[HPforGrownups] Re: Victory for TEWWW EWWW

[Maeg]

No: HPFGUIDX 173439

lizzyben wrote:

> So what was the point of it all? Gryfindors & Slytherins still hate
> each other, Slytherin still equals evil, and there'll be another Dark
> Lord in ten years, tops. Voldemort was the symptom, not the disease.
> And he was a symptom of a profoundly broken, corrupt, fragmented,
> oppressive society - as long as that society does not change, it'll
> keep on churning out Dark Lords on a regular basis.

I just finished re-reading book one of Susan Cooper's The Dark Is  
Rising series (I'm trying to get a little perspective on why I really  
hated DH). In this series, it is very clear that the battle between  
good and evil is repeatedly fought but never won. It's the struggle  
that is important -- and keeping balance between the opposing forces.  
The Dark is important, if only to throw the Light into relief. This  
tricky concept has been used successfully a construct for  
sophisticated narrative fiction.

However, it totally doesn't work in JKR's world. From the beginning  
she's never espoused anything like this. It's always been clear that  
Harry will triumph over Voldemort and the world will be a better  
place for it. The prophecy, a key plot point, clearly shows that in  
this world, Good or Evil will vanquish the other. Not permanently  
(the early hint of Grindewald suggests that evil is always with us),  
but significantly. In the Potterverse, the struggle isn't as  
important as the end result. Again, not a new concept, but one that  
also has been successfully used in narrative fiction (indeed, I'd  
venture that it's a much more popular theme).

And therein lies my problem with DH. JKR gave us an ending where the  
root cause is still spinning madly, supplying the next good-vs-evil  
battle. But she promised us a series where that would not be the  
case. It's this disconnect that is so jarring -- and it's another  
piece of the betrayal of the reader.

<snipped lizzyben's comments a bit>

> That's the fundamental *weirdness* of this ending to me. Other
> novels about rivalries or feuds end w/some sense of reconciliation
> between the feuding parties, of lessons learned & wisdom gained. Not
> this one. In Romeo & Juliet, the tragic deaths lead the feuding
> families to reconcile & seek peace. But here, it's like the Capulets
> realized that the Montagues are totally evil & worthless, & it really
> was all the Montagues' fault anyway. Uh, yay?

Yes, weirdness is a good way to describe it. It just seems so wrong  
in tone, and so totally evil.


> lizzyben, who couldn't even be happy about Evil!Dumbledore.

Ach, me too! I love dark, compex characters (which I why I was  
fascinated by Snape and why I got bored with puppet Harry). I should  
have loved seeing this side of Dumbledore. I should be frantically  
rereading the earlier books for hints and different interpretations.

Instead, I can't bring myself to even look at the bookshelf. I feel  
tricked and lied to (in the meanest sort of way), and have lost  
interest.

Given that, you may wonder why I'm here. I guess I'm hoping that  
someone will be able to change my point of view. I still want to  
believe, but my eyes have been opened.

Maeg

My mind isn't always in the gutter -- sometimes it comes out to feed.