Sirius's Future

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 117996


Annegirl:
> I'm going to make an extreme statement here: Sirius' death 
was bad
> writing. Because:
> 
> 1. Sirius' story is so ridiculously, over-the-top tragic that
killing himat the pit of his depression -- rather than working with 
the problems in the character -- is a cop-out. It's soapy, it's lazy 
writing, and it's a waste of a complex, interesting character.
> 
> 2. Sirius' character arc wasn't finished. When Sirius was 
young, he was a brilliant wizard, an important order member, 
devoted friend, and, if you will, imperfect boyfriend. As a man, 
post-Azkaban, he's emotionally immature and depressed. And 
then he dies. His character arc was cut off in mid-swing. Sirius 
was presented as a troubled character, except his troubles were 
never resolved. (Note: resolution doesn't mean fixing the
> problems; but it also doesn't mean sticking him in stasis in his 
familyhome and never letting him grow beyond who he was 
when we first met him.)<

Pippin:
 The last time we see Sirius is when Harry interviews him about 
what he saw in the Pensieve. He looks "concerned" not 
dishevelled or unhappy.  He's not depressed, and he gets no 
more than justly angry over the end of the occlumency lessons. 

He didn't die because he was lonely and depressed, he died 
because some things are worth dying for.

It's Harry who's stuck in the past, thinking that Sirius remained 
mentally in the same place from the end of the Christmas 
holidays until he went to the MoM, though the text indicates 
otherwise.  It's true, we didn't get to *see*  Sirius grow, but it's 
Harry's story, not his.

Annegirl:
>Harry showed no growth whatsoever. (Even his one triumph, 
the DA, was overshadowed by Hermione.) < 

Pippin:
I disagree that Harry showed no growth -- he learned to relate to 
people besides Ron and Hermione, he learned that he had a 
talent for teaching, and he learned that his father  and his friends 
weren't exactly saints. He learned that the wonderful power he 
inherited has the potential to be misused by 'nice' people, not 
just bullies like Draco or cowards like Peter. 

Why do you say the DA was overshadowed by Hermione? Yes, it 
was her idea, but  people didn't come because of her. They 
came because of Harry, and they stayed because of Harry. 

Annegirl:
> 4. The writing in Foot, particularly towards the end, is not JKR's 
best. It's just not good. How many of you were confused with the 
whole MM scene? I know I was, and others have agreed with 
me.<

Pippin:
Funny thing, but so far whenever JKR has indulged in what 
seemed to me a noticeably awkward piece of writing, it has 
always turned out to be deliberate -- flourishing the cloak of pulp 
in order to hide a clue.

For example, it's awkward that Scabbers falls asleep 
immediately after being tossed away by Goyle in PS/SS -- but it's 
a clue: Scabbers is a "sleeper" enemy agent.  

The narrative voice in PS/SS switches from Harry's PoV to 
Hermione's as Harry struggles with the broom in order to hide 
the fact that the curse was lifted when Hermione collided with 
Quirrell, not when she set Snape on fire.

Ginny's tears at the end  of CoS went on so long that I thought 
Rowling had overdone it and made it sound fake -- then I had a 
sneaking suspicion that maybe it was fake, and Ginny, like many 
a cunning literary lass, had taken refuge in her tears. Seems I 
might have been right about that, after OOP.

The one time when we *know* Rowling made a mistake, the 
mistaken wand order version, it's  actually more beautiful and 
moving, in many people's opinion, than the "right" version.

IMO, Rowling writes badly she does it on purpose, to hide what 
she's up to.

Pippin