Quotes of the Week 5

[rattlesnakeroot]

Some thought-provoking quotes from Beedle the Bard, not from the stories, but the Intro, commentary, and footnotes. (JKR writes that certain footnotes were written by her to explain things to Muggles, but some of them seem to come from Dumbledore, while others may have been written by Hermione ) Since these are spoilers, I'll put them under an LJ-

Comments

[lunas_ceiling]

I can't believe I just typed a whole long comment here and lost the whole thing, arrgggh! I am going to have to repost it tomorrow. For now, I would say some of these amaze me. My post was on all the commentary on "The Wizard in the Hopping Pot," the message of love thy neighbor, turn the other cheek and the whole sanitizing childrens tales to either spread hate or prevent children and often adults from learning the true messages in childrens tales. Call me cynical but I think people can miss the message whether the characters are boiled in a vat of oil or frolicking around a bunny meadow.

[rattlesnakeroot]

I look forward to reading your comments on that!

I agree - as a Snape fan who has debated Snape's Worst Memory a million times, when a writer glorifies bullies to the point that many readers can't tell who the victim is anymore, then that is just as confusing as a writer who makes everything all goodness and light. JKR takes the idea of "gray areas" to an extreme to make her point, but some people remain lost in the fog.

[rattlesnakeroot]

I also don't see Beatrix Potter as all that horrible. I find her books really eccentric in the British tradition, and I've always thought JKR was influenced by her! So to me all that sounds as if JKR is distancing herself for some reason (maybe due to the use of the name "Potter" - Beatrix had that first!)

But here's the beginning of "A Tale of Mr. Tod," a fox (who reminds me of Lucius Malfoy since he carries a big cane) tries to trick Mr. Badger ("Tommy Brock") out of his house. I don't think this is writing "down" to children:

A Tale of Mr. Tod

I have made many books about well-behaved people. Now, for a change, I am going to make a story about two disagreeable people, called Tommy Brock and Mr. Tod. Nobody could call Mr. Tod "nice." The rabbits could not bear him; they could smell him half a mile off. He was of a wandering habit and he had foxy whiskers; they never knew where he would be next

[cynodd]

I was very confused about why she decides to vilify Beatrix Potter, who it's clear she's pointing to with her Beatrix who writes fluffy children's tales. Beatrix Potter didn't take other tales and sanitize them. She just wrote her own, much-loved animal tales based on her own experiences and love of drawing her own animals. Why the hating on her?

[lunas_ceiling]

I think it is possible she was not directing this at Beatrix Potter and if she isn't she should certainly make some clarification because it seems like an obvious connection. The Hogs Head makes some interesting points on JKR's intended target with Beatrix Bloxam that probably makes more sense than it being Potter. I am not sure how she thought people wouldn't connect it to Beatrix Potter though and it was an unfortunate choice if it was unintended. If it was intended I am at a loss to explain why she needed to make that connection because it seems so off base.

[saiphgrl]

As a child, I always thought that Beatrix Potter was more difficult to read than other books. Just look at the vocabulary! "bristly", "waddling", "disagreeable", etc. That's a great way for kids to learn new words, not to mention the fact that her sentence structure is not merely subject-verb-object over and over again.