people's predicament
at the same time. In RL, my and my loved ones' trials take first
stage, but I still remain open to other people's problems. It's the
same in the books. Harry's pain might be the one we are told most
about, but it doesn't mean it's the only one present, far from it ! In
GoF and OoP for example, I was very attuned to Neville's pain, and I
felt deeply for him each time his pain was shown. Then as I kept
reading I would have to switch back to Harry. But on subsequent
readings, once I know the story, I can stop and look at Neville's
scenes in more details. I can search the books for more information
about him, go back to the previous books for clues, and so on.

And so concerning Hermione's parents, I didn't notice much at first,
but then as I kept reading something kept nagging me, and when Shaun
pointed it to us. I realised what it was : Hermione is cutting herself
from her loving parents, and that is not usually a good thing in RL.
It's not as bad as Harry losing Sirius *as far as Harry is concerned*,
but it might become of paramount importance to *Hermione* someday. And
maybe to the Trio too : if Hermione has heavy personal issues at some
time, she might not be of much use to Harry, and that would become
very important to the plot indeed.

But I won't be disappointed if JKR shows us that in fact everything is
fine with Hermione and her parents. I care very much for some
characters (Hermione, Neville, Lupin), and I'd rather they *didn't*
have problems :-)

Del