[HPforGrownups] Re: Chesterton on Voldemort?

[Horst or Rebecca J. Bohner]

No: HPFGUIDX 20402

> Thanks for letting us know that - as a long-time Chesterton fan, I
> didn't know we could number JKR in our company.

Apparently her name's on the roster of the GKC Society, or so a Society
member told me.

> Did the essay which included this quote identify which GKC book it sprang
from?

I found it in G.K. CHESTERTON:  A SELECTION FROM HIS NON-FICTIONAL PROSE
(selected by W.H. Auden, London, Faber, 1970).  Sorry, didn't look up the
original source, other than to note that it was part of an essay on Dickens.

> Voldemort exists as a touchstone of magical world's moral character.
> How does one react to the powers of evil and oppression? Some with
> enthusiastic allegience (Barty Crouch, Jr., Draco Malfoy), some with
> craven submission (Wormtail), some with denial (Cornelius Fudge).
> Some - ignoring Nietzsche's admonition that those who fight dragons
> must guard against becoming dragons themselves - descend to the same
> tactics employed by the forces of evil (Barty Crouch, Sr., perhaps to
> a lesser extent the real Mad-Eye Moody).  But others will oppose it
> with a clear-minded resolution (Dumbledore), with stoic patience
> (Black, perhaps Hagrid), or with valor and heroism (Harry).

A fascinating and thought-provoking summary -- thank you.  So where does
Snape fit in nowadays?  With those who've ignored Nietzsche's warnings?  But
then, why does Dumbledore trust Snape so much and appear to be allowing him
free rein to behave like a "dragon" at Hogwarts?  Is Dumbledore a little
less "clear-minded" than we've been led to believe, or is Snape a lot more
so?
--
Rebecca J. Bohner
rebeccaj at pobox.com
http://home.golden.net/~rebeccaj