What JKR finds important (Was Re: Kids and grownups)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 115892


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:
> 
> I think this is true, especially for us hardcore readers. We're so 
> fascinated by the adults that we want them to be the heroes. But 
> the Trio are the heroes, and to some extent that means that the 
> adults are all failures, or at least, less than they might have 
> been. The adults, even those on the good side, are  there to be 
> surpassed.
> 
> I think this really gets the goat of some readers, especially those 
> who think it's the job of a children's book to present adult role 
> models, especially in the case of McGonagall and Molly, who are 
> fine women in their way but not great heroines.
> 

I think this hits on a very important point.  JKR has said time and 
again that this is *Harry's* story.  In fact, she has gone so far as 
to say that Harry appeared, more or less full blown, in her 
imagination and she proceeded to wrap the story around him.  This 
means that any other character, child or adult, is only important in 
so far as they touch on Harry.

I sometimes think that were JKR not such a polite person, she would 
dissolve in torrents of laughter at many of the theories so hotly 
disputed and deeply held among long-time readers, myself included.  
Is Snape and his redemption the key to everything?  Chuckle, titter, 
laugh!  Does the prophecy actually refer to Neville? Guffaw!  Is the 
basis and answer for everything to be found in the MWPP generation?  
Oh please cease and desist while I catch my breath!

I think that the thing that ultimately "gets the readers' goat," to 
use pippin's expression, is that JKR really and truly doesn't care 
about many of the things we care about.  What is the deep truth of 
Severus Snape and what will be the end of his story arc?  I don't 
think she really cares except in so far as those things touch on 
Harry.  Why does Albus let Snape do the things he does and what is 
the truth of the Albus/Snape relationship?  If that is important to 
Harry and his story, we'll find out.  If it isn't, she doesn't care 
very much.  What were the deep structures of the relationships in the 
MMWP era?  Once again, I don't think she cares except if it has 
something to do with *Harry.*

Another way of putting it, at the risk of seeming flip, is that 
whereas all God's children may be equally important, all JKR's 
children simply aren't.  We probably won't find out as much about 
Neville as some people would like because Neville just isn't as 
important as some people want him to be.  Is the Snape/Harry dynamic 
important for the story?  Of course.  Is it the central and ultimate 
key to the story that many people regard it as being?  Probably not.  
Is Ron's development as a character important?  Certainly.  Is it as 
important and as central as some fans would have it to be?  Probably 
not.  Ultimately the story just is not about Snape or Ron or 
Dumbledore or Neville or Hermione or Petunia or McGonagall or Molly 
or Remus or ANYBODY but Harry.  Does that preclude development of 
these characters?  No.  Does that preclude these characters growing 
and changing?  No.  Does that preclude these characters moving to 
center stage?  Absolutely and definitely.

I predict (and I admit I'm terrible at predictions) that in the end, 
when we have all read book VII and are starting to wonder *Now what 
am I going to obsess about?* there are going to be an awful lot of 
disappointed people in the world.  Because in the end I predict the 
story is not going to be about the themes and characters WE find 
fascinating, but about Harry, which is the character that JKR finds 
fascinating.  Many of the stories WE want to be told aren't going to 
be revealed because they just aren't important, and many of the 
solutions that ARE revealed are going to strike us as simplistic in 
that they are SO Harry-centric.  You mean that Snape really was just 
a nasty man who was in the story to provide conflict with Harry?  You 
mean that MWPP was just there to provide some backdrop for Harry's 
life and family?  You mean Albus really was telling the truth all 
along and he was just doing whatever he thought he had to do to keep 
Harry alive, victorious, and as happy as possible?  You mean Ron, 
Hermione, and Neville in the end really are just supporting cast, 
albeit with important things to do?  You mean that Molly really is 
just a mother who lets her instincts get in the way sometimes, and 
McGonagall really is a teacher with a heart of gold whose stern 
nature tends to cause problems?  You mean Lupin really is just a 
werewolf who happens to be a nice guy?  You mean Percy really was 
just an ambitious boy wanting out from under his family's shadow?  
You mean Draco really was just a conceited little junior Death 
Eater?  You mean Slytherin House really was there mainly to provide a 
home for the school villains?  You mean JKR really does think that 
courage is a higher virtue than ambition?  You mean Hermione really 
was so smart so that JKR could drop needed info into the plot?  You 
mean it all really was about a child wizard growing up to defeat an 
evil menace?

To which JKR may very well reply, if she is so inclined, "Err, yes."

Lupinlore