James, a paragon of virtue? Was: Why Do You Like Sirius?

[alshainofthenorth]

No: HPFGUIDX 123286


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "horridporrid03" 
<horridporrid03 at y...> wrote:
> 
> 
> But then JKR throws us a curve.  First, when Snape hits back he 
> actually draws blood rather than hexing away James' and Sirius' 
> wands.  It's a telling choice.  And then JKR adds in the "mudblood" 
> word.  And, as you point out, Nora, having Snape use that 
particular 
> word says something about his background and ideology, just as 
James' 
> dislike of that word says something about his.
> 
> But is JKR really saying, "Don't worry about it folks.  Snape's 
still 
> a baddie, James is still good.  Please ignore everything leading up 
> to this point!" ?  It doesn't make sense.  Not when she's worked so 
> hard to turn the readers *away* from James and Sirius in the scene 
> setup.  There must be more to it than can simply be judged by who 
> will say "mudblood" and who won't.  And I wonder if JKR is 
suggesting 
> that perhaps there is more to a person than their family background.
> 

Certainly. And JKR is definitely *not* suggesting anything as simple 
as "Snape=Bad" and "James=Good" or vice versa. She set up the scene 
to throw James, Sirius and Remus down from their pedestals with an 
almighty bang and succeeded very well; I haven't seen half as many 
fanfics treating the Marauders' school days as a lighthearted series 
of Blytonian romps as before OOTP. She's very carefully sketched in 
shades of grey in her Good characters instead of making them into 
moral absolutes, and that's what makes characters like Voldemort and 
the Malfoys stick out like sore thumbs. And she doesn't give nice, 
simple answers, in any case, not until the last book is out. 

If I had to suggest a moral for the Pensieve scene, I'd pick a quote 
from Hávamál:

None is found so good, but some fault attends him,
or so ill but he serves for somewhat.

Alshain