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

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 116438


lupinlore wrote:
> <snip>  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.
<big snip> 
> 
> 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.  <snip>

Carol responds:
I don't agree, but that's probably because I have more than one degree
in English literature. Most books, and all *good* books, are still
subject to interpretation after they've been read and reread. JKR will
supply the answers to factual questions, most notably 1)how Harry
defeats Voldemort and 2) who will live and who will die. But she will
also answer questions about which Harry has expressed interest, and
these include what happened to Sirius and why Snape came over to
Dumbledore's side. There's no question that JKR is deliberately
withholding information on both questions and that they will be
answered to *her* satisfaction, leaving us free to speculate if
they're not answered to *ours.*

But the facts of a story are only one component, the skeleton but not
the heart and soul or even the muscle. Regardless of how many times
we've read the complete septology, we will still disagree on key
points and we will still be able to point out things that other
readers have not seen or provide a new way of looking at things,
lifting veil after veil from the meaning (to paraphrase Percy Shelley)
without ever seeing the full meaning, which JKR herself is also unable
to see. A great work of literature always exceeds the author's
intentions and the meanings he or she consciously assigned to it. From
a thematic perspective or a methodological perspective (e.g., analysis
of narrative technique), or an exploration of genre and literary
influences, there's always something new to analyze. Most fascinating,
for me, at least, is character analysis. Motivation and relationships
are always only partly revealed, and a character's thoughts are often
concealed, especially when the author uses a narrator who sees, most
of the time, through the eyes of a naive and partially informed
character like Harry. We think we "know" these characters, but we will
still interpret the canonical evidence differently and arrive at
different conclusions. Read any three critical analyses of LOTR or
"Bleak House" or "Macbeth" or Moby Dick," and you will see three
different perspectives all based on canonical evidence.

Those who think that "the facts" of the HP series are all that
matters, or that Harry's fate is all that matters, will go on to new
books, though they'll have a hard time finding another series in
progress as addictive as this one. Those who understand that a
completed text is still subject to interpretation, and that the
author's intention is only one tool that can be used to interpret that
text, will not be so easily satisfied. And if it turns out that the
supporting characters in HP are nothing more than plot devices or
mirrors to reflect Harry, that their interactions and motivations are
not worth exploring and have no thematic value, that everything has
been said that can be said, then the best place for the entire series
will be the dust bin.

I, for one, don't think that will be the case.

Carol