Sirius revisited. Character discussions

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 104348

Jocelyn:
> I tend to think that very few people actually see
> themselves as evil.  I think Robert Heinlein said something 
about 'inside
> our heads we are all wearing the White hat' - we are all the 
heroes of our
> own story, and we rearrange our memories if necessary to preserve 
this
> illusion.
> 
> Obviously some people do deliberately don the black hat, but most 
people
> excuse themselves of bad acts by saying 'what was there to be 
gained by
> refusing him?', 'I was under orders', 'if it wasn't me it would 
have been
> someone else' - you know what I am talking about.  They see their 
own
> behaviour as that of a good - or at least average - person who was 
in a jam,
> or doing their best. 

Jen: Psychological theory indicates that most people judge others 
only by their actions, but judge themselves by their intentions. 
That's the part missing for me in Potterverse. I'd love to hear 
Sirius' thoughts the night he sends Snape to the Shrieking Shack, or 
hear Snape's inner dialogue about teaching Harry Occlumency.

Jocelyn:
> > It's down to us, I think, to draw our own conclusions - at least 
until
> > all  is revealed. 

Jen: And even then, with facts in black and white, we'll still 
argue! There will always be the missing puzzle piece of perspective. 
Even if a character tells Harry what he is thinking and feeling, why 
he took a particular course of action, we'll never be privvy to the 
shadow side of a character's life, the part even the character 
doesn't realize is influencing his/her behavior. Or the private 
reasons why a person behaves in a certain way, the things that 
aren't shared. 

jocelyn: 
> I was actually meaning to respond to the part of the question 
about why so
> many HP fans see things in 'black and white'.  I think that whilst 
character
> determines a lot of this, so does life experience, and naturally 
that is
> also linked to age. 

Jen: IMO, it depends on how in-depth a person wants to analyze the 
books. I enjoyed the series on a superficial level before OOTP and 
didn't think to analyze the plot or characters beyond 
liking/disliking certain characters & moments in the story. I 
primarily felt an emotional connection to Harry and his journey.

Re: black & white answers, the missing perspective piece contributes 
to this situation, too. Missing perspective leaves all the 
characters in Tabula Rasa mode, waiting for each reader to mold the 
characters into who they want to read about. 

I can overlook or rationalize many things about Dumbledore, Lupin 
and Sirius because I was drawn to them immediately. I don't want to 
find out, almost at the end of the series, that I was hoodwinked 
into believing one of these characters is not who he says he is. 
Then I'll have to make some tough choices: Do I re-interpret the 
series? Feel disillusioned and stop reading/talking about HP? 
Incorporate the new information into my image of the character and 
move on? Ouch, it will hurt. Don't know the answer to this. 

So, for now I'll go on swathed in the comfort of denial, and enjoy 
all my favorite characters before they die or go insane or we find 
out they're ESE or.....

Jen Reese