Gum Wrappers

[mhbobbin]

No: HPFGUIDX 112743


> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tonks" <tonks_op at y...> 
wrote:
> > I have been thinking about the gum wrappers that Mrs. 
Longbottoms  gives to her visitors and the one she gave to Neville. 
He does not  throw it away like his grandmother tells him too. Maybe 
Mrs. Longbottoms tries to get a message to her son. Maybe there is 
something written on the wrappers that makes sense to Neville. And 
JKR's desk on her website is full of gum wrappers. At first I just 
thought she was a smoker trying to quit. But now I think it is a 
clue.  So any thoughts as to what message might be on the gum 
wrappers?
>
Naama:
> I don't think that the gum wrappers contain a message, and this 
for two reasons:  1. Alice is insane. This is not just a matter of 
an institutional dcision, but described for us clearly. She is 
unconnected to  reality and to herself. snip

2. More importantly is the emotional content of the scene - Alice, 
 insane and unconnected, tries to reach her son from the fog she is 
 in. If this was a disingenous attempt at communicating (and why 
 couldn't she just talk to him?), it would rob the scene of its 
 emotional impact. Also, it would mean that she is not insane, or 
not as insane as she seems, which would make her an extremely cruel 
- having her son believe her insane when she is not.

mhbobbin:

I think the gum wrappers are important although I don't think that 
Alice is writing on them--only because that involves more risk and 
Alice has magical powers. I wonder if they are intended to provide 
some sort of protection to Neville. Alice may not be in her right 
mind but she does recognize Neville and she has powerful magical 
skills. And I suspect that Neville is in great need of protection--
Uncle Algie dropped him on his head as a baby, we have no idea what 
that weird plant is that spits up on everyone and his grandmother 
constantly undermines his confidence. Not to mention the mystery 
surrounding his memory and whether underneath he knows more than is 
safe for him.

Could it also be possible that Alice is getting better? Not well but 
better.  If she is, she needs to be cautious--look what happened to 
Bode when he started to get his mind back.

The scene is emotionally powerful but that does not negate that the 
scene includes important clues that will come into play in the final 
books. That, in part, is the beauty of JKR's writing IMO--that 
scenes can be read for their emotional power--and then reread for 
the clues we missed as we originally focused on the emotional 
meaning.

Mhbobbin