Re: JKR’s giant mistake?

[hogsheadbarmaid]

No: HPFGUIDX 117714



> 
> > Pippin : 
> >   I think it's significant in itself 
> > that we yearn to have some simple means of sorting the sheep 
> > from the lambs, even though the characters who lived through 
> > the first Voldemort war tell us there was no such method. They 
> > couldn't tell who to trust, even among their closest friends.
> > 
> 
> Neri:
> Saying the name "Voldemort" doesn't sort the sheep from the lambs, 
> but it does seem to sort the lions from all the rest (and 
> disregarding the obvious exceptions of Voldemort himself and 
whoever 
> is possessed by him). It couldn't have been used during VWI to tell 
> friend from foe, since most of the good guys don't dare saying the 
> name either, and in fact are rather antagonized by those who do. 
> 
> Neri


barmaid now:

First of all kudos to Neri for that well researched, well written 
original post on this topic!  Thorough and thought provoking.

I believe you are most likely right that these 5 instances are 
mistakes, pure and simple.  I also agree that saying the name does 
not separate the "good guys" from the "bad guys" but rather the brave 
from those who are less so.  JKR seems far too interested in 
complicating notions of "good" and "bad" to make it that easy for us, 
or Harry, to tell them apart.

Given that, I could be convinced that Crouch Sr. would use the V 
word.  Especially in the pensive scene when he is wielding such power 
over LV's followers.  He has reason to feel brave even if he has 
become a bit overreaching.  Of course, as Neri points out so well, it 
is the inconsistency that makes this problematic.

The question of using knowledge of who speaks the name as a way to 
know friend from foe in the first war raises another question for 
me.  I agree that this is unlikely and does not fit with my ideas 
about who speaks the name.  BUT it raises a related question.  At 
what point did people stop saying the name?  And why?  It is hard to 
imagine that it was never commonly spoken.  It is certainly commonly 
known.  Hum?

    --barmaid