In defense of Molly /Molly's treatment of Arthur

[susanmcgee48176]

No: HPFGUIDX 136678

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ongj87" <ongj87 at y...> wrote:
> phoenixgod2000 
> - Why was it necessary to deconstruct his father the 
> hero? What
> possible good does it do for the story? So far it hasn't proven to
> be much of a major plot point other than to crush Harry. And if it
> was done to make him more of a 3-D figure then why hasn't the same
> been done for Lily. Why has Lily been kept pristine and lovely while
> James was torn down? And not just in the book. In the Mugglenet
> interview, she specifically mentions that she considers James's
> actions less brave than Lily's. Why was it necessary to qualify
> James's actions, what purpose does it serve except to say lessen him
> alongside his wife? Why couldn't they have been equally brave in
> different ways? Would that have changed the story? It is basically
> the only moment in the series where James gets to be great and she
> had to go and tear it down. While at the same time, perfect sainted
> Lily gets to remain perfect and sainted.
> 
> It's disgusting in my view.
> 
> 
> 
> Ongj87:
> > The seventh book is not out yet, obviously, and we obviously know 
> there is something more to Lily than we can see.  There was a 
> definite reason why Voldemort was willing to spare Lily's life that 
> night, and I don't think they're very pure reasons either.  So we 
> can't argue this point fully until the seventh book comes out.
> 
> Secondly, this is merely the opinion of JK Rowling as she looks at 
> the events she has written.  I doubt she wrote them with a 
> purposeful biased, but just how the story flowed.  The 
circumstances 
> she created just happened to give Lily the oppurtunity to make a 
> heroic sacrifice.  I'm sure that JK would agree that if James was 
> given the same circumstnace, he would have without a doubt done the 
> same thing as Lily.  It has nothing to do with character, but with 
> the situation, and the situation made it so that Lily had to step 
up 
> the plate, so to speak.  
> 
> You will no doubt agree with me in saying that when Harry goes to 
> Godric's hollow, he will find out more about his parents.  And I 
> have no doubt that Harry's image of being a hero will be 
reinstated, 
> good as new.  
> 
> 
> Ongj87.

Ong, I agree in part.

First, doesn't JKR say that Harry's disillusionment with James is 
part of an important developmental milestone -- teenagers withdraw 
from their parents as they notice their flaws -- only to come to the 
recognition as adults, that their parents were great people who also 
had flaws (putting aside abusive parents for the moment)...

Second, I love JKR's books because she clearly says that almost all 
evil people have some good in them (Voldemort is the exception)..and 
all good people have flaws -- even DD, McGonagall, James, Lily, 
Harry, Arthur, Molly, Remus --- they all have things that we can 
criticize and they all have done brave, amazing things.... If there 
is nothing we can criticize in Lily, yet, that just means we don't 
know her very well! In real life, heroes such as Martin Luther King, 
Harriet Tubman, Gandhi are NOT flawless -- yet they are people who do 
extraordinary things....

JKR is not trashing James, or deconstructing him as a hero....She's 
filling in the details of his personality, including the fact that he 
was a bit of a prat as a teenager....lots of people develop and 
mature later...including, I hope, Ron Weasley...I could write a 
terribly long negative essay about Ron if I wanted to focus on his 
bad points...but I think he will mature into a good man.....

I will give a lot of leeway to any member of the Order of the 
Phoenix, because they are truly risking their lives to fight the 
terrorism, murder and oppression of Lord Voldemort....(we don't know 
if Severus the Snape is a true member yet, and Peter Pettigrew 
becomes a traitor).....It takes a lot of guts to be in the forefront 
of the fight...it's very easy to sit back and let others do the work 
(Slughorn)...and there are members of the Hogwarts faculty who are 
not members of the Order....

So viva James and viva Lily

Susan McGee