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The House Elves
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From: robin smith <smithrobinlynn>
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 04:11:53 GMT
Here are some questions I had right after reading the book:
1. The roles of females in this book: Hermione changes in this book. Her social conscience is awakened in her search for justice for the house elves.I loved this! One of the nicest things about kids this age is their growing awareness of injustice. However, for all her work on their behalf
(and isn't it just a little creepy that the slaves enjoy their servitude?)she chooses the handsome and popular sports star as her date to the prom. I was surprised with this plotline. I loved the burgeoning social conscience and thought the story line would have been stronger if she had chosen someone different as her date. A reluctant house elf? An underclassman? Hagrid? I also thought it unlikely that a popular jock would ask out earnest and brainy Hermione. That certainly seems unlikely!
Other portrayals of women as cheerleaders (veelas), though hilarious, were unsettling to me. We still have some professors who are female, but most of the females are rather stereotyped and flat. The guys go to battle. The guys face the danger. The girls tidy up behind the scenes.
2. The death at the end: did Rowling feel she had to have a death because she had promised one in her many pre-publication interviews? The death did not have the heroic component that the scene demanded. Cedric did not fling himself between Voldemort and Harry. It was not the fulfillment of some prophecy. Cedric really did not even have to be there. He felt strangely out of place to me. Did the bloodletting scene have to be so gross? The tension was well written and the pace was wonderful. The severing of the arm was a whole lot more than I thought was necessary.
3. The British vs. American language. Some words seemed so very American
("uptight" or "eat dung" and the reference to the PlayStation) and then others were so very British. (bung, spotted dick (!), prat, kip)We discussed this a while ago with one of the earlier books that actually had separate British and American editions and it still interests me.
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Received on Fri 15 Sep 2000 11:11:53 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2000 04:11:53 GMT
Here are some questions I had right after reading the book:
1. The roles of females in this book: Hermione changes in this book. Her social conscience is awakened in her search for justice for the house elves.I loved this! One of the nicest things about kids this age is their growing awareness of injustice. However, for all her work on their behalf
(and isn't it just a little creepy that the slaves enjoy their servitude?)she chooses the handsome and popular sports star as her date to the prom. I was surprised with this plotline. I loved the burgeoning social conscience and thought the story line would have been stronger if she had chosen someone different as her date. A reluctant house elf? An underclassman? Hagrid? I also thought it unlikely that a popular jock would ask out earnest and brainy Hermione. That certainly seems unlikely!
Other portrayals of women as cheerleaders (veelas), though hilarious, were unsettling to me. We still have some professors who are female, but most of the females are rather stereotyped and flat. The guys go to battle. The guys face the danger. The girls tidy up behind the scenes.
2. The death at the end: did Rowling feel she had to have a death because she had promised one in her many pre-publication interviews? The death did not have the heroic component that the scene demanded. Cedric did not fling himself between Voldemort and Harry. It was not the fulfillment of some prophecy. Cedric really did not even have to be there. He felt strangely out of place to me. Did the bloodletting scene have to be so gross? The tension was well written and the pace was wonderful. The severing of the arm was a whole lot more than I thought was necessary.
3. The British vs. American language. Some words seemed so very American
("uptight" or "eat dung" and the reference to the PlayStation) and then others were so very British. (bung, spotted dick (!), prat, kip)We discussed this a while ago with one of the earlier books that actually had separate British and American editions and it still interests me.
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Received on Fri 15 Sep 2000 11:11:53 PM CDT
