[HPforGrownups] Re: The 'Seeming' Reality

[fair wynn]

No: HPFGUIDX 155615

Sydney
>
>To return to Wynleaf's question about reader misdirection in HP--
>there's a very nice example in the setup about Peter Pettigrew.
>Becuase of how McGonnegal describes him, Harry connects him with
>Neville, which sets up a radically different sort of personality than
>we're expecting!  And, of course, the revelation about James'
>character as a careless bully, which has to be my favorite shocker in
>the series-- I totally didn't see it coming and laughed aloud at the
>Pensive scene.  The technique here is to put the truth in the mouth of
>a disagreeable character-- Snape says James was arrogant and strutted
>around, and so he did, but who believed him?  The truth is hidden in
>plain sight.  I've noticed this technique used a lot by Wilkie
>Collins-- has JKR ever mentioned him as an influence?

wynnleaf
I haven't seen her mention Collins, but the technique of putting truth in a 
disagreeable character's mouth as certainly not only from JKR.  In fact, 
it's so interesting that so far I *think* that all of Snape's comments that 
we have any proof of, one way or the other, have turned out to be true, or 
at least there is some strong evidence to support them.  I was interested to 
notice recently that DD says, of Snape's discontinuing the occlumency 
lessons, that some scars are too deep for healing.  He didn't say or even 
imply that Snape was being petty and his saying that Snape's hatred of James 
is a result of a scar too deep for healing actually tends to recognize the 
legitimacy of whatever Snape has against James.  I mention that only to 
point out a bit more evidence for the things Snape has had to say about 
James -- a person we used to assume, pre-OOTP, was just as honorable and 
good as Harry thought him.


I'm still wondering who we'll be surprised at in Book 7.  Surely not just 
Snape.

wynnleaf

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