Sirius' death (was: Dept of Mysteries Veil Room)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 114288

Hannah: 
> > If Sirius turns out to be alive after all, or comes back 
> > from the dead, I will be very, very disappointed in JKR.  Not 
> > because I don't like Sirius; I think he's a good character and 
> > cried when he died, but because it would undermine the power of 
> > the books  for me.  
> >  
> > JKR has made much of the fact that she is unafraid to write about 
> > death, and hopes to help children confront and deal with death.  
> > Many people have said that the stories have helped their children 
> > deal with the death of a loved one.  If she then turns round and 
> > says 'it's OK, he's not dead after all!' it would be such a let 
> > down for all those children whose RL dead relative *isn't* going 
> > to suddenly pop back from behind the veil.  
> > 
> ><snip>
 
Angie responded:
> One thing we know for sure, then, is that either you or I will be 
> disappointed, because I will be disappointed if Sirius is dead. :) 
> I agree it is a good thing that JKR has children's characters that 
> deal with death.  But I also think if her goal is to help with 
> that, she should have written Sirius off in such a way that his 
> death would could not be questioned.  Here, she clearly left the 
> door open, so IMO it's not a case in which a dead relative suddenly 
> pops back.  I agree that would not be good.  I would hope that any 
> child reading the series would be old enough to understand Sirius's 
> disappearance behind the veil can be interpreted as something other 
> than him being dead.


SSSusan:
But *do* children question Sirius' death?  It's only been adults in 
my experience who do.  I think children are more accepting that he's 
gone.  

Sometimes death isn't very "satisfying" in the sense that it's clear 
and all that.  If you're a child and grandpa drifts off during his 
sleep, is death as clear as when grandpa gets killed in a car crash 
or murdered by a thug?  I don't think so.  What about when someone 
presumably drowns, though the body is never recovered?  That happened 
last year with a student on the campus where I work.  At some point, 
there was enough circumstantial evidence that the search was called 
off and a memorial service was held.  It's NOT as "satisfying" [poor 
word, but I think you'll know what I mean by it?] as seeing a cold, 
lifeless, bloodstained body.  But I don't agree that it isn't a good 
example of death to use with kids (or us!), because that kind of 
death *does* happen.  

And I thought that that was JKR's point.  As much as it sucks, deaths 
like that do just happen sometimes.  We can't make sense of them, we 
don't WANT to believe it, but they're still "proper" deaths.
 
I also think it may speak to JKR's interpretation of what death is 
about ["the next great adventure"].  For children, seeing that death 
is "just beyond the veil," learning that Harry & Luna can hear 
voices "from the other side," may NOT have been designed to get them 
to question whether it was Death or Something Else, but rather to get 
them to see death in a *particular way,* i.e., that we live on in 
some fashion in the afterlife.  I think Harry's talk with Nearly 
Headless Nick supports this view.

Siriusly Snapey Susan