Why dislike Hagrid? (Was: Snape and Neville)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 113779

huntergreen wrote:
>  <snipped by Tonks>
> (personally, I cannot stand Hagrid, the fact that the 
> > author likes him makes no difference). 
 
Tonks responded:
> 
> Ah.. now what have you got against good ol' Hagrid? He is a 
> sweetheart.. good natured .. not the sharpest.. but hearts in the 
> right place.  What could anyone have against our buddy Hagrid? ??

Carol adds:
First, I agree with Huntergreen's general point that the author's
opinions and (expressed) intentions regarding characters and houses
shouldn't affect our interpretations. We can't help our *preferences*
any more than she can help hers and her affection for Hagrid isn't
going to make huntergreen like him any more than I can make a child
like liver by telling him it's delicious. (Which would be a lie in any
case. Gaah.) As for interpretations, we have to look at what's on the
page--and not just one page, but every page related to that character
or house or object and derive our conclusions from textual evidence
rather than what the author wants us to think. (Granted, remarks like
"Snape is a sadistic teacher" or "Dumbledore is the epitome of
goodness" can be used to support our interpretation of a character,
but only if the text itself also supports that interpretation. I still
hold my view that "sarcastic" is a better word than "sadistic" to
describe Snape. A matter of semantics, if you like, but I reserve
"sadistic" for Umbridge, Bellatrix, Voldemort, and Barty Jr.
Otherwise, "sadistic" becomes a relative term and loses its force and
effectiveness.)

As for liking and disliking Hagrid, that of course is purely a matter
of taste. To me he's a bit like Sam Gamgee--a little goes a long way,
and I can hardly stand to read the Grawp chapter in OoP because
there's too much of Hagrid's slow, homely speaking style and too much
of the "interestin' creature" motif (even if "Grawpy" isn't exactly a
creature). Given a choice between Dobby and Hagrid, I'd choose Hagrid,
but given a choice between Hagrid and Snape, I'd choose Snape. Why?
Because I enjoy reading about Snape. I like the cool, mildly sarcastic
way he usually speaks. I like his complexity. I like his intelligence.
There's none of that in Hagrid, and very little mystery to him, either.

So to each his or her own taste in characters, and to each a valid,
canon-based interpretation determined by our own powers of observation
and deduction and not by what the author wants us to think.

Carol