Shades of Grey

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 131489

It seems to me some fans tend to see the characters in Harry
Potter as either all black or all white (i.e., all good or all evil). I
find it interesting when JKR has gone to such lengths to create
shades of grey in her characters--Snape, Peter, Sirius, Dumbledore,
Hermoine, Lupin, etc, etc, straight on to Harry himself. In fact, 
without those shades of grey I don't think the HP series would be
anything more than another run of the mill children's fantasy series,
if it even got beyond the first book or two. 

It doesn't have to be a choice between "Evil, Abusive Snape" and
"Best Teacher and Our Hero Snape"--in fact, JKR has made it
pretty obvious Snape lies somewhere inbetween. Likewise, we
don't have to see a Slytherin with pasted on angel wings appear
to prove that all Slytherin's aren't irredemably evil from the day
they start at Hogwarts. Like in real life, humans in any group
run the gamut between good and bad behavior, with most falling
somewhere in the middle. And even when there is immense pressure
to act out or condone evil, some refuse to submit. (Those who hid
or helped Jews in the midst of the Nazis are one example.) 

I think there are more shades of grey in everything--including
ourselves--that most of us want to see. Which is why I hope JKR
calls the 7th book "Harry Potter and the Shades of Grey." ;-)

Just my opinion, 

Julie 


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