quote:Why did Dumbledore have to die [asked by TIME for Kids representative]?
I did an interview last year in which I was asked this question. In the genre in which I'm writing, you usually find that the hero has to go on alone. There comes a point when his support falls away and to be truly heroic he has to act alone. Harry is not completely alone, he still has his two faithful sidekicks. This was summarized for my by the person who asked the question with, you mean the old wizard always gets it, and that fundamentally , that is what I was saying . I was trying to dress it up a little better than that. So that's why. In these sort of epic sagas, the hero eventually has to fight alone.
Posted by Irami Osei-Frimpong (Member # 2229) on :
The reasoning is what bothers me. On the surface, it doesn't seem that she is trying to be true to life as much as true to the genre, and being true to the genre seems to be, to me at least, aligning yourself with a false idol.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
Obi Wan Kenobi was REALLY dead too, but he still seemed to do a whole lot of talking and helping afterwards. When you are dealing with Magic, you have to explain even less than you do with science fiction.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
True to life, as in what really happens when a teenager is in mortal combat with a wizard? Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:In these sort of epic sagas, the hero eventually has to fight alone.
Yep. And in the end, the hero and villain mutually annihilate each other -- in these sorts of epic sagas.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
She has said that TWO people are going to die in the last book. Considering she also continues to talk about Harry "...eventually has to fight alone," one can only guess the inevitable.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
I hope that she's just saying that to throw us off. "I wrote what I did because that's how these sorts of stories havta go" HAS to be a cop-out, or else I'll be really, really disappointed.
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
No she hasn't said two people will die! She has said two people will die that she didn't think would die ten(ish) years ago. My bet is still Tonks is one of those.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Right, lots more than two people will die. Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
I still think lupin is going to die. Wormtail having a silver hand is just too perfect, and JKR is too good to let that kind of coincidence just slip by.
Ni!
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
But her saying she has to stay true to the genre makes no sense either considering she denies that she even knew she was writing fantasy...
Yeah, yeah, I know, that was in the beginning. I just have to poke fun wherever I can, old curmudgeon that I am... Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
quote:Originally posted by kwsni: I still think lupin is going to die. Wormtail having a silver hand is just too perfect, and JKR is too good to let that kind of coincidence just slip by.
Ni!
You know, I never thought of that. Now I'm all sad. I like Lupin.
Posted by b boy (Member # 9587) on :
Does this all seem sort of Ender-ish to any one else? Harry has to believe that he is completely on his own and that no one is going to help him. However, he blindly doesn't see that he's not alone and that he's surrounded by people who will help him. Maybe next JKR will write a separate book from the perspective of Hermione, who unbeknownst to us all, was a street savvy orphan before her muggle parents adopted her and sent her to magic school...
It's like two of my favourite books in one! hehe...
Posted by OSTY (Member # 1480) on :
I think the 2 will be Harry and Longbottom!
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
The two additional charecters that die? I don't think she changed her mind on whether she kills harry or not.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
quote:Originally posted by Eaquae Legit:
quote:Originally posted by kwsni: I still think lupin is going to die. Wormtail having a silver hand is just too perfect, and JKR is too good to let that kind of coincidence just slip by.
Ni!
You know, I never thought of that. Now I'm all sad. I like Lupin.
Me neither, but I think kwsni is right. Poor Lupin.
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
Dumbledore dying sucked. But then again - a good number of parts of the books sucked to read. At least for me, I'd get sucked in and really feel the characters (and suddenly find myself crying at the kitchen table, book in hand, sleeve wet from wiping my eyes/nose/whateva')... I don't worry so much about what might come in the next book, I just try to imagine how I think it might go. I try to shut myself off to the media and I guess in some ways, once I'm reading, compare how my 'perfect ending' jives with the 'actual ending'. I'm excited to see what happens next, for one because there are just so many ways it can go!!!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by b boy: Does this all seem sort of Ender-ish to any one else?
A bit. But it's a classic trope.
Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :
quote:I still think lupin is going to die. Wormtail having a silver hand is just too perfect, and JKR is too good to let that kind of coincidence just slip by.
Wait, I thought silver was only fatal to vampires, not werewolves - isn't it? Or is it both, and I somehow missed that?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
In many stories, they use silver bullets to kill werewolves.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Dumbledore dying sucked.
What sucked for me was everybody making such a big deal about him dying. By the time I read the book, I didn't even care anymore -- I had already had too much of his death.
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
mr_porteiro_head, Probably was heightened by Harris' death IRL, which is who many of the younger readers identified AS Dumbledore.
Which, in some ways, is sad. I've spoken with so many kids who haven't read, only watched. So much gets missed!!!
Posted by Nell Gwyn (Member # 8291) on :
mph - That's what I was figuring, but I've never read that anywhere. Granted, I also don't think I've read much about werewolves in general, outside of Harry Potter. I tended to stick to vampire stories.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
quote: Peter Pettigrew’s silver hand will not kill Lupin
I read the original interview she mentioned this in, and I believe she said that she hadn't made the connection between silver and werewolves when she made the silver hand.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:mr_porteiro_head, Probably was heightened by Harris' death IRL, which is who many of the younger readers identified AS Dumbledore.
I don't think so. While I remember that the actor passed away between movies, I heard a whole lot of rabid fans who were so offended that Rowling would dare kill of their beloved character.
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
Good point... Maybe they got too caught up with the character instead of the story?
Posted by cmc (Member # 9549) on :
OH! ps - If all the Headmasters have portraits in the office, is he really 'dead'? : )
Posted by Eaquae Legit (Member # 3063) on :
I guess Wormtail owes Harry too much to be able to kill Lupin. For which I am profoundly grateful.
My original understanding of the silver hand bit was just the archetypal presence of such a thing. I dunno. I am very happy again now.
Oh, and Dumbledore's death was almost an anticlimax for me. I had trouble reading through the bit where Harry has to force-feed him the liquid. It hit a little too close to home.
Posted by kwsni (Member # 1831) on :
Blacwolve: Aww. I've been anticipating that for three books now. I do hope Lupin doesn't die, but I think she's missing a good setup by not having Wormtail kill him. I mean, that's what she's good at, integrating things that will become important in later books.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Poor Lupin.