Draco and Intent: Re: Snape and Harry’s Sadism (was: Lack of re-examination)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 186862


> > Carol again:
> > What the author can tell us about her book or her intentions in writing her book is only helpful to some degree with regard to specific characters and circumstances and only if the intentions are actually realized within the book itself. Let's say that she intends Ginny to be Harry's ideal wife (as she does). Not every reader is going to agree with her. Or she intends Dumbledore to be "the epitome of goodness." Again, not every reader will agree that she has succeeded in transferring her intention from her own mind to the text itself.
> > 
> jkoney:
> The problem with your point is even if it is realized in the book, spelled out, spoken plainly, etc. you still have people stating that it isn't true. So it doesn't seem to matter how clear the author is, people are still going to "analyze" the story with their own agendas. Therefore the author is never going to be able to make their intentions known.
> 
Carol responds:
I don't understand your point, or possibly you're misunderstanding mine. An author can and sometimes does state his or her intentions (some of them, anyway, those of which he or she is conscious), but if that intention doesn't come out in the text--if it's undetectable by most or all readers--then the intention has not been realized (in the sense of made real) by the author. Obviously, not all intentions need to be stated. Obviously, she intended Harry and no one but Harry to be the hero, as we would know even if his name weren't part of the title of every book. Obviously, she intended Ron and Hermione to be his best friends, with Ron being just a little bit closer if only because they're both boys and have more in common. Obviously, she intended from the beginning for Ron and Hermione (and Harry and Ginny) to get together. Obviously, all of those intentions were realized. However, she also intended for both of those couples to be ideally suited to each other, and readers may or may not agree that she realized that particular intention. Obviously, she intended life at the Dursleys to be unpleasant.
> 
> jkoney:
> Or we could ask the author if she intended life at the Dursley's to be good coming out of evil or any of your other points. That we we would know for sure what she was trying to do.

Carol:
But why does it matter? What matters is not what she intended (hoped, tried, wanted) to do. What matters is what she actually accomplished, intended or unintended.

Good does come out of evil in many instances that I could cite, starting with Voldemort's own AK backfiring on him. It's there; I can't imagine it happening accidentally, without her knowledge, because it's a persistent motif. But we don't need JKR to tell us whether she intended it or not, and if she were to say that she didn't intend it, it would make no difference because it's in the text.

My point is, we don't need the author to tell us what to look for. We can read and interpret it for ourselves.

Carol, who would have made this post considerably longer if she hadn't been urged to hurry up and finish
>