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

[mesmer44]

No: HPFGUIDX 186876

 
> > > 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.

Steve replies:  Perhaps in your opinion, which is what this actually is. In my opinion and in the opinion of those who actually have some degree of respect for what an author has to say about their work after they've completed it, what that author says about her intentions in writing her book is extremely helpful, whether or not those intentions were actually realized within the book or not. 

Carol continues:
 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.
> > >

Steve replies:  Right you are. Not every reader is going to agree with her.  And as JKoney has astutely pointed out, for very subjective agendas and as I might add, often completely silly or irrational reasons. Maybe the reader doesn't think of Ginny as Harry's ideal wife because they hate the name Ginny or loves bats and hates Ginny's character for using a bat bogey hex and hurting innocent bats. Maybe the reader   
thinks of Dumbledore as the epitome of goodness because Richard Harris was their favorite actor and, why, how could anyone played by Richard Harris in a movie be anything but good? In other words, readers interpret what they read according to their own very subjective agendas. And those readers who actually value the author's work more than they value nitpicking that author's work to death, are genuinely interested in what the author feels and thinks about their characters.
 
> > 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. <SNIP>

Steve replies:

I understood the point Jkoney was making completely. It doesn't matter whether or not the author's intention comes out in the text. Readers are so preoccupied w/ their own subjective agendas in reading the book that you could hit the author's intentions over their head w/ a sledge hammer and they wouldn't feel it. As Jkoney stated, the author's intention won't get the chance to become known because of the personal emotional and psychological and even intellectual agendas of the readers preventing the author's real intentions from being known. Your talking about readers who cry for hours after reading about the death of a favorite character...a favorite fictional character! They could care less why the author wrote that death scene. They could care less what the author intended for that scene. All they see is that their favorite character is dead, or that a character they hate is still alive, or some such subjective plot consideration happening.  

Jkoney isn't saying you can't discuss the author's work or disagree w/ what they wrote, or even agree with it for varying reasons. He (and now I) am simply saying that people are going to discuss the author's work according to their own personal opinions and agendas that may or may not make sense to anyone but them. 
> > 
 
> Carol:
<SNIP>
 My point is, we don't need the author to tell us what to look for. We can read and interpret it for ourselves.

Steve replies:

My point is that while we may not need the author to tell us what to look for in their work, I'm going to value the authors views when offered more than I'm going to value others views based on very subjective and personal agendas. Yes it's fun to read and interpret an author's work for ourselves, and I certainly am in favor of this being done. But those interpretations are often as JKoney wrote according to very personal agendas that may or may not have any thing to do with what the author intended.