Ambition

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 1220

Hi --

As always Peg has given us lots to chew on.  I thought I'd jump into the
fray this time -- previously all my thoughts were stated by others
before I joined the debate.  So . . . .

AMBITION -- Ambition is definitely a prime characteristic of Slytherins,
and how interesting that it seems so often to lead the Slytherins down a
dark path (we as yet haven't been introduced to any Slytherins whose
ambition leads to good or noble ends, although surely they must exist).
I think JKR has lots to say about ambition if we think about it (and
probably tons more to come).

Percy is a prime example.  We the readers have picked up on Percy's
driving ambition since Book One.  It seems to me that Ron mentioned
Percy's ambition at least once in every book.  Of course, his ambitious
career goals are outlined quite noticeably in GoF.  But, we all knew
Percy was ambitious prior to GoF.  But, is his ambition truly the
hallmark of Percy's character?  It is the thing that most immediately
comes to my mind when I think of Percy, and yet, he ended up in
Gryffindor rather than Slytherin.  One wonders if (a) he asked the
Sorting Hat to be in Gryffindor since the rest of his family had been
(much like Harry does) or (b) if the Sorting Hat recognized that
ambition is not the whole nature of Percy after all.

I suspect it might be the latter.  We've been led to believe that his
ambition is the driving force behind everything he does and everything
he is.  Ron suggests in GoF that Percy would choose his ambitious goals
over his family, and Hermione immediately takes Ron to task for that
insinuation.  If I had to guess, I'd say (to quote Sirius) that Hermione
has got the better measure of the man than Ron.  I think if Percy is
forced to make difficult choices, he will, in the end, choose his
family.  I also think that Percy will struggle with the decision but
choose to abandon upward mobility in Fudge's MoM in favor of family
loyalty.

The other interesting thing about ambition & the Weasleys is that we
learn in GoF that Percy is *not* the only Weasley with high ambition.
Fred & George -- who'd have guessed it -- have their own ambitions &
goals & plans.  It seems that they've had their plan in motion for a
good long while prior to GoF too (Ginny comments that they'd been
inventing things for years).  Though it might have started out as simply
goofing around for fun, eventually it turned into a business plan.
They're mature enough to have thought through that they need capital & a
plan of action.

And, of course, there's Ron.  I think Ron has far more ambition than he
even realizes.  We see his envy of others & dislike of his own poverty
(together with its attendant growing ambitions on his part) becoming
more & more pronounced in GoF.  I think this trend will only continue.
I know others will disagree, but I see Ron as being far more likely to
be seduced (unwittingly) by the dark side as a result of his ambitions
than any of the other Weasleys.

I would guess that Bill, Charlie & Ginny have their own ambitions as
well, but we haven't seen much of it yet.

Harry's ambition -- Peg touched on some things.  Think back to the
Sorting Hat again -- it notes that Harry has "a nice thirst to prove"
himself.  "Proving himself" can be a form of ambition.  It can also be a
means of overcoming his fundamental insecurity (that is proving himself
"worthy").  The Sorting Hat also told him that he could be "great" and
that Slytherin could help him on his path to greatness.  Was the Sorting
Hat appealing to Harry's ambitious side?  Harry didn't succumb, and of
course, this is largely because he thinks he'd turn out to be "dark" if
he were in Slytherin.  He doesn't know too much more than hearsay about
the Slytherin House at that point.  But, it seems that nobility
outweighed ambition for Harry in the final choice.  As Dumbledore said
in CoS, Harry's choices were more determinative than who he might
otherwise be (making him far different than Tom Riddle).

Harry is clearly very ambitious and competitive.  I would say that he's
competitive on the Quidditch field.  But, he's ambitious when it comes
to winning the Quidditch Cup and the House Cup each year.  As Peg
pointed out, he was clearly ambitious with respect to the TriWizard
Tournament.  He wishes on different occasions that he'd never been
entered into the Tournament, but yet, as Peg points out, he didn't try
very hard to get out of it.  And, he can't help imagining himself as the
Champion, despite all his protestations and the dangers that he knows
must be lurking.

Like Peg, I'm in awe that JKR took one of  Harry's noblest decisions and
turned it into tragedy.  I think it's worth noting though that his
actions in the 2nd Task might be arguably more freely noble than his
actions in the 3rd Task.  He's a bit reluctant & disgruntled about
sharing the Cup -- he *knows* it's the right thing to do, but I think he
has some doubts and some irritation that one of them didn't win it
outright.

Is Harry's streak of pride and independence (as Moody noted) the result
of his ambition (wanting to go it alone so as not to share the glory)?
Or (more likely in my mind) are these characteristics personal failings
that may come into conflict for him or cause him problems later?

Snape -- his ambition for the DADA job is really hearsay.  Everyone says
he's out for the job but why hasn't Dumbledore offered it to him if he
truly wants it?  We've seen that Snape has no real trepidation about
asking Dumbledore for what he wants (typically punishment for Harry or
acknowledgment that Lupin could have been helping his old pal Sirius).
I have a hard time believing that he hasn't asked for it if he truly
wants it.  So . . . if he's asked for it, Dumbledore must have reasons
for denying him the job.  Or, maybe it was all just hearsay and Snape
doesn't want (and hasn't asked for) the DADA position.  Why would the
DADA job be more prestigious than Potions Master?

Okay, I'm starting to ramble so I'll shut up now.

Penny