7 Deadly Sins: Envy (long)

[Peg Kerr]

No: HPFGUIDX 1699

How does JK Rowling use the concept of envy in the HP books?  I see a
lot of connections to my last post on this subject of how the 7 deadly
sins are explored in the series (the post on pride).

I think I've made this point before, and of course, it's obvious, but
one of Harry's most important character-shaping experiences as it
relates to envy was living with the Dursleys.  Perhaps he had a good,
stable foundation with his parents for a year and a quarter, but from
that point on, he was stuck in a total unequal situation.  Dudley got
everything; Harry got nothing.  Dumbledore told Prof. McGonagall that
Harry should live with the Dursleys because there he could live a normal
life, and not grow up being warped by the knowledge he was famous.
Things didn't turn out quite the way Dumbledore perhaps intended it--I
don't think (I hope) that Dumbledore knew that the Dursleys would treat
Harry as dreadfully as they did.  But in one respect, Harry's life with
the Dursleys helped him understand deep in his bones the nature of
inequality that leads to envy.  I think, for example, it helped him to
understand Ron's jealousy and envy in book 4--although that
understanding doesn't entirely help Harry to handle the situation with
total grace (i.e., throwing the button at Ron and snarling that maybe
Ron will have a scar, which is what he always wanted).

Yet, I don't think that Harry exactly envied Dudley.  He saw Dudley's
privileges, but I don't get the impression that he exactly wanted
anything that Dudley had, other than regular food and a sense of
belonging (and perhaps an occasional trip to the zoo).  He didn't seem
to long for love from his aunt and uncle, probably because it was so
clear to him that they were such awful people, that being loved by them
wasn't much of a prize.  Moreover, he saw clearly that the indulgence
that Dudley's parents gave their son turned him into something of a
monster.  Dudley is a loathsome person--a glutton, someone who is not
particularly bright, a cruel, sadistic, selfish bully, and so Harry
doesn't exactly look at him and think, "I wish I could be just like
him."

His envy toward Cedric, in contrast, is more personal and more real.
Cedric is not a loathsome person but a good person, and Harry can see
that, and so the feeling, "I want to be like him" is more of a
temptation.  Moreover, Cedric has things that Harry really does want: a
more developed physique, the admiration of Cho, social ease, the
undisputed right to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, the acceptance
of the other students of his right to be called a Hogwarts champion.
This envy of Cedric (as well as Harry's pride--see the Pride post) shape
Harry's response to the temptation to claim the cup alone at the end of
the third task.  Harry overcomes both pride and envy and invites Cedric
to share the cup instead.  (And as I have said before, what an
incredible irony that JK Rowling takes one of Harry's noblest moments
and turns into the cause of a tragedy).

Other characters suffering from envy:  Snape and Draco.

We don't know exactly what Snape's problem is (although the speculation
has been fun), but we do get the impression that envy is at least part
of it.  He was jealous of James--he speaks bitterly of James' position
as head boy and Quidditch hero--and several of us have suspected that he
might have envied James' relationship with Lily.  (We need more
information on this, which hopefully will be coming in forthcoming
books).  Questions that remain are: why, exactly, does Snape's hatred of
James transfer to James' son, and conversely, why does Snape overcome
that hate/envy to save Harry's life in the first book?

Draco seems envious of both Harry and Hermione (Ron he merely seems to
scorn).  He considers Hermione to be an academic rival, and as for
Harry, Draco seems to resent Harry's fame, Quidditch success and general
alpha male niche in the school social order.

This message has run on pretty long, and the only thing I'll add is a
question to our UK members.  Is the picture of Hogwarts being set up to
run on interhouse rivalry an accurate picture of British schools?  Upon
thinking about it, I wonder at Dumbledore a little for running a school
structure that seems so fraught with the potential for causing
envy/competitiveness/competition to ferment into bad feeling.  Among
other problems, it would seem to be a structure calculated to aggravate
the worst traits of the Slytherins.  If you have a bunch of students
whose main characteristic is scheming and ambition, wouldn't you be
better off stressing teamwork and cooperation rather than competition,
if you want to keep them from succumbing to envy?  (I suppose the
reasoning is that members of each house cooperate, working as a team, in
order to answer the needs of competition.  But still . . . )

I don't feel that this is one of my most coherent posts, but I've spent
enough time on it, and so I'm sending it along.  If anyone wants to add
any further comments/observations about envy in the books, feel free to
add them to the hopper.

Peg

>>>>

"No, that's my sister.  I'm La Belle Dame Sans a Reasonably Cooperative
Attitude."