[HPforGrownups] Re: Of Sorting and Snape

[Irene Mikhlin]

No: HPFGUIDX 175644

lizzyben wrote:



Where I think many of us went wrong was in seeing this as a
Bildungsroman or a traditional "coming of age" series, when it is not.
It's not a Jungian integration fairy tale, either. It's a straight-up
revenge narrative, set in a fantasy setting. Harry is a magical Count
of Monte Cristo - and his enemies all get karmic justice. Although
it's actually even worse than that book, because the Count eventually
learns that you can take revenge too far, regrets his actions, and
offers forgiveness to his enemies. Harry & co. never get a
similar heads-up. 

Irene:

I kept hoping (not up to book 7, but quite for a long time) that JKR is taking Gryffindor vs Slytherin issue somewhere in the direction of Musketeers vs. Cardinal's Guards. Where two groups recognised that their rivalry is just a game after all, the allocations are quite random (even though it's very important to be loyal to your regiment after the "Sorting"), and both sides are human. Even d'Artagnan and Rochefort can become friends in the end.
 Alas, that was not to be.

Dumas was writing a jolly good adventure, for money and pleasure. And JKR was writing apparently a well thought out book with important messages for children and adults. And somehow there is more humanity in the first one. Weird.

Irene