Wasted potential in Pettigrew and my overall disappointment with DH

[melrosedarjeeling]

No: HPFGUIDX 173866

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "guzuguzu" <guzuguzu at ...> 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. 
<snip>
> Given all that, I was fairly sure Rowling was going to give a big 
finish
> to this 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>

Yes! I couldn't agree more. You have expressed this dilemma perfectly. 
I think it's one of JKR's greatest strengths that she creates such 
intriguing characters and drops them into situations that are so 
fraught with possibility. It sets your head spinning with all the 
delicious potential directions that the story could take -- no wonder 
it has spawned a million fanfics. But the flip side of this strength 
(dare I call it a weakness?) is that after creating breathless 
expectation for the reader, half of the possibilities are just dropped 
with no further development, no sense that the story arc has come to 
its best possible conclusion. And she doesn't just drop the 
character/story line because there's no room, she drops them in order 
to introduce further characters (eg. Xenophilius, Grindelwald, 
Narcissa, Aberforth, Ted Tonks, Griphook as some examples of people who 
had barely appeared previously but had a big role in the finale) and 
further story lines (hallows, camping). 

Of course, "it's JKR's story, she can tell it how she wants to," this 
is true! But she is responsible for the expectations she generates in 
the way that she tells the story. (I'm not saying that I think that she 
has to fulfill everyone's fantasy ending -- I'm just saying that a 
satisfying story is one which fulfills the expectations it has created.)

When I read the ending to Pettigrew's character I laughed out loud 
because I couldn't believe that was what all the buildup had been 
about -- it just seemed so weak. And to name a few other intriguing 
storylines with unsatisfying or no follow through: Sirius behind the 
veil; Ginny the powerful hex caster; Longbottoms and Lockhart sitting 
in St. Mungo's just waiting for some action; Petunia bursting with 
information about Lily; the unexplored doors at the Dept. of Mysteries; 
Tonks & Lupin dying off-page; and the horcruxes basically abandoned as 
a plot line, as they are hurriedly found and off-handedly destroyed 
(one off-page). I'm sure everyone has their own list. 

That said, most book series have similar problems, so perhaps the 
miracle is that JKR was able to end so many of the story lines as 
satisfyingly as she did.

-MelroseDarjeeling