Managing Dead Sirius

[lucianam73]

No: HPFGUIDX 142579

Marianne: 
> This lack was all the more glaring to me when we were
> later treated to a funeral for Aragog.
>
> Now, I realize there was a plot reason for Aragog's funeral. And,
> just because we saw no memorial service for Sirius doesn't mean 
> there wasn't one. However, since JKR didn't even mention in 
> passing that any sort of service was held, I'm of the opinion that 
> there was none.   

Lucianam:
I think for many people that was an instant comparison! I was okay 
with DD getting a funeral and Sirius getting nothing, because 
Dumbledore was a very important person in the Wizarding World and a 
much better wizard than Sirius was. But Aragog? I couldn't help 
thinking if other people thought it was such a contrast that a 
spider got a send-off by his loved ones (correction: loved one) and 
Harry never even toasted to his godfather's memory.

(As put above in the thread...:
> bboyminn:
> If nothing else, a quick toast would have been nice.)

Lucianam:
By the way, I have nothing against Hagrid burying Aragog properly, 
good for him he did it. 
 

bboyminn:
> When someone is 'lost at sea' or 'missing in action - presumed 
> dead', a memorial service is held where mourner can remember and 
> honor a person for whom their is no body. When there is a body, 
> what is preformed is a burial service. Of course, frequently there 
> is both.
> 
> The point I'm making is that various /services/ are not for the 
> dead, they are for the living; a chance to say goodbye, a chance 
> to make peace, a chance to resolve and finalize the death in your 
> mind, and are part of the grieving process. 
> 
> Regardless of whether Sirius comes back or not, I think the people
> around Harry deprived him of that aspect of the grieving process. 

Lucianam:
Maybe in the WW it is absolutely necessary that you have a body in 
order to have any sort of memorial service, goodbye ceremony, 
whatever. How strange of them. 

If that is not the case, I don't understand why there was nothing. 
Not that I ever understood JKR's take on Sirius. She practically had 
him star two books - PoA and OotP - and now she's practically 
ignored his death in HBP. Sirius's appearances in the HP series have 
been sort like a rollercoaster.

IMO she's very inconsistent in her management of Sirius (I'm not 
saying she manages him badly, on the contrary. Maybe it's all the 
contradictions that make him such an interesting puzzle?)

JKR on the infamous B5 death:

19 June 2003

The following is a edited transcript of JK's interview with Jeremy 
Paxman on Newsnight about the launch of Harry Potter and the Order 
of the Phoenix.  

JP: And is there going to be a death in this book? 

JKR: Yes. A horrible, horrible 

JP: A horrible death of a significant figure. 

JKR: Yeah. I went into the kitchen having done it... 

JP: What, killed this person? 

JKR: Yeah. Well I had re-written the death, re-written it and that 
was it. It was definitive. And the person was definitely dead. And I 
walked into the kitchen crying and Neil said to me, "What on earth 
is wrong?" and I said, "Well, I've just killed the person". Neil 
doesn't know who the person is. But I said, "I've just killed the 
person. And he said, "Well, don't do it then." I thought, a doctor 
you know... and I said "Well it just doesn't work like that. You are 
writing children's books, you need to be a ruthless killer." 

JP: Is it going to upset people? 

JKR: Yes. It upset me. I always knew it was coming, but I managed to 
live in denial, and carry on with the character and not think about 
it.'

Sounded like she loved him to bits, at least I think so. Now take a 
look at her answer to a FAQ question in her site:

'Do you like Sirius Black?
I've had several letters asking this, which rather surprised me. The 
answer is, yes, I do like him, although I do not think he is wholly 
wonderful (ooooh, I hear them sharpening the knives over at 
Immeritus [see "Fansite" section]). 

Sirius is very good at spouting bits of excellent personal 
philosophy, but he does not always live up to them. For instance, he 
says in "Goblet of Fire" that if you want to know what a man is 
really like, 'look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.' 
But Sirius loathes Kreacher, the house-elf he has inherited, and 
treats him with nothing but contempt. Similarly, Sirius claims that 
nobody is wholly good or wholly evil, and yet the way he acts 
towards Snape suggests that he cannot conceive of any latent good 
qualities there. Of course, these double standards exist in most of 
us; we might know how we ought to behave, but actually doing it is a 
different matter!'

I can't understand why she cried so much when she killed him! She 
seems to have a very cold, logical view of him, not emotional at 
all. 

That's what I mean by ambiguous management of Sirius's character and 
rollercoaster. Keeps me wondering if we'll see him again in Book 7, 
SAD DENIAL or not. I'm always aboard SAD DENIAL by the way, and 
always more than half-expecting the ship will sink and we will all 
drown.

On a smaller and insignificant note, funny thing Uncle Vernom seemed 
surprised by the news of 'his godfather being dead'. Maybe because 
he's a muggle he'd have expected some sort of official 
communication? Of course it's more likely he was dreaming of the 
money Harry inherited or was glad the murderous godfather had died, 
but I wonder if he wasn't a bit surprised.

Lucianam
(long and winding post, sorry!)