Perseus Jackson vs Wolfy McWolface
Jan. 11th, 2021 07:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackI can't figure out why I'm more annoyed with the Percy Jackson characters not figuring out who "Perseus Jackson"'s father is, but not with the Harry Potter characters for not figuring out that the werewolf was "Wolfy McWolface"
I think it's that Lupin's name was clearly supposed to be out-of-universe knowledge. Obviously the characters might know plenty of Latin, but there wasn't a sequence of events where he was called that BECAUSE he was bitten by a werewolf. So I'm happy to treat it as a narrative convention, just like I don't ask, "how come all these novels have a statistically improbably narratively meaningful ending?"
Whereas from book 1, it feels likely that Perseus' name wasn't massive coincidence, but was given by his mother BECAUSE his father was Poseidon. And it makes sense that he didn't make that connection, but CHIRON didn't?
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Or maybe "Perseus" is just such a common name for demigods now it didn't come up?
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In fact, there's a wider literary point here, which is that books are often interesting if there's hints that the reader can pick up on and suspect a connection but not be sure of, or make an unlikely connection.
But having it work depends on how much the reader knows and how much genre awareness the reader has. Hints for a 10-year-old who hasn't read many books will be different to hints in book 2 of 3 you expect a dedicated subreddit to spend 10 years analysing in extreme depth.
And if the hint lands emotionally, you tend not to pick apart the logic, but if it doesn't we often get pedantic, even if it's not less logical, just less interesting to us personally.
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Even now, I often find myself really interested in books that FEEL difficult to figure out, even if the difficulty is in piecing together what they're saying, as well as or instead of the complexity of what they're saying.
I always think of Too Like the Lightning here -- I was SO INTERESTED in it, despite the fact that almost every plot point made me vehemently denounce it But they were all INTERESTING because they raised interesting questions, about that world and about our world.
I think it's that Lupin's name was clearly supposed to be out-of-universe knowledge. Obviously the characters might know plenty of Latin, but there wasn't a sequence of events where he was called that BECAUSE he was bitten by a werewolf. So I'm happy to treat it as a narrative convention, just like I don't ask, "how come all these novels have a statistically improbably narratively meaningful ending?"
Whereas from book 1, it feels likely that Perseus' name wasn't massive coincidence, but was given by his mother BECAUSE his father was Poseidon. And it makes sense that he didn't make that connection, but CHIRON didn't?
--
Or maybe "Perseus" is just such a common name for demigods now it didn't come up?
--
In fact, there's a wider literary point here, which is that books are often interesting if there's hints that the reader can pick up on and suspect a connection but not be sure of, or make an unlikely connection.
But having it work depends on how much the reader knows and how much genre awareness the reader has. Hints for a 10-year-old who hasn't read many books will be different to hints in book 2 of 3 you expect a dedicated subreddit to spend 10 years analysing in extreme depth.
And if the hint lands emotionally, you tend not to pick apart the logic, but if it doesn't we often get pedantic, even if it's not less logical, just less interesting to us personally.
--
Even now, I often find myself really interested in books that FEEL difficult to figure out, even if the difficulty is in piecing together what they're saying, as well as or instead of the complexity of what they're saying.
I always think of Too Like the Lightning here -- I was SO INTERESTED in it, despite the fact that almost every plot point made me vehemently denounce it But they were all INTERESTING because they raised interesting questions, about that world and about our world.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-12 08:02 am (UTC)I don't think it's that obvious. Languages, modern or ancient, do not seem to be taught at Hogwarts.
It's like going to a school run by a religious cult - the education is curated so you can't leave.
I think it's that Lupin's name was clearly supposed to be out-of-universe knowledge. Obviously the characters might know plenty of Latin, but there wasn't a sequence of events where he was called that BECAUSE he was bitten by a werewolf. So I'm happy to treat it as a narrative convention, just like I don't ask, "how come all these novels have a statistically improbably narratively meaningful ending?"
I actually read a fic once where Lupin was targeted specifically to punish his parents for giving their child a "Wolfy McWolfman" name like it was a joke.
no subject
Date: 2021-01-12 02:10 pm (UTC)In my headcanon, that's why all the spell names are in bad Latin – each one was originated by a past wizard (via whatever Deeper Magic it is that causes a two-word spell to start working for everyone in the first place) who had paid about as much attention to their Latin as they had to the rest of their Muggle Studies. Conjugatio Incorrectus!
no subject
Date: 2021-01-12 10:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-01-12 07:49 pm (UTC)Hmmmm. Yeeeees. I think I was going with, the reasonable adult characters are portrayed as knowledgeable, and have some continuity with ancient wizard cultures, so you'd EXPECT them to know things we think of as educated. That's more based on how the worldbuilding feels, than what it says. But I think that's usually a much better guide...
Lupin was targeted specifically to punish his parents for giving their child a "Wolfy McWolfman" name like it was a joke.
LOL. Yeah, that's a perfect retcon. It doesn't undermine the earlier book, but adds a useful new perspective on it :)