JKR's Intent

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 178770

> >>Magpie:
> > No, I think she means the default assumption is that what's
> > actually on the page is what's actually in the story. Hermione
> > could have become the Israeli Prime Minister for all we know, but
> > it's not in the story because it's not on the page so that's not
> > the ending she was written. Hermione doing anything whatsoever in
> > her professional life is not part of the epilogue. The ending
> > written on the page is that she has babies.

> >>zgirnius:
> Hermione marrying a totally impoverished, and less smart, and less
> ambitious, and less magically talented Ron, and having babies, seems
> to call for someone in that family to have a career.
> <snip>

> Betsy Hp:
> Obviously, after his hot and steamy affair with Mrs. Zabini, and 
> after the failed murder attempt, Ron raked in tons of dough from
> the out of court settlement.  Meanwhile, Hermione was pulling in a
> good buck working her blackmail gig on Rita (that tell-all book
> sold like hot cakes).
> 
> By the time Ron and Hermione got together and had a few kids they
> had enough to follow their buddy's lead and live off the interest.  
> What?  There's nothing to say that *didn't* happen, and I'm using 
> actual canon to build it! <RBEG>

Jen: Hee, well, it would make a good fanfic anyway.  Seriously 
though, I don't get why it's fine to make resonable assumptions about 
something like the Marietta incident in order to get it work the way 
a reader was imagining it, but not to say that Hermione would have a 
career in her lifetime after 7 books worth of character development, 
including information that Hermione thinks about her future career.  
One point of fiction is every single moment isn't on page, it 
requires imagination to get parts of a story to work at times, all 
stories, every fiction book I've read.  It's why they're fiction!!  

Sure, it's selective on here because there's also the point of 
building a case for one reading over another, and sometimes to build 
a case there's a gap to fill.  The difference seems to be how someone 
would choose to fill that gap, not that some people engage in it and 
others don't.  Basically, my opinion is if the 'default assumption' 
as Magpie puts it is what is literally on page, then imagination gets 
parked at the door and debate becomes more focused on smaller and 
smaller portions of 'acceptable' material - and what information is 
deemed acceptable - rather than engaging with the text on the 
different levels that fiction promotes.

Back to Hermione, the story doesn't end with her as a 17 (18?) year 
old but 19 years later.  Things have occurred that aren't *in the 
story* and yet the story continues.  To me, the point by zgirnius up 
above is a reasonable point to put up for debate.  I understand where 
someone would say, 'well no, I don't think Hermione ever had a career 
because remember this, this and this that occurred in the story?  
That's why I don't think she worked and instead really her greatest 
hope was to have a family and stay at home with her children.'  But 
for the argument to be 'oh well, you can fill in any old thing you 
want at that point so there shouldn't be any filling in at all.' 
Well, no, Hermione's been developed as a certain type like all 
fictional characters who 'come alive' on the page; it doesn't seem 
like just *anything* would fill certain spaces, like saying Ron had 
an affair with Ms. Zabini for instance. ;)  If he'd actually met her 
in the story, had a conversation with her, *something* to indicate he 
was headed that way then sure, I might debate the possibility. 

Is anyone debating this point saying they don't think a character 
developed like Hermione would have a career or that she changed her 
mind about having a career based on information in the story?  I 
don't think that's the point being made.  The point seems to be 
promoting a certain default assumption that may not be an acceptable 
rule of engagement for everyone.  'It's not on the page' felt good 
when I used it one time because it shut down the debate I was having, 
but my default assumption is something more like: 'people reading 
fiction fill in text at certain points to make their reading work 
when there are gaps in the story.'  That makes more sense to me since 
most readings don't have every single moment written in black/white. 

Jen