[HPforGrownups] Re: Deaths in the Series

[Sandra Lynn]

No: HPFGUIDX 192175

Dave:
I agree. In general, I was very disappointed in the direction JKR went
with Tonks -- She started out as a sprightly, somewhat sassy,
"Moliere-Maid" type, which I loved. But then she made Tonks into this
tragic character whose intense (perhaps codependent) love for Remus
trumped everything. And we know from interviews that killing off Remus
and Tonks was an eleventh-hour decision on JKR's part, in order to make
some trivial contrast between Harry and Teddy which, as Sherry points
out, has little or no impact on the reader.

Crescent:
I have to agree about the changes in Tonks' character. She is one of only
two strong females in the series and it is really sad to see that change
drastically, much less to see her die. Note, I don't count Molly Weasley as
a strong female in the series because she is such a stereotype. I suppose
McGonagall could have been a strong character, but we saw very little of
her and didn't really get to know her.

I also found Snape's death especially tragic–seeing as he dies just before
we find out he isn't' the horrid bastard (excuse my French) that we thought
him up to that point. At the same time, I've thought about his character.
He was at the end, just about 40 years old. He had an absolutely miserable
childhood and spent the 2nd 20 years or so of his life with one
goal–protecting Harry Potter and seeing Voldemort defeated (yes, that
sounds like two, but they are so intertwined they really can't be
separated). I can't see him adapting well to the cessation of this goal. He
wouldn't know what to do with himself and much of the wizarding world would
hate him–either for having been a spy for Dumbledore for all those years or
because they had to deal with his "bastard" persona for so long, many of
them as students at his mercy.

Crescent


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