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< Personae ~ Character Names - clever or too clever by half? |
| wjb35 |
 Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:28 pm |
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Joined: 26 Aug 2009
Posts: 5
Location: Austin, TX
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I'll start by saying that I love the names that Rowling uses, and yet, I started getting annoyed by how neatly it all hangs together sometimes. Take Remus Lupin, for example. Presumably he was named "Remus" by his parents, and it fits (Romulus and Remus) with Lupin (wolf) - etc., and yet - he wasn't bitten by Greyback until he was a child. Were his parents psychic?
"Severus" reflects his personality *now*, but what would he have been like if his parents had chosen a different Roman emperor, like Augustus, Constantine or Tiberius?
Did Pomona Sprout marry someone named Sprout, or was she named Pomona by her parents? That seems a little apposite - how did they know that she'd end up in Herbology?
See, the names fit the characters as they are adults and as how they are characterized in the story - you just know that someone named "Minerva" is going to be clever and "Hagrid" is going to be big and hairy (or at least, I should say I wasn't even momentarily surprised). |
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| Yukimor |
| Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:38 pm |
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Joined: 18 Feb 2010
Posts: 14
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You know, I agree. However, I rather like it- I believe it helps the readers more easily identify the characters and their roles/personalities in regard to the story.
At least she didn't name Harry Potter "Donovan Darkkon" or something equally stupid. XDD |
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| Overhill |
| Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:28 pm |
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Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 263
Location: Central Oregon, near a wyer, but the dragons are downstairs....
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I think she was following in the footsteps of other British authors, notably Charles Dickens.
That Lupin was bitten by a werewolf was (as I recall) punishment for something his parents did. The Death Eaters or Voldemort may have chosen the punishment to fit the name. |
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| Yukimor |
| Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:43 pm |
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Joined: 18 Feb 2010
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Overhill wrote: That Lupin was bitten by a werewolf was (as I recall) punishment for something his parents did. The Death Eaters or Voldemort may have chosen the punishment to fit the name.
Hey, you're right! o.o |
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| Overhill |
| Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:55 pm |
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Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 263
Location: Central Oregon, near a wyer, but the dragons are downstairs....
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| Yukimor |
| Posted: Tue Feb 23, 2010 10:27 pm |
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Joined: 18 Feb 2010
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Overhill wrote: Quote: At least she didn't name Harry Potter "Donovan Darkkon" or something equally stupid. XDD
Or Willy the Wizard. *snerk*
And thank god she didn't name Alastor Moody "Wally the one-eyed wonder wizard."
I would have died laughing and never finished the book. |
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| Overhill |
| Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:04 am |
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Joined: 29 Mar 2006
Posts: 263
Location: Central Oregon, near a wyer, but the dragons are downstairs....
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Quote: Wally the one-eyed wonder wizard
I doubt if it would have made it past the editors! Although there might have been another relative of deceased author Adrian Jacobs who might have claimed the copyright for it.[/quote] |
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