Happy Endings, & other terminal lies |
 Dec 30 2006, 04:51 PM
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Official Singer of the Sorting Hat Song  Posts: 6,606 Joined: 3:12pm July 22, 2005 Location: Lost in Hermione's beaded bag    |
Will Harry die? Will he kill Voldemort? And will he use an Unforgiveable Curse to do it? Will Harry marry Ginny?
These are the questions plaguing Potter fans at the moment as they desperately try to unfog The Deathly Hallows. But what do they really say about us? American culture has always been progressive, which means it likes its endings to be Happy. Hollywood loves to show the Underdog defeating the Supervillain. (Although The Empire Strikes Back is the best of the Star Wars movies.) American literature isn't big on irony. Satire, as George Kauffman quipped, is what closes Saturday night. And tragedy is strictly Art House fare. So, what to make of a British author's take on ending a children's story? One where the hero has seen friends and family murdered; where the two teachers who have tortured him go unpunished; where romantic love is squashed by, first, betrayal and, second, self-sacrifice. Let me state that I don't think JK Rowling is going to give us a Hollywood Happy Ending. I don't think we'll see the DA triumphantly carrying Harry on their shoulders into the Great Hall after Voldemort & his crew have met a sticky end outside on the Hogwarts quidditch pitch. I also don't think we will see Harry die a noble death on the field of battle and his body carried to some heroic funeral pyre while the Four Houses unite in a dirge of solemn rendition of "Imagine". No, I think we're more likely to see an ending that is not so neatly tied up. And ending where the Voldemort of today is defeated, but where we know tomorrow's Voldemort is being born. Harry will live, but scarred more horribly than a cute lightning bolt on the forehead. And we'll see the fence sitters still checking the direction of the wind right up to the closing pages. Happy Endings: aren't they always a lie? Happily Ever After??? NEVER! Where does one find a happy ending these days? Name a book. Don't they all offer more realistic and problematic endings? Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy ends with the lovers parted; Lord of the Rings ends with the passing of the magical Age; Narnia sees the children killed in a train wreck. What makes a good ending? How does a story resolve itself without pandering to the reader? Is a happy ending just wishful thinking? And when is a tragic ending just the author engaging in cheap pathos, that is, bathos? What endings haunted you, infuriated you, inspired you, thrilled you? I do know American literature has its fair share of tragic and tragicomic endings. But I've been rereading Beatrix Potter and I find the endings of her short animal fables remarkably British in tone and moral. The reality of Nature is never far afield and happy endings are never wholly happy. And sometimes, as in the case of Ginger & Pickles, the ending is a bit startling --though certainly clever. Lemony Snicket may have started with a Bad Beginning, but what makes a Good Ending? -------------------- Come the words that bubble
Up through broken laughter, Sweeter than spring-water, "Gods, I am so happy!" |
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Dec 30 2006, 07:12 PM
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Stargazing on the Astronomy Tower  Posts: 3,906 Joined: 8:04pm September 28, 2005 Location: Astronomy Tower |
I would point you David to a fan fic in which Harry was indeed left horrible scarred, not physicaly but mentally. He was still with Ginny and in fact having a nice private life with her, however he couldn't manage in the "real" world with people gawping over him. It was a sad but in the same happy kind of ending. I have to say I don't like what I term "disney endings" where they make Aeirel the Mermaid live and Pohahantus this adult woman that can defy the Queen of England. Disney I think takes too many liberaties in it's want for Happy endings.
Though "Princess Bride" is one of my favorite movies I do think they will always have problems and such. I think Jo will likely leave us with a great sense of loss and yet still happy with victory and hope for the future. So while I think H&G and R&Hr will happen (in the end) they may still suffer from the loss of not just friends both family members as well. I don't think every hollywood movie has had a happy ending though many have had this. I think howeve the longing for such endings is to comfort ones self that they may one day achieve an happy ending. --------------------  "We need metaphors of magic and monsters in order to understand the human condition."-Stephen Donaldson "One of the greatest talents in the world is to never say two words when one will do." |
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Dec 30 2006, 07:40 PM
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Personal Secretary to The Minister of Magic  Posts: 9,274 Joined: 4:57am January 28, 2005 Location: near Muggleswick, UK |
The pattern of the previous books is a moderately happy ending, though with issues unresolved. HBP is a bit different, though the tragedy to the ending it is limited. Thus I can see DH ending with Harry not too badly injured, and with enough of his friends left to be happy, and once the remaining death eaters have been cleared up, I can see the wizarding world having a bit of a golden age (they are surely allowed some period of relative calm and good governance after all the dark years), though there will still be dark wizards about.
--------------------  W.L.Y.J. We love you Jo |
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Dec 31 2006, 12:15 AM
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Disgruntled House-Elf at The Leaky Cauldron Posts: 424 Joined: 4:26pm January 31, 2005 Location: Minnesota USA |
Beatrix Potter... HA HA HA! Those bad little animals get whipped by their momma, lose their clothes, have no supper... do they learn a lesson I wonder, and does that make it a happy ending? It depends on what "hat" the reader is wearing. As a child, those endings horrified me! An adult might see them as just or even funny.
The ending of HP will have mixed feelings... sorrow for the losses (of whoever), regret for things that could have been (loose ends we'll never know about), and joy at the destruction of LV, hopefully satisfactorily. It will be a perfect harmony, and when you close the book you'll just say, WOW. PS Shard: Princess Bride, really? Be careful, people might think you're a softy! -------------------- "But he's only quacking!"  |
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Dec 31 2006, 02:19 AM
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Gringotts Goblin Translator Posts: 1,218 Joined: 1:06am September 20, 2005 Location: The Melbourne Magical Menagerie (Australia) |
Great post davidenglish!
I agree that it's unlikely we'll have an extreme ending (a horribly Disney "Happily Ever After" or a tragedy littered with self-sacrifice and depressing funerals). Instead, as everyone else pointed out, there is likely to be a more realistic mixture of emotions. We will celebrate the end of Voldie, but at the same time mourn the losses which brought the characters to this point. And most importantly of all, a part of us will linger on possibilities for the future; a future which should not be painfully happy or tragic, but rather a more human mixture of ups and downs. After all, that's what draws us to the HP series in the first place; even through the magic and mayhem of JKR's imagination, there is something irrevocably human about the whole affair, and we can identify with the characters in such a way that fans all over the world shed tears over the demise of an eccentric, sweet-loving Headmaster!  As with the endings of the other books, moderation is the key to human realism, and that's the only way that HP will go down in history as a classic for all ages. -------------------- PS: I do hope we've put enough stamps on
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Dec 31 2006, 11:32 AM
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Assistant to Nicholas Flammel Posts: 2,201 Joined: 3:46pm July 20, 2005 Location: peering over at M's and Ari's cheat notes! |
hmm so much to consider....
There has been so many comparsions of HP to classics including Shakespeare and Grimm Fairy tales, so how does one consider a happy ending for Harry? Or should the HP series be looked at as a whole and what does a happy ending have in store for wizards and non- wizards alike? does death or mental scarring for Harry mean happiness for all?  (brain hurts on this now!)If we look at classics including mythology, the hero ususally wins and yet there is someone very close to the hero that remains scarred or suffers a painful death. I think Harry will have a near death or death experience which he will then be "reborn" or escape the Grimm rRpper so to say. I do agree Voldemort will perish but in true classic storytelling fashion( which I believe JKR will pay homage too)Evil will continue to battle good and the good will just have one a huge part of the war but the war will continue with other characters. Happiness will be celebrated by all while they await for the next 'voldermort' to emerge in the shadows. IMHO -------------------- spirited member of Vault
 717 RIP ~OPAST"I reject your reality and substitute my own"~Mythbusters |
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Dec 31 2006, 12:01 PM
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#7
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Sundae-Nut-Chopper at Florean Fortescue's Posts: 923 Joined: 5:50pm August 19, 2005 Location: Canada eh! |
It was just a dream.
Harry wakes up from a coma sustained in a car crash which killed his parents. Sort of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Bobby Ewing in Dallas.  Sorry, couldn't resist. |
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Dec 31 2006, 12:11 PM
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#8
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Eeylops Owl Cage Cleaner Posts: 236 Joined: 4:21pm December 28, 2006 Location: Stuck in a Fireplace with no Floo Powder left. *sigh* |
QUOTE(davidenglish @ Dec 30 2006, 03:51 PM) [snapback]1047006[/snapback] Happy Endings: aren't they always a lie? Happily Ever After??? NEVER! Where does one find a happy ending these days? Name a book. Don't they all offer more realistic and problematic endings? Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy ends with the lovers parted; Lord of the Rings ends with the passing of the magical Age; Narnia sees the children killed in a train wreck. I agree with you on Pullman's books, because that was just a horrible ending with no actual point to split them up. But with Lord of the Rings, the passing is merely progression. Happy endings sometimes aren't the happy endings you want. 'Happy' is completely up to interpretation. But of course, its up to the author's disgression. Maybe Pullman was bitter about love, so he split them up because of that. Anyways, I think JK will make it as happy as it can be, which won't be entirely happy. People have died, but LV is destroyed. Some people would be happy with Harry dying or with him living. he can't die and live at the same time, so some will be unhappy with the ending while others will be ecstatic. I personally loved the ending of Lord of the Rings and couldn't see it any other way. I'm hoping I'll feel the same way with Harry Potter. |
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Dec 31 2006, 02:00 PM
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#9
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Gringott's Security Goblin Posts: 3,823 Joined: 3:19pm November 27, 2006 Location: UK |
I have to quote Meg Cabot and say that I like 58% happy endings. Which means that I hate everyone's-happy-and-no-one-good-dies endings because they're corny and unsatisfactory, but I also hate an unhappy ending where there's no hope for anyone, especially where the characters could have been happy if they'd done something else....anyway, I like endings which are happy and sad at the same time, or have a glimmer of hope at the end. I hope JK R does that. I know it's not literature, but I thought 'Buffy' had a good ending. The First was defeated but not everyone was okay. I haven't seen that many Disney films. My parents say they ruin classical stories, and I expect that's true. I haven't seen 'The Little Mermaid' but I have the real story and she doesn't live! Wretched Disney! Thank God JK R didn't sell them the film rights!
--------------------  The signature pic is credit to theonlysong and given to me by Ioli. |
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Dec 31 2006, 03:04 PM
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#10
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Gambol and Japes' Research Department Posts: 1,375 Joined: 3:41pm July 24, 2005 Location: The Time Room of the DoM, trying to find a way to slow down time  |
I completely agree that HP will not end where everyone is happy, gets married, and the world is rid of all of its problems. As Alchemist Apprentice said, evil will continue to exist and as long as it does, the fight will never really be over because someone else will emerge. Jo has kept HP more realistic than Disney's "Cinderella." Disney has a different goal, they make movies that 3-year-olds can watch. I don't think many parents want their toddlers to sit there watching people die. HP is not a children's story. Characters die and worse, the good guys get burned, and there are realistic relationships and emotions within the series. So a Disney "happily ever after" does not appear possible.
I do not think Harry will be scarred quite that badly. Arguably the major theme of the series is the idea that love conquers all, and if Harry is left to be miserable the rest of his life, that theme falls apart and I don't think that's the kind of message Jo wants to give us. No, there is no way Harry will go back to being an innocent, sweet 11-year-old, but I don't think he'll spend his life in complete despair either. And I think that would make for a good ending. An ending where the characters fought, made it through changed (and some of them didn't make it at all), and still have enough left of them emotionally to be able to live afterward (at least in most cases). -------------------- "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"  Thanks for the use of the Garden image tanyal33! |
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