How did Grawp get to be so, well, *huge*? (was Chapter 20, Hagrid's Tale)

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 102483

David:
> I think one of the most fundamental things JKR does with her world 
> is undermine it.  Plots of things that have been set up to seem 
like 
> an enduring part of the narrative get to be relativised as the 
story 
> proceeds. <snipped some good examples>

> I think Grawp appears as Hagrid's faults writ large.  With Lupin 
and 
> the other characters Jen mentioned {centaurs, goblins, house 
elves,werewolves}, JKR invites us to cut them 
> plenty of slack as members of oppressed groups, then she sets us 
up 
> (at the end of GOF) to think of Giants as the next group to be cut 
> slack - and then lets us have it between the eyes with the reality 
> of Grawp and his fellows.  It's all part of her questioning of the 
> boundaries of what it is to be human.

Jen: When reading the Grawp chapter, I do remember thinking that 
Hagrid and Hermione were both examples of the harm you can do when 
trying to help others. 'Help' in this case meaning to force an 
agenda on a person or creature without his/her permission or 
approval. So if JKR made any point for me with Grawp, it was that 
oppression comes in all forms, even under the guise of helping 
someone.

I really like your analysis of what JKR does with almost all the 
characters, painting them in shades of gray, making the reader ask 
some tough questions internally. But she paints the oppressed groups 
in shades of gray, too. The Centaurs became pretty ugly in OOTP, and 
we were introduced to Kreacher. The goblins don't come across as 
particularly downtrodden and can take care of themselves. In fact, 
they seem to have the upper hand in the power relationship, courted 
by both the Order and DE's (giants too).

David:
> To me, the key is questions.  JKR is not really inventing a 
> wonderful universe for us to enjoy.  She's inventing a franework 
for 
> posing questions which she then refuses to answer.  The answers 
are 
> for us to work out for ourselves.
> 
> It's probably overstating it a little to say that if someone here 
> posts something that picks a way through this moral maze, JKR will 
> read the post and invent a being that renders that morality 
> inadequate.  But only a little, IMO.

Jen: But, I don't want that! I want a wonderful universe to enjoy. I 
do think the series works on different levels. JKR said in 
1999: "One of the nicest things about writing for children is that 
you don't find them deconstructing novels. Either they like it or 
they don't like it." (Book Links, July 1999). So you have to wonder 
if all of her moral points were so intentional.