JKR characterizations--oversimplification?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 115208


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" 
<stevejjen at e...> wrote:
> 
> > Jen Reese wrote:
> > " 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."<
>  
> > Del replies :
> > Huh, actually, the one act with devastating consequences is 
Sirius having the brilliant idea of making Peter Secret-Keeper. 
> 
> Jen: Actually, my comment you're responding to was taken out 
of  context in the above snippet. I was commenting on the fact 
that,  right or wrong, *Sirius* held the above conviction, and that 
this  belief fueled his man-hunt of Peter when he escaped from 
Azkaban.<
<snip>Then, Voldemort could torture  Sirius forever and never 
have a chance of getting the information.  Of course, that idea 
failed.<

Pippin:
That's just the issue, really. Sirius makes a huge point of saying 
that *he* would have been willing to die for his friends rather 
than betray them, and I believe he spoke out of personal 
conviction, but when push came to shove, he tried to jigger 
things so he wouldn't have to make the choice. 

Voldemort would never believe that Peter was the secret-keeper, 
so Sirius says, so even if Sirius talked under torture, Peter would 
be safe--Voldemort would only think Sirius was still holding out.

Murder is against Sirius's personal philosophy, but he's willing 
to murder Pettigrew (he calls it that) to get revenge. 

Harry himself observes more than once that he's getting mixed 
messages from Sirius, so I'm not sure how you can say that this 
isn't carried out in the books. 

Pippin