CHAPDISC: DH, EPILOGUE

[kneazlecat54]

No: HPFGUIDX 185510

<snip>
> > 1.  Authors sometimes conclude novels with a chapter telling
> > readers what happened ... In writing the epilogue, then, she
> > must have had something specific she wanted to achieve or 
> > communicate.  What do you think that was?
> 
> bboyminn:
> 
<snip>...to have endured the pain and misery of battle and death,
> yet to still have the strength to not let the horrors of
> war destroy you, is a heroic act in itself.
> 
> She wanted to show Harry and Ron in that light. She wanted us
> to see that they struggled on to be good fathers and husbands.
> That they carried on in spite of themselves and what they
> has endured. 

Laura replies:

Steve, I hadn't thought of that, and it's an excellent point.  WWII is 
perhaps even more alive in British memory than it is in ours, so JKR 
would be familiar with people who "had bad wars", as someone commented 
about Frank Bryce.  Also, only people who have had extraordinary 
things happen to them can appreciate the preciousness of the normal.  
Harry always wanted to be a normal wizard, not The Boy Who Lived, and 
the epilogue showed that he got his wish.

> > 2. One of the complaints about the epilogue is that it is
> > heteronormative.  Is that a fair critique?
> > 
> 
> bboyminn:
> 
> I'm as much a Slasher as the next guy, but the fact is, we
> live in a hetro-normative world. <snip>

Laura replies:

Me too!  (Remus and Sirius 4ever!) Although what is normative is up to 
debate, isn't it?  You might say we live in a Christian-normative 
world, but it's incorrect to assume that everyone you meet is 
Christian (although people do that all the time, of course).  We can 
change the composition of normative just be being more inclusive, and 
JKR took that into account in creating her racially, socioeconomically 
and religiously diverse world.  But much as I would have loved to see 
an out gay character, I'm not convinced that it wouldn't have been an 
awkward intrusion into the story.  At this point, we can talk about 
straight couples without picturing their sex lives in our heads, but 
with gay couples, too many people still have that visual as their 
first reaction.
> 
> > 3. James and Albus have very low opinions of Slytherin House,
> > ... They are firmly attached to Gryffindor.  What, then, do 
> > you think has changed in the relations among houses ...?
> > 
> 
> bboyminn:
> 
<snip> Even if students were assigned to Houses at random, there would 
still be House rivalry. <snip> I think the rivalries are just as 
fierce, but probably not quite as bitter as they were in Harry's day. 
I also suspect we have a very narrow view of House rivalry as we see 
it mostly through Harry and Draco's eyes. <snip>
<snip>

Laura replies:

But a random sort is going to produce a different kind of rivalry than 
a sort based on personality characteristics.  It's one thing to say 
"we want our house to win" and it's another to say "we have to beat 
those losers in Hufflepuff".  [Just an example, everyone knows Badgers 
rule!]  If the sorting is still being done on the old basis, it would 
seem to me that the same problems would arise in a very short time.
<snip>
> > 5. How do the Potter and Weasley children demonstrate JKR's 
> > belief that personality traits are hereditary?
> > 
> 
> bboyminn:
<snip>I'm not sure JKR is really pushing the idea that traits are
> inherited. Certainly the idea exists, I just don't think she
> is pushing it. 
> 
Laura replies:

I see this as part of JKR's deep interest in family.  The idea that 
parents can live on in their children and grandchildren is, I think, 
very important to her, especially when, as in Harry's case and her 
own, a parent is taken away by death before the child is fully grown.
> 
> > 6. What is JKR suggesting by naming Draco's son Scorpius?
> > 
> 
> bboyminn:
> 
> I'm not sure there is much going on here beyond cool names
> associated with constellations. <snip>

Laura replies:

Then do you think that Draco is changed?  A name like this, with its 
reptilian, threatening overtone, suggests otherwise to me.  JRK is 
very deliberate about names, and this one isn't exactly warm and 
cuddly.
<snip>
> 
> > 10. What would Harry see if he looked once more into the Mirror
> > of Erised?
> > 
> bboyminn:
> 
> <snip> His contentment come from family, friends, and duty. Without 
those who love him, I think Harry would feel like nothing. So rather 
than seeing himself, he would see those whom he loves and those who 
love him. 

Laura replies:

Yes, I think that too.  I would imagine Harry would see not only his 
living family, but those who died in both wars against LV and were 
especially dear to him.  I suspect that his guilt about Remus extends 
to many of the victims of the Battle of Hogwarts.

Thanks, Steve!  I always love your posts.