What JKR Finds Important

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 116052


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:
> 
> Antosha wrote :
> "JKR likes to end the books on a note of hope and redemption, but 
that
> doesn't make a very good place to START from, so inevitably, 
there's a
> bit of a disconnect between the end of one book and the beginning of
> the next."

Del:
> Agreed. Unfortunately, in my case, the bit of a disconnect between 
GoF
> and OoP was so great that it prevented me from ever reconnecting
> during my first reading :-(

Geoff:
I think you are overlooking some factors. At the beginning of OOTP, 
Harry has just turned 15. Some folk have commented that he makes a 
sudden transition from being fairly placid to being angry. 

Looking back on my own teenage years, I see nothing wrong in this. 
Often, guys from the age of 11 upwards are sometimes angry at the 
world around them or the way that people treat them but may feel that 
they are not strong enough emotionally (and perhaps physically) to 
take on parents or teachers or friends and have the matter out. It's 
also a bit of the English habit of not wanting to make a fuss. Even 
at my advanced age [ :-) ] I sometimes find myself boiling about 
something and debating whether I want to go further. Can I be 
bothered? Might things go physical? Will I finish up looking stupid?
So even now, I sometimes internalise my anger.

Harry has had to do this for years with the Dursleys. He also seems 
to be a natural for getting on with most folk. But at the beginning 
of OOTP, things are catching up on him. He is beginning to develop 
the adolescent habit of questioning his surroundings and to push 
against the "constraints" of society if he disagrees with them or 
fails to see their relevance. He is physically able to confront 
Dudley. He has also gone through one hell of an experience in the 
previous year Remember that it can take a while for the reaction to a 
death to surface. My wife's brother died suddenly just over a month 
ago. I am just beginning to analyse my feelings having been involved 
in organising the transport of various family members to the funeral 
in Toronto (while I stayed behind) and I still haven't sorted out my 
feelings. When my mother died 20 years ago, I took about six months 
to really start approaching a closure. 

There is then the severing of contact over the summer holidays which 
has left him feeling isolated and perhaps forgotten. He is expecting 
things to happen in terms of Voldemort and his return - but nothing 
seems to. Why isn't something happening? Why am I getting no 
information? This did really happen didn't it? I didn't imagine it?

I have spells like this over things when I expect results like - 
yesterday...

No, Del, speaking as a mere male, I don't see a discontinuity in 
Harry reactions as I can identify with him quite easily. It is rather 
like the "compassion" thread a week or so back; I could understand 
perfectly how Harry was thinking. I remember being rather surprised 
that the majority of comments were coming from female contributors 
who felt that they were getting a handle on the subject and weren't 
seeing it from a male angle (that's not meant to be sexist).

I hope you will soon return to supporting our young hero.... He needs 
all the friends he can muster.

Geoff
Enjoy views of Exmoor and preserved 
West Somerset Railway steam at:
http://www.aspectsofexmoor.com