[spoiler]"Lupin and Tonks were two who were killed who I had intended to keep alive. … It's like an exchange of hostages, isn't it? And I kept Mr. Weasley (Ron's father) alive. He was slated to die in the very, very original draft of the story."

So yeah she did just randomyl decide to kill them by the looks of it :mellow:[/spoiler]

Blah.
Finished the book and was like "ok... next book now"

I take it that you didnt like it then :P

I liked it apart from all the death. I think that some of them were completely unnecessary.

It answered all the questions i had before reading the book, but now I have even more questions that need answering!!!!!! :angry: Do you think that if enough people wanted to hear more, she would write another book? Or at least have someone else write the book and she can tell them if they did it right?

Oh I totally agree. The deaths seem so forced, as if to prove just how 'evil' Voldermort is. We get that already though. Just look at the last couple of deaths. ..

Fred, while his twin brother lives.

Lupin and Tonks, both new parents who will never get to raise their child.

It seems overly cruel, just to enforce how evil Voldy is.

All the deaths disturbed me greatly, perhaps because I've seen people die in real life. The last book left me feeling quite depressed, actually.

I agree that the deaths seemed forced. They may have been intended to show that in war, both innocents and combatants die, more or less at random. They added realism, from that point of view. And they did show how evil LV was, and why he needed to be defeated, despite the cost in lives.

Actually, though, I'm wondering if the last big battle at Hogwarts was really necessary to the plot? It didn't really help Harry do what he had to do, it just provided an exciting background. It got everyone working together in a common cause (except the Malfoys et al, of course). However, I think that with a little more imagination, there might have been other ways that everyone could have been brought together to defeat LV, and other ways that they could all have proved their courage and heroism.

I got the feeling that the battle and the deaths were thrown in because, ever since the Iliad and Beowulf, an epic tale has been expected to have an epic battle (literal battles of the physical sort, not mental struggles or that sort of thing). So JKR gave us an epic battle.

BTW, I'm not meaning to sound like a pacifist here. I'm not! Honest! I enjoyed the battle at Helm's Deep in LOTR, for example. Very exciting! But epic battles are not as much fun when you've come to really care about the Fallen Warriors.

(I seem to be feeling philosophical this morning. It must be the coffee. Sorry about that. I'll stop now.)

Jk never took killing a character lightly, in an interview she stated the she cried when she had to kill fred, she doesn't kill at random, she finds what would be best for the plot

I dunno... that one seemed pretty harsh, out of the blue.

OMG!!!!!! Lupin and Tonks died like Harry's parents. They didn't have Harry for long and they were killed while working against Voldie, well they were in hidin at the moment, and lupin and tonks died while fighting against voldie. That is really sad, and yet symbolic.

I agree. Tonks and Lupin's death were definately symbolic. This time however, the son wasn't raised by shrewed muggles

I think Fred died because there is a spare of him. Sorry to all you twin lovers out there, but really two was almost too much.

Also I saw the epic battle at Hogwarts as ver fitting. They were fighting for something symbolic that both sides held dear. I don't mean to be sacreligious, but Hogwarts was sort of a Holy Land for both sides. LV wanted to dominate and crush it while the defendors just wanted to live and learn there. Plus as a school Hogwarts embodies the future. In the year that Voldemort controlled it, it was turned into a sort of bootcamp for torture and malice, while Dumbledore ruled it turned out more good than bad students. Schools are important places where young minds are shaped. So what better place to have an epic battle? I can't think of one.

As to Lupin and Tonks death...It was heart wrenching as I am sure it was meant to be. If JKR did a hostage exchange for them in favor of Mr. Weasley then I would say that sorrow got the better half of the deal. Mr. Weasley had loved his wife for many years, and raised his kids. Lupin, Tonks and Teddy were just starting out. But I think is it symbolic as the cycle of life. Now Harry has a baby to raise... There's a book for you "Harry Potter and the Diaper Genie." Teenage single father tries to make it in the wizarding world. Will he succumb to the bitterness of his former glory being dashed by familial responsibilities like Dumbledore, or will he perserver and do for Teddy. Ok I am starting to remind myself of Rita Skeeta, so I'll quit.

I never thought of the whole son being orphened thing. Ill look at that part with new eyes now

That doesn't mean their deaths weren't still random . . . the desicion would have been random still because in war deaths is random. I would have been all like FTW? if their were only symbolic/meaningful to the plot deaths because things just don't work that way and I JK is smart enough to realise this.

I think that some of the deaths were symbolic and possibly even necessary, but after a while, she was killing like one person per chapter and it kind of just seemed like she was killing them just to prove how evil Voldemort is and how bad he wants what he wants. A lot of the deaths were totally unecessary...