The Statute of Secrecy

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 158925

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Bruce Alan Wilson"
<bawilson at ...> wrote:
>
> Justcarol67:
> "at least some of the characters' actions are determined by the world 
> they live in and its peculiar laws and worldview."
> 
> BAW:
> And this is different from all of us in the RW because. . . . .?
>
Carol responds:
I don't recall making the point that the characters' situation was
different from those of us in the RW. My point was that JKR needed a
reason for the separation of the WW and the RW because we Muggles need
an explanation for our inability to see the WW if we are to believe
(or suspend our disbelief in it), that the reason/method she chose was
the Statute of Secrecy, and that the Statute in turn has consequences
for the characters, in some instances shaping their actions (as it
shapes Dumbledore's in the scene involving Mrs. Cole). The particular
minor point I was making is that despite the thematic emphasis on
choice, laws like the statute (along with the worldview that brought
it about) sometimes shape the actions of even the best characters.
Even the believers in choice sometimes have no choice--exactly as in
the RW, though I didn't say so.

In short, once she chooses the Statute of Secrecy as the reason for
our lack of knowledge of the WW, she needs means to implement it
(memory charms, etc.) and her law-abiding characters are obliged to
obey it. Possibly she could have come up with a better reason and/or
means of keeping the WW (largely) secret from the RW, but once she's
chosen this reason/means, she has to follow through with it. Whether
she was aware of the problems the Statute would cause for her
characters and her readers when she first conceived of it, I don't
know. All I'm saying is that once she's committed to that concept,
both she and her characters are stuck with it.

Carol, hoping that her point is clear now and not appreciating the
tone of the comment she's responding to