01 HP:Philosopher’s Stone
Hey guys, I hope you don’t mind me posting yet another chapter commentary.
Just for fun I decided to count some things during this commentary:
Crime Count: Times when the supposed good guys break rules/law
Death Count: When our protagonist could die.
Freud Would Be Proud: The text is suggestive in some way or this commentator’s brain managed to ( Read more... )
/they were vicious bigoted pair of bullies who hated anything that.../
Was weird, wore ill-fitting clothes, and had the nerve to exist while having those traits. Like, say, Severus Snape. Whom Vernon and Petunia would be just as disgusted by as Lily and James were.
/Wizards must stay hidden from non magical humans, but are too stupid to live/
I know that it's supposed to be comic relief, but now I'm wondering if the reason why a lot of wizards don't bother to learn basic Muggle customs to fit in is because they think that the Ministry will just swoop in and Obliviate the Muggles anyway if an issue should arise.
/‘his proper name: Voldemort’. Not his true name. Not his real name. No, it’s ‘his proper name’, as in fitting or suitable. Quite sly of Albus./
Did JKR plan for Tom Marvolo Riddle to be his real name at this point?
/Telling someone that their sister is dead and that they have to take care of their nephew or else, through a letter/
I wonder if there's a fanfic where, instead of leaving Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep, Minerva and Albus wait for the Dursleys to answer the door and they explain the situation to them.
/Yes Albus, because throwing eleven year old into world where he is celebrity is so much better than gradually teaching him how to handle this kind of situation from the start/
From a narrative standpoint, it's so that Harry can be surprised along with the reader and to be another example of the mythic trope where the humble hero learns that he's special at a specific moment in his life, not from birth. But, yes, the reason that Albus gives still doesn't make sense. He doesn't want Harry to be a spoiled prince, but he'll allow Harry to buck the rules at Hogwarts.
/Hagrid acts like a savage he is- I mean he acts in very rational way! Howling like a ‘wounded dog’ in middle of a night is perfectly normal/
Has anyone written an essay comparing Hagrid with Sirius?
/Good luck, Harry.” Said Dumbledore as he left a toddler on a doorstep on November night, protected only by a blanket/
A blanket that will inexplicably receive plot importance in "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" when Harry randomly gives it to his son as a gift.
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I'm honestly not sure. On one hand we get Arthur who is supposed to know how muggle money and clothes works, because his job depends on it yet he constantly fumbles. On the other hand we have Crouch Sr. who is perfectly capable to figure out all those details, while not needing it.
I think that a lot of such conflicting information and situations come from how Rowling sees her characters. I already finished writing out commentary for whole book and now I'm just editing it, but by the end of it I came to conclusion that a lot of characters are stand ins for various ideas and things. We see just characters and expect them to keep to their characterisation, Rowling on the other hand seems to (at very least subconsciously) use them as symbols. That is why non-magical people get stupider and stupider as series continues and why you are chosen for Gryffindor and end up in Slytherin.
/Did JKR plan for Tom Marvolo Riddle to be his real name at this point? /
I would say no. She might have some idea about his true name, but I get feeling that here proper stands in for 'he deserves such vile name'.
/I wonder if there's a fanfic where, instead of leaving Harry on the Dursleys' doorstep, Minerva and Albus wait for the Dursleys to answer the door and they explain the situation to them. /
I think I saw one or two over years, but they were bashing ffs. No matter how much Albus annoys me in the books, I don't get any satisfaction from outright bashing ffs.
/From a narrative standpoint, it's so that Harry can be surprised along with the reader and to be another example of the mythic trope where the humble hero learns that he's special at a specific moment in his life, not from birth. But, yes, the reason that Albus gives still doesn't make sense. He doesn't want Harry to be a spoiled prince, but he'll allow Harry to buck the rules at Hogwarts. /
But it doesn't even make sense from narrative point. Reader already knows that Harry is famous and what happened to his family. You could easily trash this chapter and add small intro to chapter 2 that says something about Petunia finding him on doorstep etc. and you would be golden. Heck chapter 2 and 3 would be less annoying to read if that was the case.
/Has anyone written an essay comparing Hagrid with Sirius? /
If such exists, I would love to read it :)
/A blanket that will inexplicably receive plot importance in "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" when Harry randomly gives it to his son as a gift. /
I remember when I heard it I was "Really Jo? Really?". I would love to observe Rowling working on a book. Not necessary HP book, but it might give me some better insight on whys and hows of her creative process.
Also I'm happy you enjoy the commentary :)
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No idea, but if every British witch and wizard passed through Hogwarts, then he must have had an older name.
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