Hallows - The Cloak and the Story

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 179412

---  "a_svirn" <a_svirn at ...> wrote:
>
> ---  "Lynda Cordova" <moosiemlo@> 
> wrote:
> >
> > a_svirn:
> > 
> > in PS Ron, who had never seen an Invisible Cloak before had
> > no difficulty in recognizing it and said that they are 
> > "rare".
> > 
> > Lynda:
> > 
> > But nothing that is said in DH disputes that. 
> 
> a_svirn:
> But I didn't say that DH contradicts it. All I say is that 
> at no point in the previous six books were we told that all
> the other Cloaks are inferior to the one in Harry's possession.
> All the pre-DH evidence points to the contrary – that they 
> were *like* the Potter's heirloom. Ergo Ignatus Peverel and 
> his legacy must be comparatively late inspiration.
>

bboyminn:

I think we need to consider the Point-of-View character in
discussing this. Harry doesn't know his cloak is ancient. He
knows it was his Dads but he don't know it has been handed
down through generation after generation. As far as he assumes
it is just a bog-standard Invisibility Cloak, and there is
no immediate plot reason for him to think otherwise. Partly
because JKR did not and should not give away the uniqueness 
of Harry's cloak too early in the plot. 

Even taking Ron's POV into consideration, sure he knew what
an I-Coak was, and he may have even seen one at some point,
but it would have been seen from a distance. He certainly 
would not have detailed knowledge of all-thing-cloak. So,
how could Ron know that Harry's cloak was anything but a
first generation bog-standard I-Cloak? I don't think he
could know. 

As someone else pointed out, Moody had his 'good' cloak and
his 'old' cloak, and was mad that his 'good' cloak wasn't 
available. That is very very subtle, but it is a hint that
something or other affects the quality of a cloak. It's not
much, but we have to consider that we the readers discover
information as Harry discovers it. When he discovers the
unsuspected uniqueness of his cloak, at the appropriate time
in the story, that is when we discover it. 

As to the Hallows being an after thought on JKR's part, that
seems unlikely as Dumbledore has his wand and Harry has his
cloak from the very beginning of the books.

As to the last book being flawed, to some extent I can see
that, but none-the-less it was still a ripping good story,
just not up to par with the others. But, to some extent, I
can understand how that happens.

I picture the series as symbolically two funnels placed with
the large ends together. In the beginning the world is 
simple but expanding, by GoF and OotP, it has expanded as 
far as the story will allow. After that, JKR has to start 
contracting the story. She has to focus on the goal and not
let herself be sidetracked from that final objective. 

Plus, she need to keep the book contained to a reasonable 
size. The last book is already over 750 pages, and for a
children's book, that is mammoth in size. But, I think she
over did it. I think she self-edited a degree of heart out
of the story as a result.

Take for example, the long-lasting Polyjuice potion, I think
she skipped over the details of that because she wanted to
keep the story focused and not have to deal with writing
minor details like the Gang having to stop now and then to
take more 'juice'. So, she simply skipped over those extra
pages as being unnecessary to the central story. Again, 
the objective is to stay focused on the goal and eliminate
anything that detracts from that direct-line path. I do 
think this obsession with staying on the straight-and-
narrow took some of the richness from the story, but at the
same time I take the books as they are written. 

Some literary criticism is fun and productive, but 'hating' 
the books is pointless because you can't rewrite the story. 
It is negative energy that will only bring you down. Enjoy the
story that was written, flaws and all, rather than fuming about
the  story you wanted to be written.

Just a thought, plus a little more.

Steve/bboyminn