Dumbledore's pleading / gum wrappers -- symbolic or clues?

[Nicolau C. Saldanha]

No: HPFGUIDX 141471

Jen Reese <stevejjen at e...> wrote:
> Back to the moment between Dumbledore and Snape. I learned the hard 
> way with the gum wrappers that sometimes JKR is writing a wonderful 
> character moment and in my haste to uncover plot clues, the intended 
> poignancy is lost. I think this moment between Snape and Dumbledore 
> was more symbolic than a plot clue. Both men knew exactly what the 
> other was 'saying' in that moment without the need for legilimency. 


You definitely have a point, but I think there is an important
difference between the two examples. My opinion, of course, but DD's
pleading as it is makes no sense (for the reasons discussed above), it
requires an explanation in a way gum wrappers do not. For me, the gum
wrapper scene is strongly poignant. The tower scene instead is
puzzling: until I can figure out what DD meant by the pleading, what
exactly Snape really did and why, what precisely killed DD, the scene
can not become poignant in the same way.

Nicolau