good and bad Slytherins/Disappointment and Responsibility

[houyhnhnm102]

No: HPFGUIDX 175401

Julie again:

> One thing that really actually interests me a good 
> deal about this group is the amount of discussion 
> that does seem to be generated specifically by ambiguity 
> in the text, and passionate arguments based on 
> interpretation of the ambiguity. I'm interested, I 
> guess, in how much of that ambiguity is actually 
> intentional (a reflection of authorial craft) and 
> how much isn't (a reflection of authorial sloppiness.... 
> or, just as likely, the author's own ambiguous 
> ideas/feelings about the subject matter... or 
> traits/notions within the writer that are not well 
> understood even by the writer). When you have such 
> an unusual amount of secondary canon, as with JKR, 
> to me it becomes irresistible to look at those quotes, 
> and how the author sees the work, and how that's 
> consonant/dissonant with how I as a reader have 
> responded to the work.

houyhnhnm:

Yes, I see.  I'm not sure I have a lot of confidence 
in the answers she has given in interviews, many of 
which seem to have been carefully crafted to keep 
readers from guessing the ending.  I think I might be 
more interested in reading what she has to say about 
the Harry Potter series after the distance of a few 
years, when she is no longer playing the role of JK 
Rowling megacelebrity.  And even then, I have no way 
of knowing the degree of insight she possesses into 
her own conscious and unconscious intentions.  

Julie H:

> If there's ambiguity in the work, to me it's interesting 
> to try to figure out whether that stems from actual 
> ambiguity in the author's world view, from an intentional 
> authorial decision to leave a lot open to reader interp, 
> or from the author's shortcomings in skill (in other words, 
> the author had a clear intention to say "X", but the readers 
> think the author said "Y" or "Z" or "X" but also "Y" 
> or whatever.).

houyhnhnm:

That is an interesting question for me, too.  I have 
been thinking about that ambiguity and the passages in 
the book that address the question of truth.  For example:

"The truth," Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and 
terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with 
great caution."

Choose what to believe. [Harry] wanted the truth.  
Why was everybody so determined that he should not get it?

So I have wondered if the ambiguity was intentional.  
Specifically, I have been thinking about the ambiguity 
in *all* the scriptures of the world and the way people 
have argued over their interpretation for thousands of 
years.  Was it intentional on Rowling's part to echo 
that or did it just happen. Accidently on purpose?  
Consciously?  Unconciously?  Was she just being sloppy?  
Is she only a confused moral reasoner?  I'm not sure 
we'll ever know and I'm not sure it matters to me. I 
construct my own meaning.  I think that's what all readers 
have to do ultimately, regardless of the intent of the author.