The expectations that were raised and left unfulfilled in the
Chamber of Secrets are the most interesting to me. These raised expectations made
my reading experience a more exciting one. I believe good authors do this so
that the readers can participate in a journey of discovery along with the
characters and story-line.
There are large expectations raised in both the Sorcerer’s
Stone and the Chamber of Secrets. This includes that Snape tried to steal the sorcerer’s
stone, Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin, and Tom Riddle was an honest, good
student. The Chamber of Secrets has some of my favorite unexpected plot twists
though, because they are less obvious. By less obvious, I mean that the reader
often doesn't even realize that she or he was expecting certain events to
happen. Some examples of this include something as simple as Harry not being
able to make it through platform 9 and ¾ or as complicated as Harry being
associated with Slytherin. It seemed as though making it through the platform
and having nothing in common with the evil Slytherin house was a given. Another
example, I didn't even realize until reading the book again, was that I expected
Ron, Hermione, and Harry to fight the final evil together. However, Hermione is
petrified many weeks before the final battle against the basilisk. These are
just a few of the many examples throughout the book series. Many expectations
are raised, throughout the reading, as a natural product of someone actively engaging
in the novel. Leaving those expectations unfulfilled and continually raising
new expectation is the job of a good author and why readers continue to read.
If readers knew exactly what was going to happen to Harry, there would not be a
point to go on this amazing journey with him.
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