[HPforGrownups] Re: Slytherin's evil

[Caius Marcius]

No: HPFGUIDX 2882


----- Original Message -----
From: "Amanda Lewanski" <editor at texas.net>
To: <HPforGrownups at egroups.com>
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2000 3:21 PM
Subject: Re: [HPforGrownups] Re: Slytherin's evil


>
> milz wrote:
>
> > About the Basilisk...it was meant to be a *servant* of the Heir of
> > Slytherin. In other words, the Heir could use it for what ever he/she
> > wanted. Tom Riddle chose to use it for *evil*.
>
> A trap many have fallen into, characters in many works of fiction and
sometimes in real life---a strong enough character will be able to use
something innately evil toward an ultimately good end.
> I, for one, don't think it's possible.


Think of the actions of  Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, and Joseph Caiaphas
in bringing about the resurrection of Christ.

Or of Adolph Hitler in the creation of the state of Israel.

In one of the medieval Passion Plays, it is the devil who sends the dream to
Pontius' wife (alluded to in the Gospel of Matthew), prompting her to warn
her husband not to prosecute Christ; the devil (often referred to as the
Biblical Voldemort) does this in order to attempt to prevent Christ's
crucifixion, since he knows the resurrection needs must follow.

Adult fans of HP might want to check out the masterpiece of the Soviet
novelist Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Maragarita (1928-1940 - not
published until 1966), which takes as it theme Evil as an instrument of
ultimate Good.  The plot concerns a great writer ("The Master") locked away
in an asylum, and how the devil Wotan's appearence in the 1930s Moscow leads
the Master's reunification with his true love Maragarita; the narrative runs
the gamut from hilarious slapstick to the one of the most exhilirating and
transcendent climaxes in all Western literature (hint: it involves two
individuals named previously in the post).

    - CMC