Two things on Sirius

[rynne]

Ehehe yes me again so soon after my last entry. :p But I just remembered something that I wanted to post about. Two things, really, both about Sirius. I don't think I've ever really taken a stance on the first issue yet, so I am now.

1. Yes, he is really dead.
Sirius is dead because he is a tragic hero. Bear in mind that it's been a couple years since I really studied what tragic heroes are, but from what I remember, Sirius fits the mold nearly perfectly.
1. He is born to privilege, almost royalty (or at least the Blacks consider themselves so. A powerful family, at any rate).
2. He has a tragic flaw, recklessness.
3. His tragic flaw of recklessness has brought him lower and lower, off his pedestal and out of privilege, as through it the Prank happens, he goes after Peter and is thrown in Azkaban, is pretty much insane through most of PoA, and finally, is completely miserable in Grimmauld Place.
4. His tragic flaw leads to his death, because he rushed to the DoM despite precautions set for his safety, and taunted Bellatrix, causing her to hex him and him to fall through the veil.

Sirius is a tragic hero, and tragic heroes die, because of their own mistakes. They are not brought back to life. I'm very sure that JKR realizes Sirius is a tragic hero (I daresay he was created with that literary convention in mind), and I can't imagine her breaking it by raising him back to privilege--life. I just can't. This is also why I can't really buy all the theories on why he isn't dead, like how it was really Bode's death that JKR was talking about, so Sirius could really be alive. He's nearly the very model of what I learned a tragic hero is, and because of that, I think that even if he is alive, he's not going to survive the series.

Do I think we'll see him again? Yes. I think Harry will eventually have to go to the underworld (go to Death in order to find out how to kill someone who's almost immortal--makes sense to me) or something, and Sirius will be his spirit-guide, or some other useful thing like that. But I don't think we'll see him again in the land of the living, not the way that we have been.

Do I still enjoy resurrection fics? HELL. YES. I like happy things, like sunshine, and unicorns cavorting in fields of daisies, and other things that could possibly drive people to sweetness-overload nausea (which could also explain why I like OBHWF). And like Sirius being alive and living happily ever after with Remus *g*. I like reading fanfics about that, and they're one of my favorite genres, as long as they're plausible. I expect that thistlerose's, once she actually writes it, will be my favorite HP fanfic ever. Hell, I'm even writing one myself! (Off and on, but still.) I adore resurrection fics. But liking it in fics does not mean I want to see it in canon, because even if fanfic writers are allowed to explore different scenarios and extrapolate whatever the hell we want, I want JKR to follow through on the literary devices she sets up in her books, and I think she's set up Sirius as a tragic hero.

Anyone is, of course, welcome to tell me that what I think a tragic hero is isn't correct. Like I said, it's been a couple years since I learned what one was, and I may very well have forgotten something. *shrugs* This is just what I think.


Now for the second thing, which is ENTIRELY FRIVOLOUS and meant ALL IN GOOD FUN and should NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. XD

2. Sirius is so someone's bitch.
I vote Remus's! :D

My theory is that, since his family disowned him and doesn't want to claim him, he wants someone else to. And that because he's a Good Dog, he wants a Master. *g* (And inspired by that, you know what would be perfect? Fic/art of Remus and Sirius doing it doggy style, Remus on top, and with Sirius wearing a collar and leash, with Remus holding the leash. Don't suppose someone would write/draw it for me...*puppy eyes* :p)

Anyway. Yes. Sirius is so someone's bitch, and I say Remus's, just because. And also because of "Sit down, Sirius." And how Sirius obeyed. Such a good doggie! *g* This calls for the Footpad icon, doesn't it? :D

Okay, time to shut up now. XD Especially as I have somewhere to be in less than eight hours and should probably be asleep, not theorizing...

Comments

[jurhael.livejournal.com]

It's hard to say with Rowling, but I do think that if she were to resurrect Sirius, you can bet there'd be some hefty consequences.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Not the least giving the message that loved ones can come back to life...

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, that thing about the tragic hero bit? I've been saying that for almost a year now, so clearly I agree with you.

However, tragic heroes, in the classical mold, don't actually have to die, they just have to lose everything. Oedipus, for example.

They usually die though.

[losselen.livejournal.com]

Which is why I love the Greeks so much.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know, but Sirius has already died, so it would be out of the mold for him to be brought back to life (or revealed as not really dead, or whatever), because he would be gaining things back.

[losselen.livejournal.com]

Yes, he is really dead.

I keep on telling people that and they keep on looking at me in a murderous way.

2. He has a tragic flaw, recklessness.

At least it's not hubris. Although...

[blacksatinrose.livejournal.com]

It's pretty close to hubris really.

I would have pegged his tragic flaw as arrogance, I think?

[arislanchan.livejournal.com]

Ah, perfectly logical reasoning for why he is dead and will stay dead. <3

Yes. Sirius is so someone's bitch, and I say Remus's, just because. And also because of "Sit down, Sirius." And how Sirius obeyed.

So true. :D

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha that's the BEST ICON EVER! XD Cloud/Sephiroth OTP!!one!1eleventy-one!!

[corporal-katz.livejournal.com]

I'm going to go against logic here and say:

Sirius fell through one big mother-effing Time Turner, and has traveled back to the year 1981 to stop Peter Pettigrew becoming the Secret Keeper.

It's so clique it might actually happen. :D

[rynne.livejournal.com]

THAT WOULD BE THE COOLEST THING EVER! *must resist urge to write* Just not in canon ;).

[violet_quill]

Just popping in to say that I completely agree. :D Sirius is not coming back and it would send a poor message if he did. As sad as that is... *tear*

I finished up my fic for Bring Back Black this weekend, and was thinking the whole time - this is ridiculously implausible, but my, it's fun to pretend. :)

Sirius as Remus' dog. GAH. *fic bunny fic bunny fic bunny*

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Ah, who cares about plausibility? *whistles innocently* :D

Sirius as Remus' dog. GAH. *fic bunny fic bunny fic bunny*

Write it write it write it! *bounces* ponderosa121 has already told me she wants to draw it...:D:D:D

[adolph-loos.livejournal.com]

I absolutely agree with you. I don't think Rowling will be bringing Sirius back. For Harry to lose him at that place in his life was significant beyond simple tragedy, it was an act that isolated Harry, emphasizing his role at the lone hero. Without Sirius, Harry feels without something of his own -- Sirius belonged to him in a way, and vice versa. They needed one another because they each had lost so much; Harry, his family and Sirius 12 years of his life.

If she brought him back, it would totally go against her message that nothing can reverse death and that we all have to come to terms with it. Not something you want to do when your readership is largely children. Plus, it would destroy that sense of loss in Harry, and perhaps trivialize the maturity he gains from the experience.

That said, I also agree that we'll see him again; closure would be nice, though I doubt it'll be good enough for anyone in the fandom. Bring on the ressurection!ficage.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Yes. Lots of reasons why Sirius is really dead--I just chose one the English geek in me likes a lot *g*. But still, yay for resurrection fics! :D

[tinitinytina.livejournal.com]

*falls over* You confused me! I glanced at your icon, and mind went "Ok, this is thistlerose."

Then halfway, you link to her journal, and I sit here going "Why's she talking about herself in third person?" @_@

Haha, as for what you said, I quite agree. As much as I like Sirius, he is a tragic hero, and to be perfectly honest, I think his death (and staying so!) gives the series a depth that wouldn't be there otherwise. Hell, this is war. People die. We can't have all the 'unimportant' people dying just because we like the important ones. Life doesn't work that way and neither should stories.

And that because he's a Good Dog, he wants a Master.

*howls with laughter* Cuuuuuuuuuuuuute image. But I don't want to see two doggies going at it. :P

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Heh. The icon was actually made by allisonblair, but everyone loves Footpad! *g*

...This series would not be half as good as it is if only unimportant people died. Important people are goners too! Like Dumbledore. He's just dead meat. XD

But I don't want to see two doggies going at it. :P

That's not precisely what's meant by "doing it doggy style"...:p

[froda-baggins.livejournal.com]

Very nice, I agree on both points.

I totally think that we haven't seen the last of Sirius, however, though I'm not sure it'll be anything as literal as a "spirit guide through the Underworld", though that is an interesting theory.

I think it might be connected to "the dead we love never truly leave us" and has anyone else thought that maybe giving that line to Sirius in the movie was one of those inadvertent foreshadowings Rowling talked about?

[rynne.livejournal.com]

*shrugs* Well, in some way his death will be useful, and I think as something other than just removing Harry's adult support so he has to rely more on himself. And I think the spirit-guide is interesting, hence why I mentioned it :). I'm really open to anything, as long as it serves a purpose.

[ib-druggie.livejournal.com]

;____; I still think Siri is alive. Just because I love him like that. :D

And yes. Sirius is a submissive, despite the fact that everyone displayed him as a Dom. >D

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Ahahaha I love your icon! XD

Hey, I love Sirius too! I just think that bringing him back from the dead would a bad idea like whoa. And that he is indeed dead in the first place. Bringing him back from supposed death is just as bad as bringing him back from actual death.

Hee. Sirius is so whipped :D.

[ponderosa121.livejournal.com]

(And inspired by that, you know what would be perfect? Fic/art of Remus and Sirius doing it doggy style, Remus on top, and with Sirius wearing a collar and leash, with Remus holding the leash. Don't suppose someone would write/draw it for me...*puppy eyes* :p)

omg yes.

Not like I don't have a zillion things I should be drawing, but omg yes I will do this for you.

[rynne.livejournal.com]

O.O I love you. A lot. And I'm sure it will be absolutely gorgeous, with you drawing it. <33

[akussa.livejournal.com]

*Cackles at item number two*

It's funny because it's so TRUE!

Just letting you know that I'm friending you since I keep ending up at your journal for various reasons. ;-)

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Of course it's true! Sirius is Remus's bitch. *nods firmly*

Hello! Welcome to the ride of my life. :p

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

I like some of the points you've made, but I must respectfully disagree. Oh, I think he's really dead (but he still may come back) and I agree that he bears the markings of a tragic hero, but I don't think that's why he died. Sirius died because Rowling needed to isolate Harry emotionally from his friends. (A death such as Hagrid's or Dumbledore's would have united them in their grief.) She needed for Harry to be without a father figure and, from statements she's dropped at her website, I'm guessing Sirius' death will set in motion something specific or allow something specific to occur. Her reasoning will become clear, I imagine, in the next two books.

Sirius didn't die because he's a tragic hero. He died because he and Harry love each other and because Bellatrix shot him while he was standing in front of the archway. His recklessness had nothing to do with his death. Harry compelled Sirius to go to the Department of Mysteries; how, in good conscience, have Sirius not have followed his godson? It would have been cowardly and selfish of him to allow Remus, Tonks, Moody, and Kingsley to risk their lives while he waited at home. Any one of them could have fallen. Tonks and Moody did fall, though luckily not through the Veil. I don't think their personalities had anything to do with their injuries.

Anyway... For all her flaws I like to believe that Rowling doesn't follow archetypes strictly. She did set him up as someone who fell a long way, partly through his own faults, partly because of others, but I don't think he had to die because Hamlet, Oedipus, Antony, and whoever else also died.

But he is very very definitely Remus' bitch!

*g* And we can discuss our resurrection fics when we meet up in a couple of weeks!

[rynne.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't think it's the whole reason, or even a large part of the reason, why Sirius is dead. But it's another angle, one that I have seen maybe once since OotP came out, and it was a long time ago, and I was just thinking about it a couple days ago, and so I wanted to post, using that as one of the arguments why I think Sirius is dead. It's far from the only one, and the main reasons really are the things you listed, but everyone says that and I wanted to talk about something else :p. And he certainly didn't have to die because he's a tragic hero--not all tragic heroes die--but because I see that literary convention enacted in him, that's one of the reasons why, now that he's dead, I don't think he'll be brought back to life/revealed to be not dead. If that makes sense. *g*

*g* And we can discuss our resurrection fics when we meet up in a couple of weeks!

Looking forward to it!

[lil-litworm.livejournal.com]

Oh! Oh! Don't forget, the tragic hero's tragic flaw is also one of his greatest attributes ( studied this this summer, darn Oedipus!). Sirius' recklessness, for instance, saved him from Azkaban because he wanted to get to Harry. He threw caution to the wind to get to the boy, the very picture of recklessness. And then... that led to the even of which I do not like to speak :(.

And I agree completely, Sirius is SO, Remus' bitch!