Fathers

eloise_herisson eloiseherisson at eloise_herisson.yahoo.invalid
Wed Jul 20 21:00:33 UTC 2005


--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:
> All quotes below
> from current issue
> of TIME magazine
> July 25th, 2005
> 
> don't know how much is enough,
> will do a few more lines
> There.
> 
> ******
> *****
> ****
> 
> 
> "Much of Rowling's understanding of the origins of evil has to do 
> with the role of the father in family life. 'As I look back over 
the 
> five published books,' she says, 'I realize that it's kind of a 
> litany of bad fathers. That's where evil seems to flourish, in 
> places where people don't get good fathering.'"
> 
> Jen: OK, this surprises me. That's the main object of damage then, 
> the absent or controlling/abusive father?



Oh, you know that's really interesting. I never got round to 
submitting a question for the Leaky interview, but that was exactly 
what I had in mind to ask about and I find it fascinating that 
perhaps she hadn't realised what a significant role fathers and more 
particularly bad father/son relationships play in her books.

It is rather disturbing that she views it in terms of fathering, 
rather than parenting, but I wonder if subconsciously it is to do 
with her first marriage and worry over what the effect of that break 
up might be on her daughter. 

This general theme is what led me originally to *assume* that Snape 
had an abusive/absent father before we had any concrete evidence (and 
do we now? I don't know, but I'm sure it wasn't a good relationship 
whether Tobias is the man in the Pensieve or not) and to see him 
regarding Dumbldore in a paternal role. Of course we also see 
examples of patricide (TR, Crouch Jr) and one could view Snape's 
killing of DD in this light.

~Eloise
Dashing to watch repeat of Desperate Housewives






More information about the the_old_crowd archive