Thoughts about Deaths in Harry Potter Series

[nimika]

Liked Dumbledore. Dead. Liked Fred. Dead. Liked Sirius. Dead. Liked Lupin and Tonks. Dead.
Hated Malfoy. ALIVE.
There were many deaths in Harry Potter- some we were satisfied about, some we were not.
I'm not saying deaths spoil the story- they don't. They give the book a stronger plot. But they do break our hearts.
Whats your thoughts about the deaths in Harry Potter series??

[Bkd]

I like that Rowling had the stones to kill them off. All of them, even the ones that are just mentioned in passing (Dennis Creevey) were felt, y'know?

And it didn't feel excessive at all. She could've killed off so many more of the characters we knew in the Battle of Hogwarts, but she didn't. She was smart about it so that you didn't feel like she was emotionally manipulating the reader or using the deaths for shock and awe (like in The Walking Dead).

[Tana Lovegood of Dumbledore's Army✞~]

Fred...his death made me cry. Of course Rowling killed him off because it wouldn't be realistic for a big family like the Weasleys to have them ALL alive but I felt like Percy the ministry loving prat could have died in his place which makes me feel bad but better then my Fred.

Hedwig got to me also. She was such a loyal pet! I don't think she had to die...I loved her so much! Most loyal owl ever.

[nimika]

Exactly! Fred's death made me cry the most too...but I guess if there weren't deaths then the actual danger and threat of Voldemort wouldn't have been that obvious. But yes, it would have been better if Percy had died...

[Weller C.]

It never said how tonks died, she was my favorite character. I liked her face changing thing...

[Ruby]

I think that is was unnecessary for Rowling to go on a giant killing spree during the battle of Hogwarts. We cane tell when authors are trying to make us sad!

[Joseph]

Too many of them happened in the last book. I understand that is the case since the war happened but really barely anybody died in books one threw six and voldemort was back for 4 and up so it made it seem like when voldemort was first around he was a super badass and everything was scary but whe he came back he was less evil even though he should have been more evil with harry stopping him and all.

[Brittain *Needs a Nap and a Drink*]

Just because Tumblr has this figured out:



There is a reason for everything. J.K. Rowling is an amazing story teller and has her literary system figured out. Everything in the last books is a reflection of what happens in the first books.

[Dwayne]

Nimika wrote: "Whats your thoughts about the deaths in Harry Potter series?"

The deaths of Cedric and Dumbledore and others before the last book were powerful, meaningful and done with a great amount of passion and finesse.

All the deaths in the last book were ridiculous, as was most everything in the last book. The deaths were pointless and served no real purpose. It felt as if Rowling was just getting bored of all the supporting characters and snuffing them out left and right.

[Dwayne]

Brittain (Tara Belle Talking) wrote: "Just because Tumblr has this figured out... There is a reason for everything. J.K. Rowling is an amazing story teller and has her literary system figured out..."

A "literary system" where a writer just kills a lot of characters off willy nilly is not amazing. I was really disappointed with the last book, partially due to the pointless deaths. Suddenly J.K. went from brilliant author to bumbling hack.

Not buying the "meanings" in the Tumbler thing, either. Harry's childhood could have ended without his owl being killed. Even with Sirius gone, Harry had parental figures (Arthur and Molly, for instance). Snape (and anyone else) could change his ways without dying. Death can be a great literary device, but not the way she handled it in book seven.

[Brittain *Needs a Nap and a Drink*]

Dwayne wrote: "Brittain (Tara Belle Talking) wrote: "Just because Tumblr has this figured out... There is a reason for everything. J.K. Rowling is an amazing story teller and has her literary system figured out....."

Her goal was to kill parents in the book so this war would be left with orphans. That's why Tonks and Remus die. That's why Sirius and Dumbledore die. She nearly killed Arthur and Hagrid but didn't. She has said in interviews that Hedwig died because she was seen as the cuddly toy Harry never had and that her death symbolized his loss of innocense.

As for the literary style, the series is written in ring composition meaning everything is a mirror image of itself. You can Google it if you wish but it pretty much means that J.K. Rowling is a literary BAMF and knows her shit. She used a story telling technique favored by Homer and other classic poets to create her series. Everything she wrote was absolutely deliberate.

All of the deaths have a meaning and no author (especially after six books) kills off her characters lightly.

[Dwayne]

Brittain (Tara Belle Talking) wrote: "Her goal was to kill parents in the book so this war would be left with orphans. That's why Tonks and Remus die. That's why Sirius and Dumbledore die. She nearly killed Arthur and Hagrid but didn't. She has said in interviews that Hedwig died because she was seen as the cuddly toy Harry never had and that her death symbolized his loss of innocense."

Okay, yes, this is more or less what the chart posted said, too. Book seven did little but frustrate me. The style was not on par with the rest of the series. It was written so haphazardly with none of the spark and whimsy that the other books had. It felt as if she let some child write it for her. I read it twice and came away with nothing.

I had thought Harry lost his innocence long before Hedwig died. What innocence was there left to lose by that point?

She nearly killed Arthur and Hagrid but didn't. Well, thank God she showed some restraint.

Everything she wrote was absolutely deliberate. Which is what writers do. That doesn't mean that the reader has to buy into it. I'm sure the deaths were deliberate, but in that last book they came and went so fast and with little said about them. It felt as if she was just writing, "oops. There goes Dobby. Oh, darn, now Fred is dead. Aren't you sad? Uh oh, now Tonks died." Her intentions may have been to mimic Homer, but to me the book felt rushed and sloppy. Just as she may have been attempting a certain literary style, but it doesn't mean she pulled it off well.

If it worked for you, fantastic. You got your money's worth. Personally I was left feeling like I wished she'd worked on it a bit longer.

[Brittain *Needs a Nap and a Drink*]

Dwayne wrote: "Brittain (Tara Belle Talking) wrote: "Her goal was to kill parents in the book so this war would be left with orphans. That's why Tonks and Remus die. That's why Sirius and Dumbledore die. She near..."

Book 7 is a book about war. The rest of the books were about character growth and preparing the characters for war. Of course it is different. War is hell. People die. That's the point. It wouldn't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing if nobody died. It's not supposed to have whimsy.

Think of every other war book/movie you have encountered in the world, even if they were meant for "children" (which I don't think Harry Potter was, in the end). Main characters barely escape death. They come to rely on their close friends and they die right in front of them. They see slaughter with their own eyes. Their commander dies and they have to step up and resolve everything and try to make it home.

Hedwig's purpose was supposed to be a comfort to Harry. She was his only semblance of a childhood toy. In war, you have to leave those things behind. Harry had already seen people die, that's true. But he also, I think, had not accepted the danger for himself as being real. Hedwig sacrificing herself for him is showing that he could have died and others that he love are dying unquestionably for him. That's the start of the war for Harry. It's not when Dumbledore dies because that's not for him, really. His death is planned. Hedwig was innocent and she still sacrifices herself. (This gives her life meaning. Goes from pet to hero.)

Personally, I think she could have killed more characters. Don't just kill Fred, kill Mrs. Weasley. Kill the Patils. Kill someone such that everybody is touched by loss in some way. This is, after all, a partial reflection of WWII.

And she should have had the stones to follow through and kill Ron in the end like she had intended. That was her original plan and I wish she had done it. It would have been the perfect conclusion to the parallels that she built between Draco and Harry.

Both of them have two loyal friends (Crabbe/Goyle-Ron/Hermione) and two other friends (Pansy/Blaise-Luna/Neville). They are both influenced by their last names and the legacy that comes before them. They both follow an enigmatic leader who manipulates them into doing a lot of their dirty work for them and regards them mostly as a means to an end. When you think about it, they are basically the same characters depicted as light and dark that are forced to hate each other when otherwise, they might have been friends. So (this is what I've been getting at) when Crabbe dies, Ron should die as well to complete the parallel. It should have been done in order to show that Ron's death is more meaningful and that he was a true friend to Harry in the end. Harry would have mourned his death and I don't believe that Draco truly mourned Crabbe. It would have been beautiful.

But no. She didn't because it would have upset the fans. Such a disappointment.

[Dwayne]

Brittain (Tara Belle Talking) wrote: "Book 7 is a book about war. The rest of the books were about character growth and preparing the characters for war. Of course it is different. War is hell. People die..."

Look. You can keep explaining the book over and over to me, but I get it. I get what she was trying to do. It just didn't work for me. I'm talking more about the level of writing. In the first six books, the writing was brilliant. The last one did not come close to measuring up. I know she is capable of writing a compelling story, but that last book just didn't hit the mark for me.

If it did for you, fine.

[grace]

The saddest deaths were
Fred
Dumbledore
Sirius
Dobby
Hedwig
Remus
Tonks
Mad-eye