Chapter 17 discussion / A novel may know more than its author does

[Catlady (Rita Prince]

No: HPFGUIDX 188695

Megan Real discussed PS/SS Chapter 17 in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/188646>:

<< it has been suggested (somewhere) that Quirrell should have been able to get the stone from the mirror, since he wanted it not for himself, but for Voldemort. What do you think? >>

And it has already been answered that Quirrell would have seen himself giving the Stone to Voldemort, which counts as using the Stone.

<< In an alternate universe, if this book hadn't sold well, there might not have been any more published. If this had been a stand-alone book, with no sequels, would you have found it to be satisfying? >>

Yes. 

Living as I do in this universe, I would not voluntarily move to one where I never met Remus and Sirius, but the stand-alone Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (in addition to having the best title ever) has a better moral that would not have been superseded by the series moral: "Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time -- and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Bart wrote in <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/188693>:

<< I also used the Asimov story also when there was a discussion of the 4 Houses and the traditional 4 elements; that we had to base any analysis on JKR's knowledge, not on the knowledge of scholars in the subject). >>

Many styles of literary analysis believe that there is more in art object (story) than the artist (writer) put in it. Some think that the artist, in addition to all her conscious efforts and inspirations, has an unconscious connection that brings in stuff from a Muse or the Collective Unconscious or something. Some think it is the art object (story) rather than the artist (writer) who has this connection. So if a novel references science that that author never knew, even science that no one in the whole world knew until centuries after the author's death, pointing to this science in the novel is still a valid literary analysis.