JKR's Characterization

[scoutmom21113]

No: HPFGUIDX 114471


Having read a number of very strong posts from Snape/Sirius
–philes/–phobes, I would like to ask one question – has
anyone else noticed that many of the characters are really 
caricatures?  

The Dursleys made Harry sleep in a closet; they send him a tissue 
for Christmas; a teacher is repeatedly "sadistic" toward
particular students without comment from school authorities; 
Gilderoy Lockhart (need I say more?).  These are just a few 
examples, but IMO the characterizations are a little over-the-top. 

JKR has taken elements from fantasy, mythology, legends, and 
classical literature to create a story about a boy growing up, good 
fighting evil, friendship, love, and who we are as individuals, 
among other themes.  In doing so, she has exaggerated some of the 
personality traits to make her point.  Petunia hates Harry but took 
him in because he is family.  Snape is a horrible person who appears 
evil but is helping Dumbledore.  Lockhart's smile hides an amoral 
soul.  Appearances can deceive.

Am I saying there aren't people like this in real life?  Of
course not.  There are sadistic teachers.  There are unloving, 
uncaring parents.  There are people who will steal credit for the 
work of others.  There are people who will destroy others to get 
ahead themselves.  Most of what I've read, however, doesn't
have so many of them all in the same story.  And while I've met 
people that fit some of the characterizations, they haven't all
been in my life at the same time.

The magic of JKR's storytelling is that we have all come to love 
these characters (good and bad) and think of them as real.  For us 
to tell her what her characters must do is like telling her how to 
write her story.  To write the characters any differently would 
change the dynamics of the story.  

Ravenclaw Bookworm