I think Harry will die (was: I don't think that Harry will die)

[eggplant107]

No: HPFGUIDX 160230

Katherine Coble Wrote:

> you, like many others, have come to expect 
> bloody grand finales as the only 
> satisfactory conclusion to entertainment. 

It would be going too far to say that violence is the only way to end
a story, but I can't help thinking of the advice Raymond Chandler, one
of the greatest mystery writers of all time, gave to aspiring authors:
"If the story starts to slow down, have two guys with guns come
through the door." That sound like sound advice to me.

> Harry will undoubtedly have a glimpse beyond 
> the veil, but his untimely death will NOT 
> factor into the conclusion. 

If you see me reading a scene in book 7 with Harry cavorting with his
parents, Dumbledore, and Sirius in the afterlife then stand back; I'm
likely to start to projectile vomit.

> JKR brags about the chip of ice in her heart.

I can't pretend I don't know what you're talking about because I do;
but that sliver of ice in her heart is what makes JKR a great writer.
In less capable hands the Potter sage could very easily have slipped
into sickly sweet maudlin pap; but that's not what happened. From book
1 the reader knows this author is different, this author is ruthless,
this author is dangerous, this author may even be unbalanced; none of
her characters is safe, not one, not even Harry.

Saturday morning cartoons this is not.

> I think the message Rowling is trying 
> to show is that [
.]

I don't believe JKR is terribly interested in sending messages through
her novels; if she wants to send a message she'll send an Email. I
believe JKR just wants to write the best story she possibly can, she
wants to write a story that people will remember, an epic, a story for
the ages. 

And Harry living happily ever after just won't do the trick. The fact
that a reader loves the hero makes his death all the more powerful;
Homer understood this, Shakespeare too. 

justcarol67 Wrote:

> If one of her chapters is entitled 
> "The Man Who Died," at least half of
> her readers will throw the book away unread.

Yes that's probably true, and for a good 25 seconds, maybe even 30,
the book would lie there in the trash can, but then the temptation
would become too great and the book is pulled out of the old circular
file and read.

> killing Harry off would be to choose the easy way

Easy? I think not. When JKR kills Harry she will probably become the
most hated women in the world; it will not be easy. She will have to
choose between doing what is easy and doing what is right. Killing
Harry is right, from the literary point of view. I believe JKR will
decide to do what is right.

Eggplant