Throughout the conversation in the cave, Sirius is more interested in explaining and exploring his own conspiracy theories, especially regarding Crouch, and he uses hard-luck stories to attract and keep Harry’s sympathy. We all make much of the rat-eating. But how do we know Sirius has been eating rats? Because he says so. And yet a big friendly dog would probably dine fairly well behind the inns and bake shops of Hogsmeade. Sirius tries to pre-empt this obvious objection by saying he didn’t want to “attract attention” in Hogsmeade, but what’s more natural and inconspicuous than a dog begging for scraps? And if you’re a dog, what’s wrong with a rat dinner, anyway?
Does anyone on this thread really consider Sirius a reliable narrator in general? It’s interesting that this chapter opens with Ron exaggerating stories about his “kidnapping” for the Second task. I suspect we’re being clued in, here, to the unreliability of self-dramatizing narrators, prepared and warned to take Sirius with a bushel of salt.
If we suspect Sirius of tendentious storytelling, then, what should we conclude about the other important information he passes along in this scene: his account of his non-trial, his reading of Crouch’s behavior? I’m particularly struck bv what Sirius says about Crouch being a bad father, which must have some powerful resonance with his own family tensions, and possibly more to do with Sirius' private grievances than with the actual facts. The thing we’re inclined to forget is that Sirius is simply wrong about his interpretation of the Crouches. Crouch Sr. may well have been justified in his aggressive tactics against the DEs, even if Sirius himself was caught up as an innocent victim. (You never hear Dumbledore, for instance, say a harsh word against Crouch Sr.) Crouch Jr., in fact, wasn’t innocent. Crouch Sr. probably was wracked by guilt and regret. And he was a devoted enough father to help Crouch Jr. escape and to try to keep him safe at home, however misguidedly. Ironically, it’s Sirius who wants to reduce Crouch Sr. to a black and white character, a figure of absolute evil rather than of tragedy, and who is stalking him with uncertain but probably sinister purpose. Meanwhile, he is overlooking and excusing the real guilty party, the real source of danger to Harry – Crouch Jr. He’s making the same mistake that Crouch Sr. made thirteen years ago in persecuting him instead of Peter.
I would like to believe that Sirius has some genuine concern for Harry, even if only narcissistically, as a reminder or symbol of better days with James. But I’m not sure we see even that much real emotion in GoF!Sirius – the “godfather” references seem too consciouisly part of a strategy of manipulation. There is very little humanity left in Doggish!Sirius, other than a craving for very personal vindication and revenge. Mostly, I think, Sirius sees Harry as a tool, a resource. He wants to keep him loyal and devoted, and a source of information when needed, but in practical terms he also wants to keep him out of the way. I find it almost bizarre that after drawing Harry and his friends half an hour out into the wilderness beyond Hogsmeade, Sirius sternly cautions Harry never to visit again because it’s not safe.
Why does any of this matter? After all, in the end Sirius doesn’t do any actual harm to Harry, and doesn’t wreak vengeance on Crouch Sr – that’s left to Crouch Jr. One thing that’s worth stressing is that, for all his visibility as a character, Sirius is really much less important in driving the actual course of events than his oversized romantic presence, and his role in Harry’s imagination, would suggest. He’s a fantasist, a poseur, and is ultimately ineffective in almost everything he takes on. But he’s very important, I think, to JKR’s analysis of Harry’s own potential character traps, of the way that attractive characters go bad through excessive self-regard, through indulgence of passions and the pursuit of idealized closure to their personal stories, oblivious to Dumbledore-style irony and sympathy and pragmatic reason. He’s an example of what not to let yourself become. This may be why, in OOTP, JKR called his catastrophe “a necessary death.”
Thoughts on Sirius -- II
Throughout the conversation in the cave, Sirius is more interested in explaining and exploring his own conspiracy theories, especially regarding Crouch, and he uses hard-luck stories to attract and keep Harry’s sympathy. We all make much of the rat-eating. But how do we know Sirius has been eating rats? Because he says so. And yet a big friendly dog would probably dine fairly well behind the inns and bake shops of Hogsmeade. Sirius tries to pre-empt this obvious objection by saying he didn’t want to “attract attention” in Hogsmeade, but what’s more natural and inconspicuous than a dog begging for scraps? And if you’re a dog, what’s wrong with a rat dinner, anyway?
Does anyone on this thread really consider Sirius a reliable narrator in general? It’s interesting that this chapter opens with Ron exaggerating stories about his “kidnapping” for the Second task. I suspect we’re being clued in, here, to the unreliability of self-dramatizing narrators, prepared and warned to take Sirius with a bushel of salt.
If we suspect Sirius of tendentious storytelling, then, what should we conclude about the other important information he passes along in this scene: his account of his non-trial, his reading of Crouch’s behavior? I’m particularly struck bv what Sirius says about Crouch being a bad father, which must have some powerful resonance with his own family tensions, and possibly more to do with Sirius' private grievances than with the actual facts. The thing we’re inclined to forget is that Sirius is simply wrong about his interpretation of the Crouches. Crouch Sr. may well have been justified in his aggressive tactics against the DEs, even if Sirius himself was caught up as an innocent victim. (You never hear Dumbledore, for instance, say a harsh word against Crouch Sr.) Crouch Jr., in fact, wasn’t innocent. Crouch Sr. probably was wracked by guilt and regret. And he was a devoted enough father to help Crouch Jr. escape and to try to keep him safe at home, however misguidedly. Ironically, it’s Sirius who wants to reduce Crouch Sr. to a black and white character, a figure of absolute evil rather than of tragedy, and who is stalking him with uncertain but probably sinister purpose. Meanwhile, he is overlooking and excusing the real guilty party, the real source of danger to Harry – Crouch Jr. He’s making the same mistake that Crouch Sr. made thirteen years ago in persecuting him instead of Peter.
I would like to believe that Sirius has some genuine concern for Harry, even if only narcissistically, as a reminder or symbol of better days with James. But I’m not sure we see even that much real emotion in GoF!Sirius – the “godfather” references seem too consciouisly part of a strategy of manipulation. There is very little humanity left in Doggish!Sirius, other than a craving for very personal vindication and revenge. Mostly, I think, Sirius sees Harry as a tool, a resource. He wants to keep him loyal and devoted, and a source of information when needed, but in practical terms he also wants to keep him out of the way. I find it almost bizarre that after drawing Harry and his friends half an hour out into the wilderness beyond Hogsmeade, Sirius sternly cautions Harry never to visit again because it’s not safe.
Why does any of this matter? After all, in the end Sirius doesn’t do any actual harm to Harry, and doesn’t wreak vengeance on Crouch Sr – that’s left to Crouch Jr. One thing that’s worth stressing is that, for all his visibility as a character, Sirius is really much less important in driving the actual course of events than his oversized romantic presence, and his role in Harry’s imagination, would suggest. He’s a fantasist, a poseur, and is ultimately ineffective in almost everything he takes on. But he’s very important, I think, to JKR’s analysis of Harry’s own potential character traps, of the way that attractive characters go bad through excessive self-regard, through indulgence of passions and the pursuit of idealized closure to their personal stories, oblivious to Dumbledore-style irony and sympathy and pragmatic reason. He’s an example of what not to let yourself become. This may be why, in OOTP, JKR called his catastrophe “a necessary death.”