[HPforGrownups] Dumbledore the not-necessarily-good

[Neil Ward]

No: HPFGUIDX 1269

Jinx said:

"Of course Dumbledore's not perfect.  He merely appears so because it is
Harry telling the story, and when you are Harry's age, adults appear very
archetypal in nature.  Thus he sees Dumbledore as the ultimate benevolent
father deity who can do anything and is perfect.  As he matures, this
changes as the archetypal projection gets withdrawn and he becomes aware of
Dumbledore's fallibility.  We will follow the same process to a certain
extent as we read the books.  However, because we are older and more
cynical, we're also aware of the adult characters' flaws and ambiguities.
We don't revere them to the extent Harry does and we're more aware of their
humanity.  However, this does not make Dumbledore a secret undercover
servant of Voldemort.  To distrust someone merely because he does not live
up to godlike standards is the mark of an immature mind."

***
I agree with you for the most part.  The idea that we are viewing the other
characters mostly through the eyes of Harry Potter and the other children
has been raised before and it does help to explain the rather polarised
interpretations of Dumbledore and Snape.  The fact that we are adults who
are "aware of characters' flaws and ambiguities" is precisely why I
challenge the popular characterisation of Dumbledore. I'm not suggesting
that he will be unveiled as Voldemort's sidekick - far from it! I'm just
questioning, trying to open up the debate (well, looks like I succeeded there). 

Reading your last sentence, I guess I could have taken offence, except for
the fact that unquestioning trust is the more the mark of an immature mind
and it's distrust that tends to kick in as we get older.      

Neil

            Flying-Ford-Anglia

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   "Then, dented, scratched and steaming, 
   the car rumbled off into the darkness, 
   its rear lights blazing angrily"

 [Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets]

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