Wasted potential in Pettigrew and my overall disappointment with DH

[clio44a]

No: HPFGUIDX 173437

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "guzuguzu" <guzuguzu at ...> wrote:
>
> Peter Pettigrew: Wasted potential for a character:
> 

<SNIP>

> Reading DH to me was like having that plane door open in the wrong
> country.  Now, I really don't care about things like what the Potters'
> jobs were (they died when they were 21-- probably nothing exciting) or
> who came late to magic. But I wondered why I had spent so much time in
> previous books reading about things which were ultimately irrelevant. 
>SNIP<


Thank you, guzu, you put my thoughts in writing, better than I could 
ever have done.
I totally agree with your view on Pettigrew and DH in general.
Although I'm dissappointed with how many stories and detours we saw
during the previous books turned out to be irrelevant, I think the
problem may lie in our, or at least my 'wrong' perception of the
story. Let me explain.

I think for JKR it was very important to make a point about how the
future is in the hands of children. The trio and their friends are the
ones that save the world. The focus of the epilogue is on the newest
generation of the wizarding world. And isn't the poem at the beginning
of the books also about children? (Have lend my book to a friend, so I
can'tlook it up)
I also think all whole generation of the marauders is killed on
purpose as the books progress. They depicted as a generation lost. At
least I think JKR intended it this way. That's why Lupin has to die at
his climax of happiness. Although she gives us a lot of backstory, JKR
isn't interested in the fate of that generation and that's why none of
them is shown to overcome their limitations and torments. Sirius never
get's to enjoy his freedom, Lupin can't live in acceptance of him
being a werewolf. The even more conflicted characters Wormtail and
Snape are not used to their full narrative potential and die
unrecognized and in a rather dissappointing way. 

The most people here on this list are adults. So am I. I can only
speak for myself, but I naturally took interest in the adult
characters in the books. After all they were closer to me agewise than
 Harry and his friends. It intrigued me to learn more and more about
their backstories and to speculate about their past and future on this
list. Probably *because* I am no child, the little scraps of
backstories for me were equally if not more important as the love life
of Ginny and the quidditch games. For me the marauders' generation was
never a completly lost cause, but very intersting characters with
potential. 
The point is, to me it looks like I have taken the wrong perspectives
on the books. The marauder generation was never ment to be of key
importance. That realization makes me feel hollow and dissappointed. 
Maybe it explains also why JKR seemed always so surprised about the
level of speculating her stories rised among adult readers. She maybe
never saw the informations given as terribly important. Nice extras
coming alive with the power of her storytelling, but not important for
the point she was going to make. 

So, yeah, I too see a lot of potential wasted in DH, but I fear JKR
never shared our perspective on the importance of the adult
characters. So for her it is not a waste at all.

At the end I would like to add to your list of unused previous plot
elements two points.
What was the point of Harry being the Chosen One and all this talk
about the power-the-Dark-Lord-knows-not and Harry not using
Unforgivables, if in the end it was all about being by mere chance to
Master of the Death stick? 

What about all the moral talking (Quote Sirius: The world isn't
divided in good people and Death Eaters. Quote Ddore(?): You will have
to chose between what is right and what is easy), when in the end
there were no real surprises in peoples loaylties (Snape being a
questinable exception). The good guys were good - no traitors in the
order or the Weasley family, the bad guys were bad -no Slyterin
student fighting alongside HRH, Draco being a jerk to the end. 

And Snape and the reinforcemnt of his story through the Bloody Baron's
background teaches us what? Don't trust a Slytherin, even if he is in
love with you. They are all obsessive, sick stalkers, who will kill
you?   

Clio,
who excuses if not making sense in her argumentation. English is not
her native language.