Remus and Sirius as plot-driven characters

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

Although neither of them gets much screen-time, I believe that Remus and Sirius are two of the most important characters in the HP series. Their choices, both past and present, drive the whole narrative almost as much as Snape's and Dumbledore's do. However, despite their importance, we are told very little, if anything, about the motivations behind their actions, including several that are quite difficult to understand or sympathize with. The few explanations we are given are, in my opinion, rather inadequate or unbelievable. The problem, I suspect, is that Rowling simply never gave much thought to Remus's or Sirius's motivations when she was developing her story. What they say and do seems to have been determined far more often by the needs of the plot than by any sense of who they are as people--their personalities, their personal histories, their relationships, etc. Even though they are central characters in the story, the plot usually drives their choices, rather than their choices driving the plot.

Why did Remus fail to take his potion at the end of PoA? Because Rowling wanted him to transform into a werewolf and nearly kill the kids. Why did Sirius pull the "prank" on Severus? Because the "life-debt" that resulted between James and Severus provided a red herring for why Severus did so much to protect Harry despite hating James. Why did Remus marry Tonks and have a baby? Because Rowling wanted there to be a new baby orphan at the end of DH. Why didn't Sirius attempt to hire an attorney and get himself exonerated, independently of Dumbledore? Because Rowling wanted to keep Harry stuck at the Dursleys during the summers. We as the readers have to come up with many of our own in-universe explanations for their behavior, for Rowling hardly gives us any. Depending on how we fill in the holes, it's possible to either utterly adore or utterly despise the two characters.

Why didn't Remus tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an animagus and that he knew of secret passageways into Hogwarts? Remus does actually give us an answer to this one, but it's not all that realistic. He says he was too cowardly to admit that he had betrayed Dumbledore's trust as a teenager. It's an explanation that might work if Remus were twelve, but I think it's absolutely ridiculous that a grown adult would risk the lives of several hundred students, particularly Harry, just because he didn't want to disappoint Dumbledore, especially since he could have told the headmaster that Sirius was an animagus without saying anything about their werewolf escapades. Rowling needed Remus to keep his mouth shut for the sake of the plot, but she could have come up with a much better explanation for why he did.... as many of her fans did. Maybe Remus had trouble believing that Sirius was guilty, or he thought that Sirius at least deserved a trial. Maybe the Mauraders all took unbreakable vows to never reveal each others' secrets. Fans have come up with all sorts of interesting and logical reasons for why he didn't say anything.

Remus and Sirius, as presented in canon, come across to me more like plot-devices than actual characters, more like puppets on strings than conceivably real people. I know this is true of other HP characters as well. I've seen numerous similar comments regarding Ginny, for instance. The difference, though, is that Remus's and Sirius's roles help form the core of nearly the entire narrative, starting in 1971, while Ginny, aside from in Harry's second year, is almost completely irrelevant to the overall story. You can pretty much ignore Ginny, if you want. You can't ignore Remus or Sirius.

Comments

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

I do agree that Sirius is more of a real character than Remus is, but that isn't necessarily saying much. I liked your analysis in the essay you linked to. Sirius-as-dog does explain some aspects of his character.

I'm not sure I agree, though, that Sirius-as-dog explains why he put killing Peter above everything else, including protecting Harry or proving his innocence. It would make just as much sense, if not more, for Sirius-as-dog to have made protecting Harry, his pup, his top priority, such as by warning Dumbledore about Scabbers as soon as he escaped Azkaban.

No, I think a better explanation for why Sirius sought vengeance above everything else in PoA is because it made for a more exciting story. What makes this even more telling is that (I'm pretty sure) we never hear Sirius say anything about how much he hates Wormtail and wants to see him dead in either GoF or OoTP, even though this is a driving force behind his behavior in PoA. Instead, it's an aspect of his character that's dropped once it's no longer necessary to the plot.

[oryx_leucoryx]

What makes this even more telling is that (I'm pretty sure) we never hear Sirius say anything about how much he hates Wormtail and wants to see him dead in either GoF or OoTP,

What do you think is going on in his head in GOF when *rats* are the main component of his diet? And he looks good that year - he eats *plenty* of rats. He was living a revenge fantasy the entire year.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

LOL that is a possibility. I've never read it that way before.

I've always thought that his comment about living off rats was meant to show just how desperate he was for food, because rats are often viewed as a food of last resort (though not in all cultures). And that's why he had Harry bring him lots of food from Hogwarts.

And he doesn't look good at the time when he says he's been living off rats.

Sirius was wearing ragged gray robes; the same ones he had been wearing when he had left Azkaban. His black hair was longer than it had been when he had appeared in the fire, and it was untidy and matted once more. He looked very thin.

If he were killing rats for sport, and not because he was starving, I'd more readily agree that he was living out some kind of revenge fantasy.

[oryx_leucoryx]

OK, not that many rats. He was already on the rat diet for several weeks when he appeared in the fire in November.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

I think it's more likely that he was looking better at that point because he'd had a few months of freedom in the sunny tropics.

He gave that up and returned to England because he was concerned about Harry.

After living in the cave for a few months, with very little access to food, he was looking awful again.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

How come it's rats though? Rats tend to be more associated with cities but rats out in the wild I don't think are all that easy to catch, out in a cave in the wilderness I'd almost think he'd be more likely to find squirrels, or rabbits or some kinda wild birds around the area than randomly finding a nest of rats.

If he can catch enough rats to eat and live off off as a dog, shouldn't he be able to catch a chickens, or a rabbit or squirrel. Any of those animals should be just as easy to catch in dog form. I don't get Sirius there, as a dog he'd surely be able to find birds, or snatch a couple of chickens, OR HELL, he could have easily went into a muggle town and begged food off someone.

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

Yes, logically, Sirius shouldn't have any problems getting food since he can hunt and beg for food as a dog. But he clearly is starving in this scene. So we have to ignore logic here and pretend that he has very little access to food.

"Living off of rats," in general, conveys a strong image of just how desperate someone is for food because rat meat is so taboo European cultures.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

"Living off of rats," in general, conveys a strong image of just how desperate someone is for food because rat meat is so taboo European cultures.

Just how much human thought/sensibility does an animagus retain when they are in their animal form?

Does McGonagall forego hunting/eating rodents when in her cat form? Did James never eat while in his stag form, because as a human he couldn't stomach eating leaves and grass?

If you think about it, Peter Pettigrew actually made the best choice in animagus animal, because rats are omnivores and will eat just about anything, especially the same things humans eat.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

What makes this even more telling is that (I'm pretty sure) we never hear Sirius say anything about how much he hates Wormtail and wants to see him dead in either GoF or OoTP,

What do you think is going on in his head in GOF when *rats* are the main component of his diet? And he looks good that year - he eats *plenty* of rats. He was living a revenge fantasy the entire year.

Yuck! You know, I never gave the eating rats much thought....but yea, kinda sick.

(sarcams)...and here I thought Severus was the only one who wanted revenge in this series (/sarcasm)

Sirius' revenge makes Severus' revenge look like a amature.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Yuck! You know, I never gave the eating rats much thought....but yea, kinda sick.

Actually, rat is considered a delicacy in some countries, and is a common part of the diet in many eastern cultures.

[karentheunicorn.livejournal.com]

Actually, rat is considered a delicacy in some countries, and is a common part of the diet in many eastern cultures.

actually, I was more thinking Yuck as in terms of if he were imagining he caught Peter as a rat and ate him. =) Not the actual rat part, though I'm not inclined to eat rat but I know around the world other kinds of food are considered okay to eat.

But my yuck was more in terms of thinking about him wanting to catch peter and eat him.

[mmmarcusz.livejournal.com]

What do you think is going on in his head in GOF when *rats* are the main component of his diet? And he looks good that year - he eats *plenty* of rats. He was living a revenge fantasy the entire year.

Definitely. After all, rats are hard to find and very fast. If he just wanted to eat, he could have survived on rabbits, chickens and whatever falls out of bins (US: garbage cans).

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

The problem, though, is that he wasn't surviving. He was starving. Logically, he shouldn't have been starving if rabbits, chickens, and bins were available options.

So, does that mean that Sirius allowed himself to starve because he refused to eat anything other than rats?

Personally, I think it's Rowling who ignored the fact that rabbits, chickens, and bins were available options because she wanted to show Sirius going to great extremes to be there for Harry, including starving and having to eat rats to survive.

[sharaz-jek.livejournal.com]

Logically, he shouldn't have been starving if rabbits, chickens, and bins were available options

Why would wizards need bins when they can Vanish things? With regard to non-recyclables, that's one of the few real advantages of Potterverse magic.

[majorjune.livejournal.com]

Logically, he shouldn't have been starving if rabbits, chickens, and bins were available options.

I also find it hard to believe that there weren't a few sheep farms in the area, either.

[jodel-from-aol.livejournal.com]

Well, in the original ms there was Mopsy the dog-lover in Hogsmeade, who had been feeding a likable stray. But Mopsy was cut on the advice of the editor (back when the books were still actually being edited).