[HPforGrownups] Re: Lily' sacrifice v James' sacrifice WAS: Perfect Lily

[rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 150221

> Carol:
> <snip>
> It's Lily's choice that distinguishes her from
> James, who also died bravely defending his family. But since he pulled
> out a wand and offered to fight instead of standing between his child
> and Voldemort, he "had" to die in Voldie's view. If Lily had tried to
> fight him, it's most unlikely that he would have ordered her to stand
> aside. Unfortunately for her and Harry, she'd have died exactly as
> James did, and there would have been no sacrifice to protect Harry.
>
Rebecca:

I'm not sure about this, based on JKR's own words in her Q&A session with 
Mugglenet/Leaky last year when she answered the question of "why did 
Voldemort offer Lily so many chances to live? Would he actually have let her 
live?".  From the transcript:

JKR: [silence] Can't tell you. But he did offer, you're absolutely right. 
Don't you want to ask me why James's death didn't protect Lily and Harry? 
There's your answer, you've just answered your own question, because she 
could have lived and chose to die. James was going to be killed anyway. Do 
you see what I mean? I'm not saying James wasn't ready to; he died trying to 
protect his family but he was going to be murdered anyway. He had no - he 
wasn't given a choice, so he rushed into it in a kind of animal way, I think 
there are distinctions in courage."

The way in which she has phrased this response in order to answer the 
question, along with what I'd call the premier slight-of-hand topic change 
to James, has always made me wonder and vacillate between one viewpoint and 
another on this topic.  On the one hand, I can dig what you're saying, 
Carol, but on the other, I'm just not all the way *there*,  if you know what 
I mean.

What I infer from JKR's answer is that Voldemort really *did* offer her a 
choice, when I read it after the transcripts came out, I was a little 
stunned because while I had seen and understood what Dumbledore and the rest 
were saying about Lily's sacrifice, I thought "well, it's rumor, who would 
know if LV actually offered and how?" But it also begets the question why 
Voldemort, who has no respect for anyone else's life whether Muggle or 
wizard but his own,  gave Lily *a choice*? It's not because she was a 
Muggleborn - he killed Frank Bryce for example, no choice at all and didn't 
care how many Muggles were killed on the Brockdale Bridge (according to 
Fudge he threatened a mass Muggle killing in HBP and apparently did it with 
the bridge.) Why should someone with so much disregard for human life (other 
than his own) give another human *a choice*?

I'm sure I'm posing more questions than I'm answering, but now you know what 
goes on in my suspicious little mind :)

rebecca