In defense of the epilogue

[liliaeth]

I've been reading HP reviews and one thing I keep noticing is people complaining about the epilogue. Am I really the only one who absolutely loves the epilogue?

So many people get stuck on the shipping, which to me is incidental where HP is concerned, or the nameing of the kids, which well... they're wizards, all wizards suck at naming their kids, just look at all the rest of the names in the book for crying out loud.

Jesus.

But all those people nagging and nagging and nagging about the sentimentality and stuff seem to be people who haven't even bothered to read the epilogue, because it is essential.

In the first book, Hagrid almost instantly fills Harry with prejudices against Slytherin. It's in big part because of what Hagrid tells him about Slytherin that Harry ends up in Gryffindor. (and don't tell me Dumbledore didn't have a clue that this would happen, because I'm pretty sure he knows Hagrid well enough to know his opinion on matters)

Yet in that last scene, we see a moment where Harry could have filled his sons head with the same petty prejudices that he went in with, and he doesn't. We're shown that Harry has grown, has matured, has become a more forgiving man who can see beyond labels and look at people and see them for themselves.

He can in full honesty tell his son, "Then Slytherin house will have gained an excellent student, won't it? It doesn't matter to us Al."

Read those words "it doesn't matter", compared to Ron's joking to Rose, compared to Hagrid's words to Harry...

Harry releases his son from the chains of fear and dividedness. He tells his son about Snape, the man his son was named after and gives him a glimpse of understanding of Slytherin.
And I love Rowlings for doing that, for giving us an adult Harry who has truly come full circle and has become a man to be proud of.



Who cares that Harry ended up marrying Ginny, that Ron married Hermione, that's almost incidental in nature. It doesn't matter.

What matters is that Harry has become an adult.

And that is why I love the epilogue, no matter how schmoopy or sentimental it is.

Comments

[naiveprophet.livejournal.com]

That little talk with wee-Albus, about Slytherin, and the bit about Snape, was the only thing, in my opinion, that saved the epilogue from being a complete disaster. Except that I had kind of half-hoped that Hogwarts would have finally done away with the division of the houses, because I thought it had been made pretty clear that dividing the students divided their loyalties.

The reason I didn't like the epilogue is because I didn't really care that much if Harry and Ginny had gotten married and had kids, I wanted to know what happened to the wizarding world, how it had rebuilt itself after Voldemort's defeat, that sort of thing, and I found myself sorely disappointed.

[liliaeth]

But that's just the point, it doesn't matter who Harry ended up with. That's not what the epilogue was about. That was just the setting to give Harry a chance for that conversation with little Albus Severus.

Pairings are just a sidenote for Rowlings. They're there, but they're not even remotely what the books are about. It's about Harry growing up. The epilogue wasn't about showing who paired up with whom, it was about showing us what kind of man Harry had turned into.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

For me, it had nothing to do with ships or mood or names (though I did find that naming ALL your children after other people is a bit much especially your parents... it's like naming your twins Romeo and Juliet to me) for why I didn't like the epilogue. I, personally, was expecting something a little more substanstial than the what I got from the epilogue. Yay for the kids finding happiness and growing up, but I was more interested in finding out how they got to that point, how the wizarding world rebuilt itself or at least what the kids did with their lives when they grew up (careerwise and besides the breeding business). The problem is I've read fanfics exactly like what I read in the epilogue, which was extremely disappointing. I didn't mind it being happy and filled with love; I minded it being so deus ex machina that it literally made me ill. I was disappointed up until chapter 21 and then was thrilled with how things unfolded until the epilogue. I found the stereotypical happily ever after a bit pandering and, I felt, it cheapened the rest of the book. I suppose maybe I was wrong for expecting more because if this is how JKR wanted it, then she has every right to do so as this is her artwork.

[liliaeth]

But see, the epilogue wasn't about the wizard world, or what everybody is doing now that they're grown up. If it had been about that, Rowlings could have easily added a line or two about what they are doing for jobs now that they're all grown up.

It was about the emotional truth of Harry growing up and as such I tend to find it a huge success.

I guess it's easier for me because I'm verry Harry centric where reading HP is concerned, so I tend to focus pretty much on the emotional truth for him and everything else is secondary to that.

[fenderlove.livejournal.com]

I guess I just feel that Harry reached that emotionally stable point when he had his speech to Voldemort, about Snape not being his puppet, that Harry finally saw things clearly and rationally as a mature adult. He had been building to that point the entire book, and he got there. The epilogue was just unneccessary after that, but that's my personal opinion, and I can see where you are coming from.
I felt the book was just fine where it ended before the epilogue; I didn't have a "What's next?" feeling. I thought it was very resolved and complete at page 749, and the rest was just forced upon me as a reader.

[liliaeth]

Thing is, to me, the epilogue did what Chosen lacked as an ending. It gave us a Harry with deep respect for Snape, a Harry who's grown beyond labels.

At the end of the fight, sure Harry brings up Snape's contribution, but we haven't yet seen him internalize those feelings towards other Slytherins, in the epilogue he has. And that's why it matters.

[aaronlisa.livejournal.com]

I didn't have a problem with the ships even though I don't really ship those two ships. (I'm used to having ships that aren't canon.) I don't even care about the names of the kids. I did like the glimpse into how Harry had matured and had realized that Snape and Slytherin weren't evil.

For me, I just found that it wasn't as tight writing-wise as the rest of the book.

[fairy-tale-echo.livejournal.com]

Fucking word. (this is my first comment about DH, I feel so excited.) You're absolutely right that the 'shipping is incidental. The WHOLE THING is incidential, except the part where Harry talks to his son.

Why? One, it tells us, definitely in a way the text did not, that Harry is OK with what Snape did and who he was. Two, it tells us that Harry understands what true bravery is and that he saw in Snape the same capacity to sacrifice that was demanded of HIM his whole life. And finally, and probably most importantly, it shows that even though (sadly, in many ways) the Houses still exist, Harry is OK with not just Slytherin or Snape but who his son is gonna be, regardless.

I like that Harry. I like that he has grown into the kind of man who knows what kind of things are worth worrying about and what are not. I like that ending. James and Lily as sibiling's names, well, sure that's a little weird. But I can rename her Minerva in my head and be A-OK! ;)

[mrflibbleseyes.livejournal.com]

Agreed and nicely written. I have no problems with what is in the epilogue especially in regard to Snape & Harry. I thought it was well handled and showed that Harry recognised the sacrifices that had been made and that he appreciated and respected the. My issue with the epilogue is the stuff that was left out - other characters etc - but that is a minor grumble and JKR has a right to end the series how she sees fit.

[chanel-5.livejournal.com]

I agree. I found the pairings incidental, if a bit trite, and the epilogue was in all good, for all that it showed that they survived and got on with their lives. I would have liked more. Particularly more about the rest of the wizarding world after voldemorts demise, how they rebuilt, did it improve pure blood/non pure blood relations?, what happened to Luna? what happened to the death eaters still alive, what did they do with voldemorts body? who did poor Teddy grow up with??? Frankly I think that the epilogue was written for the youngsters, and I'm going off to find some noncanon ship fic, maybe some Hermione/Snape where Hermione uses her intellectual powers to save Snape at the last minute, and then they get down and dirty. ahhh, that's how it Should have ended...

[liliaeth]

But see that wasn't the point of the epilogue. It wasn't even remotely intended to show what the wizard world had become in nineteen years. Nor was it supposed to show anything more than that moment, those few minutes.

The entire epilogue was about that one moment between Harry and Albus Severus, the rest of it was padding, setting, it was that one conversation that's the entire point of the epilogue.

[chanel-5.livejournal.com]

I think my ending would have showed interhouse tolerence just as sexily... um, I mean, nicely, LoL. As much as the rest of the epilogue is, in fact, padding, it still changes the way we imagine the trio might live their lives. I'm not saying it isn't enough, only that I would have liked to have seen more. In fact, I would have rather seen another chapter, before the epilogue, something like a debriefing of sorts, do you know what I mean?