The Challenge for January 2011:
Lily revisited
Lily revisited
Years ago (we've been around for a while, oh yes!)we had 'Severus and Lily' as a monthly challenge.
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alicekinsno1 suggested to take a closer look at Lily's character:Maybe something that discusses the character of Lily more deeply? I'd love to see what some of your ideas are for just how Lily went from treating Snape so harshly and talking back to James, to being the stereotypical "saintly mother" at the end of her life. There's something about her personality that doesn't add up.
That is to say, how her apparently selfless decision to die for her baby makes sense in light of the way she treated Severus or even James. With possibly a side comment about how despite being so powerful and gifted she didn't really show any of that by dying pleading for her baby's life without even trying to take on Voldemort.
Please post your entries here or in a separate post. I'm looking forward to your entries.
If you have ideas for new challenges, please post them here. (This is a new list, your earlier suggestions are still in the old post).
The Catherine/Heathcliff parallel
Why do you say 'clearly'? Has Rowling actually said this? (I wouldn't know -- I don't read her website or follow many of her interviews.) I mean, it's not MY personal interpretation but you're welcome to think it. And it's not a perfect literary parallel, as you yourself acknowledge.
"I'm not saying that Lily = Catherine Earnshaw, any more than Severus = Heathcliff. But, having chosen to rewrite a part of Wuthering Heights in her opus, Rowling does have Lily replicate some of Catherine's unpleasant behavior."
Yeah, but if that were the case, then Rowling has Severus replicate some of Heathcliff's abusive behaviour to Catherine's daughter (and his own son), doesn't she?
For the record, I regard Snape as a FAR better man than Heathcliff (whom I loathe, actually. He and Cathy richly deserve each other!) Despite his bitterness and his emotional issues, Severus managed to turn his life around. He is more human than Heathcliff, braver than Heathcliff, and his behaviour to Harry is never as bad as Heathcliff's to Cathy Junior, IMO.
"To then hold her up as the paragon of mother love is downright odd, IMHO."
If you see a strong parallel between Lily and Cathy, then I guess that would strike you as odd.
I don't see the parallel, myself.
-- Pearlette
Re: The Catherine/Heathcliff parallel
Nemesister said she thought it was Rowling's intention to rewrite Heathcliff and Cathy, but to make them both nicer and better than they were in the original. I'm honestly not sure what her intention was. But I certainly agree with you that Severus is a far better man than Heathcliff. However, the fact that she modelled him partly on Heathcliff does explain one scene that always struck me as wildly out of character - the toad poisoning. This is clearly meant to be a parallel to Heathcliff's hanging Isabella's little dog - which shows us clearly what a cruel and sadistic man he is. The toad scene just doesn't work the same way. It seems to me to be over the top and therefore hard to believe - and, in any case, unlike Heathcliff, who actually kills the dog, Severus does Trevor the toad no harm.
Oh - I don't know if it is proof that Rowling intended to parallel these characters, but she does list Wuthering Heights as one of the books that influenced her.
Re: The Catherine/Heathcliff parallel
I really wasn't aware of that but it is a long time since I read WH! I even read it twice ... but it WAS ages ago. :D
Also, like Cathy, Lily comes from a higher social sphere than Sev. Her friends look down on him - also like Cathy.
It's not an exact parallel, IMO. The DE thing is beginning to hot up and Lily's friends in Gryffindor are suspicious of Sev and some of the people he's hanging around with. Petunia's reasons for looking down on Sev are completely different: young Petunia is just being a little snob, and young Sev reacts to this (naturally enough).
And, like Cathy, she throws over her childhood friend for a wealthy young man she eventually marries.
The situations in both books are different, of course. Cathy's reason for rejecting Heathcliff are completely different from Lily's reasons for breaking up with Sev. IMHO. I see Lily as nicer than Cathy, although that seems to be a minority POV here.
But I certainly agree with you that Severus is a far better man than Heathcliff. However, the fact that she modelled him partly on Heathcliff does explain one scene that always struck me as wildly out of character - the toad poisoning. This is clearly meant to be a parallel to Heathcliff's hanging Isabella's little dog - which shows us clearly what a cruel and sadistic man he is.
Oh, Heathcliff is dreadful. I pity his sad childhood and the contempt he received as a child -- which was inexcusable. But he grows up to be so brutal and sadistic that he loses my sympathy. Voldemort had a pretty awful childhood, too, but that doesn't mitigate his actions as an adult.
For the record, I don't take the view that Snape really would have poisoned Trevor. Even when I read the first book and initially hated Snape, LOL (before he saved Harry's life!) I was beginning to wonder about his true character. It's not nice of him to threaten to do it, but I don't believe he WOULD have done it.
Oh - I don't know if it is proof that Rowling intended to parallel these characters, but she does list Wuthering Heights as one of the books that influenced her.
Fair enough. :) That does explain a lot about the love triangle aspect of the tragic backstory in HP. Not an exact parallel, IMO, for the reasons I explain above, but I can see some elements in HP, certainly.
-- Pearlette
Re: The Catherine/Heathcliff parallel
That sounds fascinating, can you link me? :p No seriously, I can't remember it that well. Do you still know where this discussion took place? My lj, yours...?
Re: The Catherine/Heathcliff parallel