Is Draco Redeemable?/Thematic Motifs

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

No: HPFGUIDX 11534

Ginny wrote re: the Draco-Redemption Issue:

>I was thinking about this whole thing just the other
>day when I was thumbing through GoF. Go re-read the
>bouncing ferret scene. The part when it says mentions
>-this is paraphrasing- ". . .his pale eyes welling up
>with tears of pain and humiliation. . ." I find that I
>feel sorry for him in that scene. He seems so sad and
>pitiful. Maybe it's just the effects of too much
>fanficiton, maybe if I haven't been seeing him in a
>new light I'd think he got his just desserts. But now
>I don't. <sigh>
>  Ebony, I really agree with your comments on this. I'm
>in the process of writing a fic in which Draco is 20,
>and it's interesting to see how, as a person, he would
>really change. I think that his devilish side will (or
>would, in real life) transform into a more
>impish-ness. I don't think he really *is* evil, but
>growing up around death eaters. . . it messes with
>your mind.
>


I think this may just be the case, Ginny.  Sometimes we adopt our parents' 
values.  Other times, age and experience seem to win out.

The anti-Draco sentiment I've read here is interesting.  I propose that *if* 
Draco ever were to renounce his father and accept Muggles/Muggle-borns as 
legitimate magical citizens, many wizards and witches would treat him with 
suspicion at best.  Many would dislike him, distrust him, and never forgive 
him for being Lucius Malfoy's son.

Perhaps I'm completely wrong in defending Draco.  Perhaps once a bigot, 
always a bigot.  Once a racist, always a racist.  My late father, who grew 
up in Mississippi and saw too much too soon, firmly believed those last two 
statements.  I'm sure he would have read HP (he always read whatever I 
recommended so we could discuss it) and condemned Draco Malfoy to a 
Death-Eating, cheerless future.

Perhaps personality is no more mutable than the sun is extinguishable from 
our own human efforts.  Maybe it's not Maybelline... maybe we *are* born 
with it.

I'm still reading this thread, and I still don't think that those who say 
that Draco is a Dark Lord-in-training have made their case.  Especially when 
many Evil Draco proponents argue the case for Snape in the same breath.  If 
anything, it's really making me reconsider my own original thoughts about 
Snape, Draco, and Slyths in general.

Also, consider this.  If Draco has little to no redeemable characteristics 
and is basically a beastly little snot, it stands to reason that he has an 
opposite who is absolutely good and noble and unselfish.  Arguing for an 
evil Draco with no shades of gray means that you're in essence arguing for a 
heroic Harry with no shades of gray.  Which brings me to my next topic.

THEMES

Perhaps we should lift our eyes for a moment, beyond the characters, beyond 
the setting, beyond the nuts-and-bolts details at the text level and 
consider the Big Picture.

I'd like to start a new thread here if possible.

What do *you* think JKR is saying via the Harry Potter books?  From reading 
canon only, what are her themes?  The didactic lessons she wants the reader 
to leave with?  Or do you feel as if the books aren't saying anything 
important or consistent, and are only for entertainment value?

--Ebony AKA AngieJ (who is refraining from discussing shipping and fanfic 
for a while b/c she's weary of defending those subjects' right to exist when 
so many other just-as-frivolous threads are smiled upon)

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Ebony AKA AngieJ
(H/H Special Agent, First Class)

"'We start by recruiting members,' said Hermione happily.  'I thought two 
Sickles to join--that buys a badge--and the proceeds can fund our leaflet 
campaign.  You're treasurer, Ron--I've got you a collecting tin 
upstairs--and Harry, you're secretary, so you might want to write down 
everything I'm saying now, as a record of our first meeting.'

"There was a pause in which Hermione beamed at the pair of them, and Harry 
sat, torn between exasperation at Hermione and amusement at the look on 
Ron's face."

--from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, p. 225, 1st Amer. ed.
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com