Unreliable narrator yet again.

[eggplant107]

No: HPFGUIDX 177988

 "Carol" <justcarol67 at ...> wrote:

> Harry's parents supposedly dying 
> in a car accident

If the narrator had said Harry's parents died in a car crash that
would indeed be an unreliable narrator, but a narrator saying that is
what Harry was told is not a unreliable narrator. A narrator can be
ambiguous, he can leave important stuff out, but I can't think of any
third person narrator that is an outright liar, at least not in a book
that is better than a bucket of warm spit. An author can be tricky but
must play fair. Misdirection is great but you've got to be careful,
cross the line and have the third person narrator outright lie and
your book is crap.

>  The last example I can recall is also
> in DH, a reference to Dumbledore's 
> "betrayal" of Harry. DD has not betrayed Harry; 

I very very strongly disagree! Dumbledore did betray Harry, and
although it would have pained me a great deal to be so treacherous I
would have betrayed Harry too if I had been in Dumbledore's place. 
In a war a general needs to make lots of very unpleasant decisions.
Dumbledore was virtually certain that Harry would die when he fought
Voldemort for the last time, but he didn't tell Harry that, and I
would not have told Harry the truth either however much I liked him.
War is not a pretty thing and some things simply have to be done.
 
Eggplant