7 Deadly Sins: Gluttony

[sarvalsha at dellnet.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 1907

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, Peg Kerr <pkerr06 at a...> wrote:
> I'll bet you all think I'm going to talk about Dudley, aren't you?
> 
(snip)
> 
> Once I started thinking about gluttony this way, I found that 
Dudley has
> several spiritual "twins," if you will, characters with a ravenous
> capacity, who suffer all the attendant troubles (selfishness, skewed
> relationships, inability to recognize that they're not the center 
of the
> world).
> 
> The first, of course, is Voldemort.
> 
> The second I didn't see right away, but once I did, I realized he 
fits
> the profile, too.  The other great glutton in the series is Gilderoy
> Lockhart.
> 
(snip)
> 
> Peg


Interesting that you mentioned Lockhart. One of the amazing things 
about Lockhart for me is that on some level he seems to believe he is 
who he tells the world he is. He's not totally delusional; he tells 
Ron and Harry that he didn't really do the things in his books. But 
he operates his life as if he had. 

Most people in his position would I think avoid circumstances which 
would blow their cover. Yet Lockhart actively seeks out opportunities 
which end up making him look foolish. He attemps to give advice and 
instruction to other professors. He sets up the dueling club. He 
tries to fix Harry's arm. 

He fails at each one but continues as if he hasn't. He actually seems 
to think that he is well-liked and well-respected. 

The only moments of self-awareness come after he has been blasted by 
the Memory Charm gone wrong. When someone mentions he is a professor, 
he says he must be hopeless at it. He also defers to other people, 
saying for instance, that he doesn't have a sword but Harry does (or 
somthing like that, I don't have the book handy). In general, I find 
him an incredibly annoying person, one of the reasons CoS is my least 
favorite of the books. But I actually like him at this point. 

Recently, it struck me that Trelawney seems to share some of 
Lockhart's delusions. Like Lockhart, there are some people who almost 
idolize her. But the overall perception that is presented is that she 
is a fraud. And like Lockhart she believes the fraud. One of the 
things that stands out in my mind, is when Harry has the dream in her 
class and she says that it is because he is influenced by the 
atmosphere she creates there. The power of her presence. 

Yet we know because Dumbledore tells us so, that she has only made 
two real predictions in her entire career. And the one she makes in 
our presence she is not aware of and denies to Harry. Yet she goes on 
living her life and conducting her classes as if she is an actual 
talented seer. Ironic isn't it that the seer is blind to her own true 
nature?

This I think is part of the power of these books. They are populated 
with diverse characters who invoke a myriad of emotions in readers. 
They force us to think not only about what we admire and what we 
don't but also what we should admire and what we should't and what 
the difference is between those things. There is so much to the books 
if you are paying attention. 

Yet the rest of the power comes I think from the sheer fun. Every 
time I get to any part that is 'serious' about 'Sirius', I have to 
giggle. The books manage to appeal to the kid in me at the same time 
it appeals to the adult. It's MAGIC. 


Margaret