HP as escapist children's literature (was Harry's DADA skill)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 182759

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "julie" <juli17 at ...> wrote:

 Julie:
> Interesting analysis. The thing for me is, I don't think JKR
> was trying to *say* anything when it comes to most of the 
> moral issues in the HP saga. Of course her beliefs are inserted
> here and there, as most all fiction reflect the personality
> and mindset of their authors. 
> 
> I think this is where I got tripped up in DH. I thought JKR
> was trying to say something about morality, ethics, the state
> of society, etc--all those tricky complexities that make up 
> the human condition--and I mean with deliberation, not just as
> a side product of her own views naturally being relfected in
> the saga. But JKR herself said she was not writing a morality
> play, but was simply telling a story that came to her and
> demanded to be told. (Really, I should have listened to her!)
 
> This doesn't take away the entertainment value of the stories,
> or dismiss the moral issues that do naturally come up along
> the way, but it does allow for the fact that many of the issues
> are dealt with inconsistently (e.g. the morality of casting the
> Unforgivable curses), brought up and subsequently ignored (e.g.
> House Elf rights, unity of the Houses), and that quite often
> morality is decided on a situational basis. It was never JKR's
> intent to send moral messages, and I don't even think it was
> her intent for us--adult readers or otherwise--to "get" certain
> messages out of HP, like a sense of disenchantment with the
> Magic World. Rather this disenchantment is a natural byproduct
> of her personal interpretation of that world (and there is 
> nothing wrong with the message coming from how the story 
> developed in the telling rather than as a message very 
> deliberately delivered via a story constructed for just that
> purpose).

> The more general inconsistencies of character and story are
> a different matter, and I think how much that bothers you 
> depends on your own personality. I am a planner, a list-maker,
> and a logical thinker, so for me it is hard to understand 
> how JKR could not keep better track of the people, things,
> and situations within her made-up world. It seems just a 
> bit too sloppy for me. But my sister doesn't really notice
> or care about such things, being that she is a much more
> spontaneous and action-oriented person (a Gryffindor to my
> Ravenclaw I suppose :) So I can see how JKR (a self-avowed
> Gryffindor!) could be less concerned with such detail and
> more concerned with simply telling a story.

Geoff:
But this is surely just like the real world. JKR has presented a 
microcosm of reality, reflected and seen from a different angle.

I have said in past posts when considering the Christian content of
 JKR's writing and that of JRRT and CSL that something of their belief 
will show through. We are inconsistent about moral and ethical 
issues and I suspect that we are all guilty of double standards when 
it suits us because we are fallible humans but those views still 
remain even if deep down. 

I was leading a Bible study today and we remarked on the number 
of times we look at ourselves and and our surroundings and ask 
"How did we get here? What happened to our high hopes and 
aspirations of our younger and more idealistic(?) days?" Have we 
deliberately drifted away from those aims or have we just let life 
chip away and soften our long-held and long fought for views?

To me, JKR's world is the better for being "realistic" in that sense. The 
white hats have shades of grey in their headgear and the black hats 
have little flecks of white . Sorry to digress into Christian things again 
but the study I was leading today was about Peter and I said that I am
always glad that Peter fell over his own feet and opened his mouth at 
the wrong time and occasionally said something which was absolute 
rubbish because I can then identify with him and his battle to reach 
towards perfection in his faith.

If the HP characters were squeaky clean and their moral, ethical and 
everyday approach to everything was beyond reproach and Harry was, 
as Draco sarcastically calls him "Saint Potter", would we even *want*
 to read about them? Perfection is something we will never achieve in 
this life; that is what makes people such intriguing  personalities when 
we see how they are either trying to go by this route or have given up 
and let the world carry them in its flow.

I think I would like to meet your sister; I feel that we have the same 
approach to JKR's books.