Two scenes for most everyone

[Miles]

No: HPFGUIDX 144082

lupinlore wrote:
> Absolutely and completely.  To allow Snape to go unpunished for his
> child abuse (and it IS child abuse) would be reprehensible beyond
> belief.  However, I don't think it's necessarily true that this
> cannot be done in a manner that does not satisfy most everyone on all
> sides without taking an undue amount of time.  I offer two scenes
> that would do the trick.
>
<snipped scenes>

You put much more effort into these scenes than I did to mine, and obviously
you are more talented in writing. But - sorry - your scenes as part of HP 7
would make me shut the book immediately in anger. Ok, maybe only for a
second ;).

Admit me a small loop. I don't know whether Bertolt Brecht is well-known
beyond the German language area. He was one of greatest German authors of
the 20th century, most talented as a poet and an outstandig dramatist. And
he was a communist. For the purpose of political propaganda he wrote several
so called "Lehrstcke" (teaching dramas), dramas with very clear political
messages. The characters of these dramas were very typical for their
professions or their role in society (The Exploiter, The Worker, The
Churchman ...), acting according stereotypes just in order to make the point
of the lesson. What happens in these dramas is what "has to happen"
according to communist ideology. The Exploiter exploits, The Churchman helps
him exploiting, The Worker starts the revolution. And all get what they
deserve in the end. You may suspect it - these dramas are dreadful and
boring.
In his better dramas, Brecht failed to show the characters as stereotypes,
the story is unpredictable, and the "heroes" aren't the people who should be
the heroes according to the ideological message. And - yes, some people get
away without being rewarded or punished for what they did.

What you seem to expect from Rowling is Harry Potter as a moral "Lehrstck".
The main characters having their moral account with debit and credit, and in
the end they have to have their account in balance. Ok, we should agree that
we disagree. I do not like "Lehrstcke", not communist ones and not moral
ones. Even if we all had the same moral standards (which seems to be
unlikely), I would rate literature of that kind as boring. I'm a grownup, I
do not like being taught lessons ;).

Miles