Interpretation question

[mooseming]

OK below is an excerpt from that interview and I'm wondering if 
others read it as I do? Specifically that Lily did not expect her 
death to protect Harry, to all intents she died, in her expectation, 
pointlessly?

Regards
Jo

ES: This is one of my burning questions since the third book - why 
did Voldemort offer Lily so many chances to live? Would he actually 
have let her live?
JKR: Mmhm.
ES: Why?
JKR: [silence] Can't tell you. But he did offer, you're absolutely 
right. Don't you want to ask me why James's death didn't protect 
Lily and Harry? There's your answer, you've just answered your own 
question, because she could have lived and chose to die. James was 
going to be killed anyway. Do you see what I mean? I'm not saying 
James wasn't ready to; he died trying to protect his family but he 
was going to be murdered anyway. He had no - he wasn't given a 
choice, so he rushed into it in a kind of animal way, I think there 
are distinctions in courage. James was immensely brave. But the 
caliber of Lily's bravery was, I think in this instance, higher 
because she could have saved herself. Now any mother, any normal 
mother would have done what Lily did. So in that sense her courage 
too was of an animal quality but she was given time to choose. James 
wasn't. It's like an intruder entering your house, isn't it? You 
would instinctively rush them. But if in cold blood you were 
told, "Get out of the way," you know, what would you do? I mean, I 
don't think any mother would stand aside from their child. But does 
that answer it? She did very consciously lay down her life. She had 
a clear choice -
ES: And James didn't.
JKR: Did he clearly die to try and protect Harry specifically given 
a clear choice? No. It's a subtle distinction and there's slightly 
more to it than that but that's most of the answer.
MA: Did she know anything about the possible effect of standing in 
front of Harry?
JKR: No - because as I've tried to make clear in the series, it 
never happened before. No one ever survived before. And no one, 
therefore, knew that could happen.
MA: So no one - Voldemort or anyone using Avada Kedavra - ever gave 
someone a choice and then they took that option [to die] -
JKR: They may have been given a choice, but not in that particular 
way