Gum Wrappers

[littleleahstill]

No: HPFGUIDX 112744

Naama wrote:
>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
>mother - having her son believe her insane when she is not.


Leah:  I would be quite disappointed if the gum wrappers turned out 
to be another Mark Evans.  As Tonks says, there they are all over the 
website and there are so many references to rubbish in the books, 
that I incline to the view that they have some significance.  And 
while I agree with Naama about the emotional context of the St 
Mungo's scene, I'm not sure this would be diluted by the gum wrappers 
having a hidden meaning.  I don't see this would have to mean Alice 
is faking insanity; I agree that would be unforgivably cruel. 
She is in a fog, and in that fog, the gum wrapper represents 
something to her that she knows to have been significant, and she 
also knows through the fog that Neville is someone significant, 
therefore she tries to convey the one to the other. DD tells Harry in 
GOF that Alice and Frank don't recognise Neville, so it's not an 
attempt to reach her son per se, but she knows there is something, 
certainly about Neville, and perhaps about the wrappers, that she 
should be remembering.  While, it's not conclusive, if we weren't 
meant to notice the wrapper, couldn't Alice just have touched her 
son's face in an uncomprehending way?