And the author does know more things about the characters--the reader can be wrong about their interpretation of a character. If somebody continued to insist that Peter was innocent and Sirius was the betrayer, for instance, that would be incorrect.
I think the problem is that authors can't help but convey their personal opinions when writing. Usually that stuff's fairly minor and easy to agree on, especially in children's books: there's usually a moral, having to do with the protagonists behaviour: it's good to be kind/open-minded/humble. Sometimes there's mild liberal undertones (I remember the Babysitters Club having a Californian member who was very keen on environmentalism ;) and sometimes there's mild conservative undertones (older stuff such as Enid Blyton)... But once you're writing a book, no matter how hard you try to separate yourself from the material, you're going to have a personal viewpoint, and it's likely to differ from your fans. There are writers like Neil Gaiman who refuse to express much authorial intent because of his adherence to the 'author is dead' theory, and there are the JKR's who communicate their opinions on their own texts. But there's no way to be correct on opinions, which seems to escape some people at times. For instance (I wanted to use your Peter example, but it's difficult since we don't have much background for him. So I'll pick a nice juicy one ;) Marietta betrayed the DA to Umbridge. Fact. Marietta is an evil squealing bitch who deserved every one of those spots and I hope they bled. Opinion. Now, JKR's never spoken about this character, so there's leeway either way: could assume she wrote the hex to satisfy her audience with some righteous vengeance; could be it's another sign of morally!dubious Hermione. JKR giving an interview tomorrow where she clarified her position as one or the other wouldn't alter many opinions, and why should it? Nobody who believes Hermione was cruel in doing that is going to alter their own beliefs based on what an author says, whether it's a topselling 'god' of one's fandom, or not. Likewise, if you think Marietta had it coming, no amount of JKR saying 'Wasn't Hermione nasty? Tut tut.' is going to change your view. Likewise Buckbeak (how many times has that one been fought over? ;) JKR saying her opinion when writing it was that Hagrid was a terrible teacher doesn't affect many people's beliefs that being a terrible teacher doesn't absolve students of all responsiblity for themselves in lessons. If her opinion is that Draco had it coming, and anyway it was kind of funny with all that squealing and shrieking; it's not going to make anyone who was creeped out by it suddenly laugh and say 'Oh, I get it now!'
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Date: 2004-12-01 01:37 pm (UTC)I think the problem is that authors can't help but convey their personal opinions when writing. Usually that stuff's fairly minor and easy to agree on, especially in children's books: there's usually a moral, having to do with the protagonists behaviour: it's good to be kind/open-minded/humble.
Sometimes there's mild liberal undertones (I remember the Babysitters Club having a Californian member who was very keen on environmentalism ;) and sometimes there's mild conservative undertones (older stuff such as Enid Blyton)...
But once you're writing a book, no matter how hard you try to separate yourself from the material, you're going to have a personal viewpoint, and it's likely to differ from your fans.
There are writers like Neil Gaiman who refuse to express much authorial intent because of his adherence to the 'author is dead' theory, and there are the JKR's who communicate their opinions on their own texts.
But there's no way to be correct on opinions, which seems to escape some people at times.
For instance (I wanted to use your Peter example, but it's difficult since we don't have much background for him. So I'll pick a nice juicy one ;) Marietta betrayed the DA to Umbridge. Fact.
Marietta is an evil squealing bitch who deserved every one of those spots and I hope they bled. Opinion.
Now, JKR's never spoken about this character, so there's leeway either way: could assume she wrote the hex to satisfy her audience with some righteous vengeance; could be it's another sign of morally!dubious Hermione.
JKR giving an interview tomorrow where she clarified her position as one or the other wouldn't alter many opinions, and why should it? Nobody who believes Hermione was cruel in doing that is going to alter their own beliefs based on what an author says, whether it's a topselling 'god' of one's fandom, or not.
Likewise, if you think Marietta had it coming, no amount of JKR saying 'Wasn't Hermione nasty? Tut tut.' is going to change your view.
Likewise Buckbeak (how many times has that one been fought over? ;) JKR saying her opinion when writing it was that Hagrid was a terrible teacher doesn't affect many people's beliefs that being a terrible teacher doesn't absolve students of all responsiblity for themselves in lessons.
If her opinion is that Draco had it coming, and anyway it was kind of funny with all that squealing and shrieking; it's not going to make anyone who was creeped out by it suddenly laugh and say 'Oh, I get it now!'