JKR characterizations--oversimplification?

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 115020


Jen: 
> > I thought Sirius, for all his faults, was a man of conviction.
> > Reckless, rash, harsh, immature but a loyal man who was true to 
> >his word. 

Pooka replied: 
> I'm not sure where you get this "man of conviction" thing. Nothing 
> he did in PoA suggested that he was fighitng for some ideal. He 
may 
> hate the Dark Arts, but he didn't escape Azkaban to fight evil; 
he's 
> there to take revenge out of loyalty to James. 

Jen again: Loyalty to James, and the belief that it's better to die 
than to betray your friends, is Sirius' personal conviction. An 
ideal can be anything a person believes in wholeheartedly and 
strives to live up to, whether it relates to the community or an 
individual. No one has to agree with you, and the conviction doesn't 
have to be "good", for you to hold it!

Sirius wholeheartedly believed that Peter deserved to die for the 
chain of events that started when Peter divulged the Potter's secret 
location. Not only did Peter betray the Potter's, he betrayed Harry, 
Sirius, Dumbledore & the Order, and ultimately the WW at large. 
Peter's one act had devastating consequences for several generations.

It's another issue whether a personal or social/political 
conviction, and the actions a person takes to reach their goal, is 
the *right* thing to do. 

Pooka:
> Sirius has convictions, but they're subjective. Anything tainted 
with the Dark 
> Arts is purely evil, and his ideals needn't apply to them. He's 
> loyal and true to his word, but only to those he feels deserve his 
> respect. And so on.

Jen: Whose convictions aren't subjective? Name me a cause and I'll 
find someone who doesn't agree with it. I hold a conviction that 
Sirius was a "man of conviction" and I found someone who disagrees 
with me in a few short hours! 

*And* I feel you've made a very good point to show that JKR's 
comments weren't entirely accurate--Sirius does hold convictions and 
acts on them in a consistent way. He may be wrong, but he's true to 
his belief system. He never believed in the Dark Arts and hasn't 
wavered in his belief. He was loyal to James and hasn't wavered in 
that belief. In fact, I'd say one of Sirius' weaknesses is that he 
*doggedly* (hee,hee) follows a course of action to the bitter end, 
come hell or high water. He may "spout personal philosophy" but he 
tends to back it up with corresponding actions.

Jen Reese