Sirius revisited

[arrowsmithbt]

No: HPFGUIDX 104166

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "demetra1225" <tzakis1225 at n...> wrote=
:
>  (much snipping)
> I too have been thinking about Sirius and his story for a while, 
> probably since I read Kneasy's post #79808.  
> 
> Just to qualify where I'm coming from – I like Snape (would probably 
> qualify as a Snape apologist), I like Harry (yes it is possible to 
> like both Snape and Harry) and I was puzzled by Sirius in PoA, liked 
> him in GoF and didn't like him at all in OotP.  However, I was 
> convinced that he was being slipped a confusement and befuddlement 
> draft in OotP and that was what caused his seeming personality 
> change.  I also thought that perhaps his passing through the veil was 
> a heroic and necessary act that he volunteered for (see Talisman's 
> Tactics&Prescience thread starting with post 66983 and my response 
> 76111).  I'm less convinced of that now, although I do think that 
> Sirius may play a future role as a conduit between those living and 
> those who have moved on to the next great adventure.    
> 
> Most recently though, I started viewing Sirius in an altogether 
> different light.
> 
> Because there is no doubt in my mind that Sirius is an impulsive man 
> who doesn't think things through and never grew up.  And I can't buy 
> the argument that he couldn't mature because he was in Azkaban for 12 
> years.  Why hadn't he matured before then?  
> 
> Let's see, he talks about the full moon fondly to his werewolf 
> friend, who suffers greatly because of what he is.  That's kind.  
> Then he refuses to help his friend study because he knows everything 
> already.  Never mind that his friend might need some help.  Not a 
> concern of Sirius', who acts as though the world revolves around 
> him.  
> And why does he send Snape to the shreiking shack knowing harm will 
> befall Lupin as well. Perhaps it is another example of Sirius acting 
> without thinking.  Or, perhaps he was trying to kill two birds with 
> one stone
.punish both Snape and Lupin.  
>  I'm convinced 
> there is more to the Snape/Lupin dynamic than meets the eye.  Both 
> seem to have been bookish when in school.  James and Sirius don't.  
> Is it possible that Lupin and Snape ran across each other in the 
> library – like Hermione and Krum?  Could a tentative friendship have 
> started – something that Sirius felt a need to end, and if Snape ends 
> up dead more's the better?  And if Lupin could tentatively befriend 
> someone like Snape, couldn't you see Sirius taking that as evidence 
> that Lupin was the one who was betraying the order later?  
> 

> My only problem is that at the end of GoF Dumbledore says he trusts 
> both Snape and Sirius.  So despite all my misgivings, I can concede that =

> Sirus might be on the right side, although he is far from nice (IMHO 
> anyway).  
> 

Hope my snipping didn't butcher your intended meaning.

IMO Sirius is a nasty character, written sympathetically. This raises the
question - why? Is he the flawed hero, the Heathcliffe of Hogwarts? 
A thoroughly bad lot redeemed (in this case) by his love for Harry?
Or is the sympathetic presentation a device to lull the unwary into
thinking he's not as bad as he really is and so presenting the eventual 
proof of his betrayal in even starker contrast?

One thing that most posters forget, even though it is thrust under our
noses - the conflicts in the Potterverse are wider than just good vs evil.
It can simplify matters if one ignores this; one can boil it all down to
pro- or anti-Voldy, which is a mistake IMO.

JKR has told us often enough how much background she writes on each
character, even though she knows it  will never be used in the books.
Sirius is a case in point. There's an entire life history of Sirius in her =
files
and I'll bet the detail is mind-boggling. She knows Sirius as an individual=
,
likes, dislikes, hates, motivations, significant life events. Much, much
more than we will ever see.

Sirius has 'issues' (God, I  hate that word) with his family, with Snape,
with Peter, even as you point out, with Lupin. Superficially they seem to
be explained - an antipathy to pure-blood attitudes, dislike of the 'idea'
of someone like Snape, hatred for someone who betrays a friend, dismissive
of those less assertive than himself. 

We don't know the full circumstances of the split with his family but with
the others he bears as much blame as anyone for the divisions. All of it
is personal and apparently not open to re-assessment or introspection.
He has a whim of iron. It's unlikely that he would concede anything
gracefully; he may never concede anything at all. 

It is not inconceivable that one or more of Sirius's 'personal' stances
runs counter to the philosophical choices between good and evil. In
principle he may be 'for' good, but if a personal antipathy to an
individual conflicted with this, I think that  general principles would
go out of the window. His personal esteem, pride, would not allow
him to let what he sees as an affront pass no matter what the ultimate
consequences might be. Hubris. We see a shadow of this in his feud
with Snape - and it hasn't  been resolved, it's been cut short by his
death. Do you really think JKR is going to leave it there? I don't.
I'm expecting a lot more.

And I  can't see how Sirius will end up looking better, not given
what we already know.

Kneasy