Cornelius Fudge - Character Study

[Kelley]

No: HPFGUIDX 3345

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, stevekimmel at y... wrote:
> Cornelius Fudge – Minister of Magic
> 
> When you react to a revelation about a character with disbelief the 
> author has failed in characterization. The proper response should 
be, 
> "Oh course. Why didn't I see it all along?" With Mad Eye Moody, 
> Rowling succeeds in this characterization task. 
> 
> At the end of Goblet of Fire, I didn't believe the actions of 
> Cornelius Fudge. They were too out of character for what we had 
seen 
> before. For me, Rowling's characterization of Fudge was a dismal 
> failure. Because of the subtlety of the approach, Cornelius Fudge's 
> transformation from vaguely amusing bungler to, perhaps, a running 
> dog lackey of Voldemort is less convincing than any of the others. 
> Fudge's performance at the end of Goblet of Fire is so reminiscent 
of 
> Peter Pettigrew's and so irrational than I have concluded that he 
is 
> really a follower of Voldemort if not a full blown deatheater.

Hmmm.  It's interesting that you feel this way.  Fudge's flip at the 
end wasn't such a shock to me.  If it had happened at the end of PoA, 
I would have been much more surprised.  I think his solicitousness(?)-
-not sure if that's the word I'm searching for, regarding L. Malfoy 
at the QWC, sort of prepared me for his change at the end.  He's a 
bureaucrat after all, and more decidedly unfit for the position of 
MoM.  OTOH, when learning of Moody's 'true' identity, I COMPLETELY 
lost my suspension of disbelief, very hard for me to swallow.  
Through all the previous books, I was totally submersed in this 
world, absolutely enthralled; but the above twist brought me right 
out of the story.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book just as 
much as the others, and truthfully, I did not find any 
inconsistencies in the storyline that don't support the 'not really 
Moody, but actually Crouch Jr.' thread.  No holes as far as I could 
tell.  And, it was consistent with JKR's pattern of the 
surprise 'whodunnit?' character at the end, but, for whatever reason, 
this just didn't work for me.  As for Fudge, I can't tell yet whether 
he's really a DE, or just in denial.  Someone's suggestion that he 
may be under the Imperius curse is a good one, and seems very 
possible to me.

Kelley