Sirius revisited

[a_reader2003]

No: HPFGUIDX 104427

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "a_silmariel" <silmariel at t...> 
wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "cubfanbudwoman"
> <susiequsie23 at s...> wrote:
> 
>  
> > Carolina's post [104382] has also gotten me into the mood to 
> > actually come back & defend Sirius a bit!  She wrote:
> > 
> > > Sorry to dissapoint you and Jen but I can't consider Sirius 
being a
> > > dog a good proof here, just by the kind of dog he is. He's a 
big 
> > > black dog, and that for me has always been the image of a hell 
> > > dog. Of course, only talking of symbolism here.
> > 
> > 
> > SSSusan:
> > I recognize your absolute right to respond to the symbolism any 
way 
> > you like, but I do wonder whether lots of owners of black labs 
> > wouldn't have a *very* different reaction to Sirius-as-big-black-
dog 
> > than this.  I know I didn't think of him at ALL as a hell dog.

Carolina:
> That's exactly why I included the line " Of course, only talking of
> symbolism here " so that owners of those kind of dogs didn't get 
offended.
(..)
> 
> But speaking on symbolic terms (not real life loving dogs), a big
> black dog is a hell's dog. 
> 
> Carolina


Carolyn again (not Carolina):
You both slightly mistook my input into this debate. First, I wasn't 
necessarily suggesting that Sirius-as-dog was a friendlier package 
than than Sirius-the-man. I definitely wasn't thinking black labs, 
for instance, but not hell dogs either. 

The term 'black dog' is often used in the UK to mean fits of 
depression, gloom & despair. I think JKR was layering this meaning 
into her characterisation of Sirius's alter-ego, as well as other 
doggy attributes.

Second, on the evolution of his character into the one we see in OOP, 
I think the (black) dog form that his animagus form took was a pretty 
accurate foretaste of what he was to become. Ie, a hopeless mixture 
of blind doggy loyalty, gloom and aggression. He was only a bit 
lighter at the end of POA, and through GOF because he was *free*, 
chasing sticks, doing dog-stuff. Once he was trapped in that house, 
then there was a certain inevitability about what was going to happen.

But third, there is the interesting question of how the dog and the 
man's personas interact. Kneasy is largely right (as always) in his 
analysis of Sirius's mistakes as a man, and there could well be  a 
lot more to come about whether Sirius acted of his own volition or 
was framed, both at Godric's Hollow and in the escape from Azkaban. 

My question is whether or not becoming an animagi creates some sort 
of split personality, containing elements of the animal and the human 
that become increasingly difficult to disentangle. Maybe the WW knows 
this, and this is why animagi are so carefully controlled - after 
all, they are well on the way to becoming part-humans, and we know 
how those are regarded. Philip Pullman played brilliantly with the 
idea of our separate animal souls with his daemons, but JKR's concept 
goes a bit further, if this is what she intended.

My thought is she is allowing full play to the animal aspects of 
human natures, and allowing us to compare and contrast them with the 
intellectual, the rationale human being. Many people saw gay images 
in the fight between Sirius-the-dog and Lupin-the-werewolf in the 
film, and I think that was intentional, but perhaps not necessarily 
implying Cuaron thought there was a gay relationship between the 
human form of the characters. Instead, the Marauder's could have 
found a way of exploring some very complex stuff, especially at a 
time of teeming male hormones.

I think all of this goes some way to explain why there is such a 
confusing reaction to Sirius amongst fans - particularly women - he's 
both a hunk, and an irritating twit that never properly grew up. Any 
woman with a brain knows to just say no, but it's not so easy to 
control the emotional reaction. Nothing like watching an idiot dog 
run wild jumping in the surf, rolling in mud to cheer you up, or 
alternatively, nothing more upsetting than a miserable animal that 
you can't help.

And I would take this further (and will probably upset the serried 
ranks of parents and teachers on this list in the process), in saying 
that all these endless strictures about Harry having to learn to act 
more rationally, think of others, grow up etc is foolishly short-
sighted. His joyous reaction to Sirius was a quite instinctive, and 
totally natural strike for freedom, but its been smashed for JKR's 
mysterious plot reasons..I can't help thinking she is setting us up 
for further disasters as a result. I wouldn't be so quick to read him 
lectures on doing what he's told.

And I still want to understand what James' stag is all about..

Carolyn