CHAPDISC: DH, EPILOGUE

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 185378

 
> Questions:
> 
> 1.  Authors sometimes conclude novels with a chapter telling readers
> what happened to the characters after the action of the book
> concludes (see, for instance, Middlemarch and David Copperfield).
> JKR chose not to do that, instead using post-publication interviews
> to let us know the stories of the people in canon.  In writing the
> epilogue, then, she must have had something specific she wanted to
> achieve or communicate.  What do you think that was?

Pippin:
Traditionally, the heroine's journey ends when she achieves a family,
while the hero's journey ends with the hero married and crowned. By
showing Harry married and with children but in acts of ceding
authority rather than taking it, JKR is either following only half the
pattern, or feminizing the pattern, take your pick. 

Either way, it may account for the feeling of some fans that the
epilogue was incomplete or unsatisfactory, while to JKR it was the
beacon that kept her convinced she could reach the end of her tale.

I believe she said that initially the epilogue did include more of the
various characters, but it didn't seem to work.


> 
> 2. One of the complaints about the epilogue is that it is
> heteronormative.  Is that a fair critique?

Pippin:
I don't think it's any more or less so than the rest of the work. 

> 3. James and Albus have very low opinions of Slytherin House,
despite their parents' attempt to teach them otherwise.  They are
firmly attached to Gryffindor.  What, then, do you think has changed
in the relations among houses and the reputations of the various
houses in nineteen years?

Pippin:
Harry was much more concerned to avoid Percy than Draco! That says
quite a bit. 

IMO, Harry understands that Gryffindor's reputation is inflated and
Slytherin's is unfairly tarnished, paralleling Dumbledore and Snape.
But he understands that it's too abstract a position for pre-teens
like Albus and James, who are not ready to understand that being a
Gryffindor is one thing and living up to the things that Gryffindor is
supposed to stand for is another.

> 
> 4. If there is no difference (at least officially) among houses, why
> is there still a Sorting Hat?

Pippin:
There are  differences, but Harry is no longer willing to say
dogmatically that one House is better than another. He knows that none
of the Houses would survive without the others.

> 
> 5. How do the Potter and Weasley children demonstrate JKR's belief
> that personality traits are hereditary?

Albus seems to have Harry's insecurities while James has his
namesake's brashness. Lily and Hugo can laugh off Ron's jokes, while
Albus and Rose take life more seriously. So definitely personality
traits are inherited, but nobody can say which traits are going to
show up in which child.

> 
> 6. What is JKR suggesting by naming Draco's son Scorpius?

Pippin:
That Draco has not put all his antagonism aside, and has passed that
attitude to his son, or tried to.

> 
> 7. How do you think Harry feels about Teddy Lupin?  Does he see
> himself in Remus and Tonks's son?

Pippin:
I think he's proud of Teddy, but we don't really get to find out what
Harry sees in him. 

> 
> 8. Do you agree with Harry's opinion of Snape?

Of course! I think Harry has learned to judge people by the best of
what is in them, not the worst. 

> 
> 9. In SS, the Sorting Hat considers putting Harry in Slytherin
> because, among his other traits, Harry has "a nice thirst to prove
> yourself" (SS 121).  We know that when Voldemort attempted to curse
> Harry, he inadvertently created a connection between Harry and
> himself.  Do you think that any of Harry's personality or behavior
> was influenced by this bit of Voldemort?  If so, would Harry have
> changed after the piece of Voldemort's soul was gone from his own
> soul?

Pippin:
Harry got abilities from Voldemort's soul, but IMO his personality
traits were his own. He was sometimes tempted to use his abilities,
both his own and Voldemort's, without regard to the welfare of others.
But when he saw the consequences, he put those temptations aside.

> 
> 10. What would Harry see if he looked once more into the Mirror of
> Erised?

Pippin:
I don't think he'd choose to look. As I said, I think he's learned to
put temptation aside.

Pippin
thanking Laura, and all the members of HPFGU who've participated in
the chapter discussions