Black and white and read all over.

[Nora Renka]

No: HPFGUIDX 116792


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Barry Arrowsmith <

<massive snip--consider it the removal of both exposition and 
development, if you wish...so we begin in the tonic, yet anew>

> Quite often those enamoured of character protest -
> "But it's about Harry - aren't the books called Harry Potter and 
> the  Thingy of Whatsit? What  else could they be about?"
> Well, there's the Thingy of Whatsit, right there in the title that 
> you seem to have forgotten about. With no PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF or 
> OoP to keep him occupied Harry would have a lot of spare time on 
> his hands. It's called a plotline. None of which originate with 
> Harry, all of which involve the deeds of others, all of which in 
> some way pre-date his cognizance and the solving of which brings 
> him and us closer to enlightenment. Harry merely reacts to events. 
> He's a function of the plot, too. Another clockwork mouse wound up 
> and released by JKR. And  let's not forget, these single book plots 
> are there to lead us to the greater plot, the one encompassing the 
> whole series, the one that explains the what and why of the whole 
> kit and caboodle.

An interesting question, Kneasy.  This reader is interested to see if 
the works match the stated authorial principle--that everything in 
the series began with Harry.  She dreamed him up, and then came his 
parents, and then came Hogwarts.  Of course, this means that things 
have inevitably been changed and reworked to connect with each other 
and all of that, but...

I still maintain my sneaking suspicion that yes, it is all actually 
going to come back and down to him--and it's going to involve his 
actions, not merely Harry-as-spectator.  I'd argue that all of the 
Thingy of Whatits are primarily important in and so much as they 
relate to Mr. Potter, not the other way around.  The plotlines are 
designed to give Mr. Potter things to do, rather than Mr. Potter 
being merely another gear plugged in to make the machine go.  Most 
all of the other characters--they are probably mainly considered for 
their plot relevance, but also for what they mean to the 
abovementioned eponymous hero.
 
This greater plot, the Big Questions she chided us all for not asking 
more about (and seem rather impenetrable to guessing, in Rowling's 
presently obscure grand metaphysics)--I bet it's all going to come 
down to something about Harry and his actions in the end, too.  
Although I myself wouldn't mind some things with larger thematic or 
interpretive implications.  Awfully fond of at least one of my 
analyses of the larger societal issues, I am.

> You won't suss that out by sighing over Sirius or frowning at 
> Snape. It's conceivable you might by theorising, though.
> Or aren't you interested in that bit?

I speak only for myself, but some of us are *gasp* actually more 
interested in little things like analysis and interpretation than 
plot speculation--that is to say, it's really a matter of interest 
what it means and how it fits together, in addition to the (perhaps 
mere) question of what's going to happen.  As such, it's interesting 
what the actions of a character might mean or be read as, rather than 
simply the actions that they take in the plot itself.  There are 
perhaps hidden joys for the theorist to be found in interpretation, 
as well--when you have some idea what a character is about and what 
he represents, you can start to rank your guesses about future and 
past actions a little more intelligently.

Of course future revelations force considerable reinterpretation.  
But we are not, all of a sudden, going to find out that Voldie is 
wonderful, or Draco is the actual hero of the whole thing, or that 
the 'So EWWWer It's In The SEWWWer' theory 
(http://www.hpfgu.org.uk/faq/hypotheticalley.html#eww, for the 
curious) is actually true.  I hope she surprises us all.  But I won't 
be surprised if there aren't big, huge, radical surprises.  We've 
almost covered everything by now, haven't we?

-Nora sings a love song (major key) to hermeneutics--the word that 
makes all the scientists of her acquaintance scatter and run