Let's talk about Lupin

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 146054

Marianne:
> Lupin struck me as "off" in HBP, compared to the way he felt to me 
> from previous books.  That whole speech at the Burrow at Christmas 
> about how he neither likes nor dislikes Snape, his outing as a 
> werewolf would have happened anyway - why blame Snape, he (Lupin) 
> must be grateful for any crumbs that fall his way, etc.  It was as 
> if he was chanting these things in his head to convince himself
> they were true. His whole manner of speech struck me as overly 
> formal, almost stilted. 

Jen: Lupin seemed off to me too, or rather, his negative traits of 
passivity and not wanting to take a stand seemed exaggerated. His 
situation reminded me a little too much of Sirius at Grimmauld. 
Lupin's mission forced him to temporarily leave behind a life which 
was somewhat happier and certainly offered more freedom. Being 
trapped in the werewolf subculture with mostly hostile companions 
was having a life-draining effect on him just as Grimmauld did for 
Sirius. It made me nervous that JKR was writing him into a corner 
just as she did with Sirius, where the only real option was death. 
But then after the tower sequence and the Lupin/Tonks reveal, it 
seemed more likely Snape was probabaly the one being set up for the 
death sequence, the one being stripped of options other than death.

Marianne: 
> But, to get to the Tonks thing, I agree, I felt it came out of 
> left field. It felt tacked on to me, as if JKR suddenly decided 
> not only to pair these two off, but to use this as another facet
> of the theme of obsessive love, but an obsessive love that turns 
> out okay.  

Jen: I couldn't decide, either, until the hand-holding and bubblegum 
pink hair at the funeral. Is it possible one Marauder will get to 
live happily ever after?!? I figured that scene was a 'case-closed' 
moment and unless one dies, they will be a couple.

Marianne:
> The denoument of Tonks' problem as it was revealed in the Hospital 
> scene was as jarring to me as someone suddenly dropping an armload 
> of pots and pans on the floor. I thought her timing was 
> horrendous. Here she is, browbeating the man she is supposedly in
> love with, who is currently reeling from the death of the person 
> who gave him more opportunities to succeed in life, despite being 
> a werewolf, than anyone else. She tries to force him to address 
> their relationship, or lack of it, at this very emotional moment,
> in front of a bunch of other people.  Now, maybe we're supposed to
> read this as Tonks desperately making a final, heartfelt plea to
> Remus to make his see she truly loves him. My reaction to her 
> was "What part of "no" don't you understand?" 

Jen: Haha! That's good. I actually liked that scene, figured with so 
much heartache going on and the inevitability of Order members being 
targeted after Dumbledore's death, Tonks was spurred on to make one 
last desperate plea. And without that scene, one of my all-time 
favorite poignant moments would be lost: 'But she wants you,' said 
Mr. Weasley with a small smile. 'And after all, Remus, young and 
whole men do not necessarily remain so.' He gestured sadly at his 
son, lying between them.

Marianne: 
> We had examples of others suffering an unhealthy sort of love or 
> infatuation, and acting on it (Merope). We had the description of 
> the amortentia potion.  We had the twins selling some sort of love 
> potion.  We had Romilda, the fan-girl, trying to slip something to 
> Harry, and inadvertently affecting Ron.  Is Tonks' affection for 
> Remus real, or another example of infatuation? Or is it an example 
> of love that may appear obsessive to some readers, but really 
> isn't?  The jury is still out for me.

Jen: Obsession was a major theme for more than just romantic 
pairings. Harry was certainly obsessed with Draco and I believe 
Dumbledore had an obsessive air about him with the horcrux hunt that 
could have further implications for the story. 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/146041 

kchulpis writes in the post above about the healthy love going on, 
and that perhaps the shipping has a deeper meaning connected to the 
love theme than simply being light romance to break up the story. 
Tonks and Lupin appeared more on par with Ginny/Harry and 
Ron/Hermione to me, as couples with barriers to overcome before 
getting together.

Jen