CHAPTER DISCUSSIONS: DH7 - Scrimgeour

[prep0strus]

No: HPFGUIDX 179081

KJ:
> 17.	Does anyone feel that the antagonism between Scrimgeour and Harry
> is too contrived? Is it necessary to the plot?

Prep0strus:
I'd like to build on that and ask what people think of the character
of Scrimgeour and his purpose in the series at large.  He's a bit of a
mystery to me.  His entrance and presentation in the story led me to
believe he would have a much more important role to play in the story
at large.

I guess in the end it comes down to the view of the ministry - new
face, same old crap.  But I was disappointed to find out there wasn't
more, and was wondering how others felt about it.

JKR is good at giving a quick image of a character, but I felt like
her description was even more powerful than usual with Scrimgeour. 
And his comparison to a 'lion' surely must have instigated Gryffindor
thoughts in readers other than myself - these are not things that JKR
is usually subtle about.  The image of a lion, the image of a snake...
these are rote symbols in the WW.

And his personality, so different from Fudge's... I got the feeling
something was really going to happen with the ministry.  I even got
the feeling that old Rufus might have knowledge of secrets we had not
been told yet... he certainly is reminiscent of Mad-Eye - scarred and
brusque, and there's probably a lot below the surface.  Was he finally
going to align the ministry with Dumbledore?  Would he reveal the
secrets Dumbledore's been hiding?  Was he a Voldemort plant?  Did he
have some radically different approach to the WW?

No.  He was just a guy who pretty much kept everything how it was. 
Removing Fudge was politically expedient, not a move actually designed
to accomplish anything.  Rufus was a powerful image of a man who
amounted to very little but a sounding board for Harry -
representative of the not-evil-but-lame forces that impeded him.

I was disappointed, because I felt that his introduction was so strong
that surely he would matter more to the story.  When he was simply
killed off-stage, I was befuddled.  I just didn't understand why such
a big deal had been made of him for him to not do anything worthwhile
or unique.  It reminds me of my feelings about the time invested in
Draco in HBP for such a poor payoff in DH.  I realize that Scrimgeour
is not nearly the character Draco is, but I'm curious whether anyone
else had a response like mine, or whether people simply expected him
to be and accepted him as this tertiary character with little impact
or purpose of character.

~Adam (prep0strus)