{"id":3437,"date":"2005-07-25T22:41:38","date_gmt":"2005-07-26T05:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/07\/25\/choices\/"},"modified":"2022-03-07T09:50:43","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T17:50:43","slug":"choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/2005\/07\/25\/choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:4527,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20260307120130\\\/https:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-25 04:33:14&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:37&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7910,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\\\/extras\\\/aa-jointerview1.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20060110175313\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org:80\\\/extras\\\/aa-jointerview1.html&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 02:46:47&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7911,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\\\/extras\\\/aa-jointerview2.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20060114085734\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org:80\\\/extras\\\/aa-jointerview2.html&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 02:46:49&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:36&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:36&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7912,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\\\/extras\\\/aa-jointerview3.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20060113204515\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org:80\\\/extras\\\/aa-jointerview3.html&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-10 02:46:51&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:40&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:40&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:404},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:7913,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.mugglenet.com&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20260310025659\\\/https:\\\/\\\/mugglenet.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/mugglenet.com\\\/&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-03-29 13:17:39&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:6221,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/click.linksynergy.com\\\/fs-bin\\\/click?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941.10000170&amp;type=4&amp;subid=0&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\/\" title=\"The Leaky Cauldron\">The Leaky Cauldron<\/a> has been running an interview with J.K. Rowling over the past week (in three parts: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\/extras\/aa-jointerview1.html\" title=\"The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling (Part 1)\">one<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\/extras\/aa-jointerview2.html\" title=\"The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling (Part 2)\">two<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\/extras\/aa-jointerview3.html\" title=\"The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet interview Joanne Kathleen Rowling (Part 3)\">three<\/a>) with questions posed by Emerson Spartz of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mugglenet.com\/\" title=\"MuggleNet\">Mugglenet<\/a> and Melissa Anelli of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.the-leaky-cauldron.org\/\" title=\"The Leaky Cauldron\">The Leaky Cauldron<\/a>. The whole interview is very worth reading &#8212; though full of spoilers, so I don&#8217;t recommend reading it if you haven&#8217;t finished the latest book yet &#8212; but one section stood out to me when I read it.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n  JKR: &#8230;because I think there&#8217;s a line there between the moment in \u201cChamber of Secrets\u201d when Dumbledore says so famously, \u2018It&#8217;s our choices that define us, not our abilities,\u2019 straight through to Dumbledore sitting in his office, saying to Harry, \u201cthe prophecy is significant only because you and Voldemort choose to make it so.\u201d If you both chose to walk away, you could both live! That&#8217;s the bottom line. If both of them decided, \u201cWe&#8217;re not playing,\u201d and walked away\u2026 but, it\u2019s not going to happen, because as far as Voldemort\u2019s concerned, Harry\u2019s a threat. They must meet each other.<\/p>\n<p>  ES: I remember thinking when I read \u201cOrder of the Phoenix,\u201d what would happen if Harry and Voldemort just decided to \u2014<\/p>\n<p>  JKR: Shake hands, and walk away? We&#8217;ll agree to disagree!<\/p>\n<p>  [Laughter.]<\/p>\n<p>  ES: What if he never heard the prophecy?<\/p>\n<p>  JKR: And that&#8217;s it, isn&#8217;t it. As I said, that&#8217;s what I posted on my site &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>  ES: I&#8217;m glad you put that up.<\/p>\n<p>  JKR: It&#8217;s the \u201cMacbeth\u201d idea. I absolutely adore \u201cMacbeth.\u201d It is possibly my favorite Shakespeare play. And that&#8217;s the question isn&#8217;t it? If Macbeth hadn&#8217;t met the witches, would he have killed Duncan? Would any of it have happened? Is it fated or did he make it happen? I believe he made it happen.<\/p>\n<p>  MA: If everyone would just shake hands and play a round of golf, everything would be fine.<\/p>\n<p>  [Laughter.]\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Obviously, nothing necessarily mind-blowing in and of itself, but it&#8217;s a theme that I&#8217;m quite happy that Rowling has been using in the books, and expanding on in interviews. So many of the troubles people face, both on a personal and on a global scale, all just boil down to happening because one party or another <em>want<\/em> them to.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, the solution to all the world&#8217;s woes, then, is never to want to cause any sort of conflict whatsoever, so I&#8217;ll shortly be embarking on my daily routine of laudanum and thorazine to ensure I can do my own small part in making this world a calmer, less embittered place.<\/p>\n<p>Erm.<\/p>\n<p>Well, okay, maybe not.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/click?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941.10000170&amp;type=4&amp;subid=0\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"iTunes\" border=\"0\" width=\"61\" height=\"15\" src=\"http:\/\/images.apple.com\/itunesaffiliates\/logos\/iTunes_sm_bdg61x15.png\" \/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"http:\/\/ad.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/show?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;bids=78941.10000170&amp;type=4&amp;subid=0\" alt=\"\" \/> &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DPrimal Scream%2526albumTerm=screamixadelica%2526songTerm=Movin' On Up (Demrocked!'s Movinunbelievable)%26 partnerId%3D30\">Movin&#8217; On Up (Demrocked!&#8217;s Movinunbelievable)<\/a>&#8221; by <a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1= itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DPrimal Scream%26partnerId%3D30\">Primal Scream<\/a> from the album <em><a href=\"http:\/\/click.linksynergy.com\/fs-bin\/stat?id=xLsJkztrnNY&amp;offerid=78941&amp;type=3&amp;subid=0&amp;tmpid=1826&amp;RD_PARM1=itms%253A%252F%252Fphobos.apple.com%252FWebObjects%252FMZSearch.woa%252Fwa%252Fcom.apple.jingle.search.DirectAction%252FadvancedSearchResults%253FartistTerm%253DPrimal Scream%2526albumTerm=screamixadelica%26partnerId%3D30\">screamixadelica<\/a><\/em> (2005, 5:00).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Leaky Cauldron has been running an interview with J.K. Rowling over the past week with questions posed by Emerson Spartz of Mugglenet and Melissa Anelli of The Leaky Cauldron. The whole interview is very worth reading, but one section stood out to me when I read it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2036,2043],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-personal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3437\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelhans.com\/eclecticism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}