Coming to a conclusion was Re: Spoiling the fun

[Talisman]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:
Judy:
> Ask for "Why are eyes/glasses the key to Harry's vulnerability?",
> Susan, I didn't take JKR's comment on Harry's glasses as meaning
that
> his eyes or glasses have some sort of magical vulnerability. I just
> thought she liked the glasses because they show he is ultimately a
> regular boy, not a superhero.


>Jen: Even though interview comments have fallen on hard times, JKR 
did
>actually say this, Reader's Digest, 2000:

>"She's thrilled with Stephen Fry's taped version of the books,
>outraged that an Italian dust jacket shows Harry minus his
>glasses. "Don't they understand that they are the clue to his
>vulnerability?"

>She never said it that way again. As I've said to Susan off-list, it
>seems like JKR slipped up saying that b/c in the other interviews 
she
>only mentions "they didn't like a hero in glasses" about the Italian
>dust jacket. So it was either a slip-up, or it was an inaccurate
>quote. I've yet to hear JKR forcing it to be retracted or a lawsuit,
>so I'm going with interpretation #1.


Talisman, postponing work on the tome-like post she is supposed to 
be finishing, to answer an easy one:

I would say the answer can be found, in fair measure,  in SS at page 
213: `"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," said 
Dumbledore.'

Of course evidence indicates that Harry actually *is* nearsighted, 
but that's not exactly what Dumbles means, is it?  The symbolic 
nearsightedness, to which I believe Harry's glasses are a clue, is 
an inability to see the big picture.

We know Harry's been *invisible* for a about 10 years by the time he 
turns up at Hogwarts: not a picture on the mantle, people pretending 
he isn't there, etc. Among other things, this has engendered certain 
solipsistic modes of looking at the world.

Oh, sure, he rocketed to instant celebrity, but it takes a little 
longer to develop insight into people and situations.  Some folks 
never manage.

Our boy still has trouble reading what's going on (Hey, why are 
these marionette strings tied all over me?),  though he is improving.

I would link the vision vulnerability concept to a couple of  
Rowling's other quotes, both of which are applicable to the entire 
series, and it's final outcome.

 `"He is vulnerable; he is frequently afraid; he has a very strong 
conscience, and it is my belief that with the overwhelming majority 
of human beings--maybe I'm a wild optimist--most people do try to do 
the right thing, by their own lights."' (International Writers and 
Readers Festival," Cinescape, 3 November 2000)

Sure, everyone does what they think is the *right thing;* it's just 
that a lot of them are chowder-heads.  The trick is to be possessed 
of adequate *light* to see what exactly the right thing might be. 

Information /comprehension is critical to those almighty *choices* 
everyone is so enamored of.  Can't make meaningful ones without it.  
Otherwise you're just left with a lot of pavers for the road to 
hell.  Chin held high, or not.

I would suggest that this all fits in with an earlier comment 
regarding the final outcome:

"Also, it will take 7 books to get Harry to the point where he has 
to face, um I can't say. But in Book 7, you know, there's a big 
climax coming here and it will take that many books to get him 
there." ( The Connection (WBUR Radio), 12 October, 1999)


Face what? Love? Death? Voldemort? Dementors? Inferi? Hagrid's 
cooking?  All old news.  Nah, he's got to face the truth of events--
which is something quite different than he currently perceives.  
He's got to finally see the big picture. 

Oh, Guilty!Dumbledore.  Oh, lovely Snape.  

Talisman, for the Fellowship of the D.U.S.T. (Dumbledore Undercover 
Surveillance Team), Posthumous Studies division, recommending that 
anyone who shares Harry's understanding of things at the end of HBP 
should invest in a foam neck brace before Book 7.

PS Thanks for the heads-up on that Hawthorne post, Jen.  No 
reference to Hawthorne should go unacknowledged.  I actually posted 
on TOL to give our poster an answer.