Wasted potential in Pettigrew and my overall disappointment with DH

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 173487

 
Guzuguzu wrote:

Among my disappointments in DH, one of my top ones  was Peter Pettigrew.
Here I thought Rowling had created an interesting and  unusual character
with incredible potential for a good storyline. Here's the  set-up we
have from the pre-DH books:

-Peter was a friend of Harry's  parents and former Order member (so
presumably has a lot of important  knowledge for Harry)
- He joined Voldemort, though seemingly out of fear, not  because he
particularly agreed with the political cause
- He outsmarted  everyone (for years) with his betrayal and faked-death
- Harry saved his  life, so he owes him a life-debt
- He practically saved Voldemort's life and  was rewarded a silver hand

(possibly important since we had werewolves,  good and bad, running
around)
- Despite that, he did not seem too  well-respected amongst the other
Death Eaters and didn't seem to be too  happy
- He spent time living with (and presumably spying on) Snape in  his
childhood home

Given all that, I was fairly sure Rowling was going  to give a big finish
to this character. I won't comment on what I thought she  should have
done, but there were so many ways she could have gone (full  redemption
by switching back over, double-crossing both sides, giving  Voldemort
some damaging info on Snape, etc.) but instead we got him  choking
himself in the closet in a two-line scene without one second  of
suspense. The life-debt (which seemed to be fairly important in book  3)
may as well have not existed. What was the point of any of  it?
 
Julie:
And I thought this was a great use of Peter's character, and that JKR made  a
point well. Peter's end was perfect to me. He lived an ignonimous life--he  
had
very few redeeming qualities (the barest hint of mercy toward the son  of his
"friend" James being one of them), and he was a coward (I still don't  know 
how
he could have been sorted into Gryffindor, unless he simply *wanted* to be  
there
and the Sorting Hat bowed to that desire even though Peter had no  apparent
Gryffindor qualities, which sets up a whole other discussion about the  
sorting
and the Sorting Hat!). So to me Peter deserved an ignomious death,  which is
exactly what he got.
 
I guess this is just another example of how we each see the characters  
differently
and each had different desires and expections for their fates!
 
Julie 


 



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