Etiquette WAS Re: polite Dumbledore?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 142685

Lupinlore wrote:
><snip> 
> The one situation has absolutely, utterly, and unquestionably 
> NOTHING to do with the other.  Snape is a cruel and sadistic man who 
> I expect to be severely and specifically punished for his behavior 
> in the last book, or else JKR is a very bad writer indeed who has 
> absolutely no ability to craft a well-written and satisfying story.  
> The Dursleys are cruel and sadistic people who have experienced the 
> beginning of severe punishment that I expect to continue into the 
> seventh book or, as I say, JKR has no idea how to craft a well-
> written and satisfying story.  
> 
> Rather simple, when you get down to it.


Carol responds:
So if JKR, whom we know to be a Christian (and who has shown
Dumbledore extending mercy to Draco and Harry preventing Black and
Lupin from seeking vengeance) chooses Christian forgiveness ("and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against
us") over punishing characters for insensitivity or sarcasm, she's a
bad writer with no idea how to craft a well-written and satisfying
story? I'd say, rather, that she has no intention of satisfying
readers who thirst for vengeance, and that craftsmanship has nothing
to do with the moral values implicit in a story.

I'm perennially astounded by readers who see either the Dursleys' or
Snape's treatment of Harry as worse than Bellatrix's Crucios or
Umbridge's blood-drawing detentions. If we're wishing for vengeance,
it should be against the truly evil characters, not against a
magic-fearing family or a teacher who hasn't been taught that sarcasm
is not a method approved by modern Muggle teacher colleges.

At any rate, surely your personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction with
the fate of certain characters is not an index of her writing ability.
I think that if she resolves the main plot and the primary subplots
without violating the laws of the Potterverse and maintains thematic
consistency (as well as providing the excitement and suspense most of
us are looking for) that she will have done all that is required for
craftsmanship and a well-written story (assuming that the editors have
also done their jobs in trimming stylistic infelicities).

Satisfying to you and satisfying to other readers are not necessarily
the same. I, for one, will be disappointed if Harry or any other
character takes revenge on Snape, and I don't want the Dursleys, for
all their faults, to be killed or Crucio'd by Voldemort. What good did
it do fat Dudley to grow a pig's tail or a "ton tongue"? None
whatever? Nor did they learn the lesson in manners that DD tried to
teach them. You can't squash the anti-Wizard prejudice out of them by
punishing them any more than they could squash the magic out of Harry.

As for Snape, what matters is surely where his loyalties lie and why
he killed DD on the tower and whether he feels remorse and what role
he will play in the battle against Voldemort. Any sarcasm or
unfairness toward Harry is not only in the past but minor in the
extreme compared with murder, mayhem, and war in the WW--all of which,
IMO, Snape has been trying throughout the books to prepare Harry to
face. Perhaps he was mistaken in his methods, but it's his motives
that matter.

I'll be *unhappy* if Snape turns out to be ESE! or some other outcome
that doesn't fit my hopes and expectations, but I won't label my own
unmet expectations as "poor craftsmanship." 

Carol, who will consider the book poorly crafted only if it's loosely
constructed or predictable or doesn't follow logically from the
preceding books