Better Than Jamesjana_chJanuary 31 2015, 21:49:40 UTC
Book Five was the first Potter book I read at its time of publication; the others I read as a group long after they first came out and made their initial splash. I was impressed with this chapter, and my principal thought was that it showed that Harry at fifteen was more mature than his father was at fifteen. And the person he could thank for it was his cousin Dudley. Harry, unlike James, hated bullying because he had been bullied himself. He allowed Sirius and Remus to smooth things over, but he was not comfortable with it
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Re: Better Than JamesaikateriniFebruary 1 2015, 18:08:24 UTC
/When he almost kills Draco, his main concern is that he won’t be allowed to play Quidditch. He resents Snape for punishing him, rather than thanking his lucky stars that Snape was able to save him from having manslaughter on his conscience
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Re: Better Than James, Albus, and Sevjana_chFebruary 1 2015, 18:27:32 UTC
Book Five would have had a purpose if it had been followed up properly. It should have been ‘Harry’s Difficult Adolescence,’ in which he started learning there was more to life than pranks and crushes and perfect trust in his designated father-figure. He was starting to have to deal with the world as an adult, and doing the usual bad job of it.
Book Six should have been about Harry starting to learn from and handle the situations that were throwing him for a loop so badly in Book Five. Then in Book Seven, when he learned how he’d been manipulated by Dumbledore (just like Snape!), he should have grown beyond both Dumbledore’s manipulations and Snape’s protection and become, not Dumbledore’s Man, but an adult hero in his own right.
Re: Better Than James, Albus, and Sevmary_j_59February 2 2015, 04:06:09 UTC
Yes! I thought this - a Harry who made his own decisions, lived with the consequences, and actually started to grow up - was what the series was aiming for, and that's why, until DH, OOTP was my favorite book of the series. DH wrecked it for me, as it did all the earlier books.
I still think that Severus is the hidden hero of these books. Had Rowling been more conscious of what she was actually writing, I think Harry would have recognized this. I've just finished reading Gaskell's "North and South", after watching the (really wonderful) dramatization, and it's impressive that, toward the end, after losing both parents and a man who was a second father to her, the heroine spends a long time thinking about what her life should be. Her conclusion? That she must live her life with integrity. Whatever decisions she needs to make in the future, that will be her first goal.
Needless to say, Margaret Hale is ten times the hero Harry is. And she's not that much older than Harry in DH. OTOH, she is older, and women mature earlier than men!
JKR's Immoral MoralityoneandthetruthFebruary 3 2015, 23:27:56 UTC
The main thing that struck me about this post and terri’s before it, is that they both expose the extremely warped double standard of morality in the Potterverse. In terri’s post, she points out that Navel Neville seemed to be more terrified of Snape’s criticism and disapproval than he was of being almost murdered by his uncle. In other words, if you drop a kid out a window, it’s no big deal, as long as his magic kicks in and he bounces, leaving him unharmed. Glossed over are the consequences if he’s not magical, which caused me to imagine his broken little body lying on the ground, then being stuffed into a bed and kept quiet until he dies of his injuries and lack of medical attention. Because the only good squib is a dead squib. That nightmare scenario is treated almost like a joke. But when Snape calls kids “idiot boy” or “dunderhead”--OMG, THE HORROR! THIS PROVES WHAT A FIEND SEVERUS SNAPE IS
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Re: JKR's Immoral Moralityvermouth1991February 4 2015, 10:11:05 UTC
(This following post also applies for terri's post on Neville freaking out at class)
Remember the time Petunia threw a pan at Harry's head, and thank God he ducked in time? Knowing Petunia, this would be what happens if it did make contact: she'd freak out herself, then call an ambulance, if only to tell them a cover-up story about Harry hitting himself. She'll treat Harry as a servant, but a human being nonetheless.
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*my female character insert goes in and hugs Snape*
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Book Six should have been about Harry starting to learn from and handle the situations that were throwing him for a loop so badly in Book Five. Then in Book Seven, when he learned how he’d been manipulated by Dumbledore (just like Snape!), he should have grown beyond both Dumbledore’s manipulations and Snape’s protection and become, not Dumbledore’s Man, but an adult hero in his own right.
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I still think that Severus is the hidden hero of these books. Had Rowling been more conscious of what she was actually writing, I think Harry would have recognized this. I've just finished reading Gaskell's "North and South", after watching the (really wonderful) dramatization, and it's impressive that, toward the end, after losing both parents and a man who was a second father to her, the heroine spends a long time thinking about what her life should be. Her conclusion? That she must live her life with integrity. Whatever decisions she needs to make in the future, that will be her first goal.
Needless to say, Margaret Hale is ten times the hero Harry is. And she's not that much older than Harry in DH. OTOH, she is older, and women mature earlier than men!
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Remember the time Petunia threw a pan at Harry's head, and thank God he ducked in time? Knowing Petunia, this would be what happens if it did make contact: she'd freak out herself, then call an ambulance, if only to tell them a cover-up story about Harry hitting himself. She'll treat Harry as a servant, but a human being nonetheless.
Whereas Neville's parental figures...
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