[HPforGrownups] Perfect Lily (Re: But DID James listen?)

[rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 150080

<snipped prior discussion - all good but relative for what I'm about to 
reply>

>> Jen: Likeable and good vs. nearly flawless are different
> characterizations and not exactly what I'm trying to get at. All the
> major characters on the Good side have contributed in some way to
> the current situation through a mistake or misstep: Dumbledore,
> Peter, Snape (before switch and possibly after), Sirius/James,
> Lupin, even the Trio. Lily stands alone as having done the
> singularly right thing by her sacrifice.
>

Rebecca:

Lily does stand alone as "doing the right thing" by her sacrifice, but if 
you note, it's not the only thing she's done. The example in the Pensieve 
clearly shows Lily acting to protect others, even if the bullying is aimed 
at Snape by other students who apparently were respected by the rest of the 
school. Let's look at the bigger picture:  James never did anything to hurt 
Snape physically in his bullying (re: the Pensieve scene) - but Snape's 
retaliation for that was to inflict harm, given the cut on James' face. Lily 
popped up to say no to James bullying Snape, even after that.  In this, Lily 
displays courage and moral fiber just as Neville did in PS/SS by standing up 
to his friends.

In Rowling's world, given a choice to give one's life unselfishly and to 
choose to do it for another in support of the greater good of all depicts 
love.  Much focus is placed on Harry having protection from his mother's 
sacrifice and he does, however Lily's sacrifice was inevitably for the good 
of all, because as DD says, our actions have such far reaching consequences 
that predicting the future is very difficult.

I've not much doubt that James and Lily knew the prophecy word for word - 
and Lily figured out what she had to do after LV came for tea at GH that 
Halloween night and after killing James. But did they *believe* it? Let's 
remember that if she knew the prophecy, she knew her son *could be* marked 
an equal by LV. How to force that given the situation she was in, I wonder? 
The moment of her choice may be significant because I am not sure Lily nor 
James believed the prophecy - they'd already thwarted LV 3 times, so it's 
logical for them to come to the conclusion that with each successive 
thwarting, their odds of survival diminished.

I think Lily, at that moment in front of LV alone, made what philosophers 
call the moral "leap of faith." That, I think, is the reason why JKR singles 
out Lily's death moreso than James. It has to be, because she consciously 
made a decision to die (the moral choice for self sacrifice for the good of 
her son and, perhaps, for all) and hope with her death Harry would be 
spared, and possibly the rest of wizardkind benefit from her sacrifice.

rebecca