Of Sorting and Snape

[urghiggi]

No: HPFGUIDX 175614

> 
> houyhnhnm:
> 
 I don't know what to think 
> of these stories.  The conflicting messages are downright 
> weird, as someone else said.
> 
> There were a lot of things I liked about DH.  snip> 
> But some other things, I just don't know what to make of 
> them.  


Julie H:

Right there with ya. The 'crucio' NOT cast in the heat of battle (nor regretted in any way), I 
still have a lot of trouble with. The implication (OK, at least some of us read it that way) 
that the 'good guys' are the elect and that the slytherins are pretty much irredeemable and 
doomed to badness (except for a precious few exceptions), that's a problem for me after 
all that talk about unity. The comeuppances sometimes seemed extreme to me. (I hated 
umbridge as much as the next person... but that Centaur thing in OoP was creepy... what 
did they DO to her out there? As an adult of course I probably am imagining much more 
warped stuff than the average 11 year old...)

The somewhat muddled 'theology' of the whole thing, I still struggle with after 3 readings 
of DH and multiple readings of the other 6. Is Harry Jesus? (No, I don't think so, but there 
sure is a lot of 'sacrificial death' thrown around here.) Is Dumbledore God to Harry's 
everyman 'seeker'? No, again, or Dumbledore wouldn't be so flawed -- or maybe, like 
Pullman, JKR thinks God IS flawed? No, I don't think so -- but what does he represent, if 
anything, in Harry's own spiritual universe? Certainly he is Godlike to Harry in stages ... 
then God falls down, hard ... this does actually mirror the Christian experience for many 
who struggle with doubt ... you doubt, but you choose to do what you think God wants, 
anyway, not knowing. The theme is provocative, but ... you can only go so far with that, in 
terms of the parallels, because they are not perfect. (Unless JKR really DOES think God is 
flawed and possibly nonexistent, in which case the parallels might be closer to the mark.)

I wasn't looking for allegory (would've preferred that it NOT be there actually) but if so 
much Christian theme is going to be batted about, more clarity would've been appreciated.

OTOH -- I continue to very much like what JKR's accomplished in terms of getting people 
to ponder the concepts of soul and death. What is your soul ... is it everlasting? (Hermione 
at least affirms it is in the "ghoul" chapter of DH, where she says that you can't kill the soul 
by killing a body, and that this should be a comfort.) Can repentance fix even very bad 
'soul damage' caused by sin? (Yes, apparently, again, at least in theory -- though I agree 
that LV has never been painted as a character remotely capable of such. Snape could/did 
repent, but ... his degree of redemption is open to interpretation.) 

What happens to our beloved dead? Do they retain personalities? Are they forever lost to 
us... or are they supporting us, just in some way we can't always perceive? The answers to 
these questions from DH are the kind that would be of comfort to those who grieve, and 
presumably comforted the author as well.

So -- good & bad. Beyond the entertainment value, of course, which (despite some 
writing/editing shortcomings) remains substantial. I think a lot of us wanted this saga to 
be MORE than entertaining... indeed it was perceived by many as such... and on that level I 
don't think in the end it was wholly satisfying. (But what piece of fiction could be wholly 
satisfying, universally? I bring my biases/beliefs/hopes to it, you bring yours....)

There's enough discordant stuff in HP7 to really give me pause, and stop me from a 
wholehearted endorsement. There's enough good stuff remaining to stop me from a 
wholesale rejection. I didn't want to finish the series feeling ambivalent about it, but I 
guess that's where I am, for now. However, I DO acknowledge that keeping so many fans 
entertained, engaged, and passionate for so many years (and probably years to come) is a 
considerable achievement that shouldn't be denied.

Julie H, chicago