7 Heavenly Virtues: Temperance

[Peg Kerr]

No: HPFGUIDX 29889

The sixth Heavenly Virtue is Temperance. The first definition offered by
my Oxford English dictionary reads: the practice or habit of restraining
oneself in provocation, passion, desire, etc., rational self-restraint.
Related concepts for purposes of this discussion include moderation,
restraint, self-mastery, frugality, sobriety.

[Note in passing: the word "Temperance" has particular cultural baggage
in my country, the United States of America.  The Temperance Movement
was the name of the anti-alcohol movement in the United States, which
culminated in the Eighteenth Amendment to our Constitution, outlawing
intoxicating liquors in the early 20th century.  The Eighteenth
Amendment was widely acknowledged to be a failure, and the Twenty-first
Amendment repealed it.  There is as a result of this experience a
cultural assumption in America, usually unspoken but still strong, that
"Temperance doesn't work."  This plays out most directly in the U.S.
today in wrangles about the proper public policy toward illegal drugs.]

Sorry that there has been quite a hiatus in this series of essays: I'd
started drafting this 7 Heavenly Virtue essay on temperance several
months ago, but unexpectedly got stuck--I was having difficulty
organizing my thoughts on this particular virtue, and so the essay has
just been sitting in my "incomplete drafts folder." But seeing the movie
has started me rereading the books and brooding over themes again.  I've
come up with some new threads of thought and so will give it another
try.

For those of you who haven't followed these essays from the beginning:
see the messages referenced below at the end of this message.  Quick
reminder for those of you who need a refresher: Temperance is the fifth
of the seven heavenly virtues, one of the "cardinal virtues" derived
from the writing of the Greeks.  The four cardinal virtues (Fortitude,
Justice, Temperance and Prudence) follow the three "theological virtues"
(Faith, Hope and Charity) which are derived from Christian
writings--although I have tried to examine those virtues in my earlier
essays in a larger, more general way than simply Christian.

Now, let us start where we always start: with the Dursleys.  Just as the
Dursleys are the embodiment of each of the 7 Deadly Sins, they also show
the effect of the lack of each of the 7 Heavenly Virtues.  How do the
Dursleys demonstrate lack of temperance?  I think this is most clearly
demonstrated in the Vernon and Petunia's parenting of Dudley.  It's all
there in that very first scene of the series, when Dudley complains
because he has only thirty-seven presents and Petunia anxiously tells
him that they will go out and buy another two.

The Dursleys never tell Dudley "No."  The result of their indulgence of
Dudley's appetites is appalling.  Dudley is a selfish, cruel, gluttonous
monster, sort of an Id run amuck.  The Dursleys, in raising Dudley,
demonstrate the truth of the adage "spare the rod, spoil the child."
(Note: I do not agree with the common interpretation that this verse
from Proverbs advocates corporal punishment.  I am not saying that
Dudley would be greatly improved if the Dursleys spanked him; rather, he
needs discipline, meaning guidance.  I believe that "the rod" in this
verse refers to a shepherd's rod, a common biblical metaphor.  The
shepherd's rod is used to guide the sheep, but never used to beat them.
A good shepherd guides the sheep with his rod--perhaps guiding it with
nudges on the shoulder or gently restraining it by pulling it back by
the neck with the shepherd's crook when the sheep attempts to go down
the wrong path.)

So where else in these books do we see failures of self-restraint, and
what are the results?

One example is Ron, who just can't seem to keep his cool whenever Malfoy
baits him.  Ron's anger gets him into trouble repeatedly.  Sometimes
Ron's anger is certainly justified--we would not like to see him just
stand by and do nothing when a friend of his is attacked, as when Malfoy
calls Hermione a Mudblood.  Attacking Malfoy at that point with a
damaged wand, however, certainly showed that he was allowing anger to
conquer his better judgment--no wonder he ended up spitting slugs.  And
Ron is so sensitive about his family's poverty that he has made it
particularly easy for Malfoy to torment him.

A more serious example is Remus Lupin.  As a werewolf, Lupin represents
a more extreme instance of the out-of-control id, one who is downright
dangerous.  When he attended Hogwarts as a boy, Dumbledore had a
carefully thought out plan to allow him to attend school without
jeopardizing others.  Once a month he was led to the Shrieking Shack for
his transformation, the tunnel to which was guarded by the Whomping
Willow.

But when Remus' friends, Sirius, James, and Peter learned to become
Animagi to keep him company, the restraint which protected Remus from
others was abandoned.  Remus wandered at will.  It is only later, when
Remus is an adult, that he realizes the danger to which he had subjected
other people by evading the restraints which Dumbledore had set up for
him during his time of monthly transformation.

Thus far, I have been speaking of Temperance in the context of
restraining negative impulses: anger (Ron), and out-of-control passions
and appetites (Dudley and Lupin).  But that is not all that Temperance
does: it must also be applied to guard against excessive zeal in things
that start out for the good, to keep them from spinning out of control.

Take, for example, Barty Crouch, Sr.  When Harry, Ron and Hermione meet
him at the World Cup, their initial impression is that he is a respected
senior member of the wizarding community, an impression strengthened by
Percy's almost slavish devotion to him.  Hermione figures out quite
quickly, however, from his treatment of his house elf, that there is
something that is not quite right about Mr. Crouch.  Ron scoffs at her
suspicions, but as Sirius says later, "If you want to know what a man's
like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
Mr. Crouch shows no restraint, no mercy toward Winky.  Mr. Crouch's
dismissal of his house elf provides telling insight into his character.

What, then, is Mr. Crouch's passion which he is failing to restrain or
moderate?  As the (false) Moody says, Barty Crouch, Sr. is obsessed with
catching Dark Wizards.  A desire for justice should be a virtue, but Mr.
Crouch allows his passion to tempt him into the fatal mistake of
allowing the ends to justify the means.  His principles, Sirius remarks,
might have been good in the beginning, but apparently he lost sight of
them.  He started eliminating protections in the justice systems,
allowing the Unforgivable curses to be used against suspects and accused
wizards like Sirius to be sent to prison without trial.  Mr. Crouch's
refusal to moderate his passion for justice means ironically that
justice is muddled and twisted, to the point that he sends his own son
to Azkaban, not because he was convinced that he was guilty, but to make
an example of him.  The downfall of both the father and son at
Voldemort's hands resulted from the chain of events which proceeded from
that decision.

Hermione provides another example, in her use of the time turner.
Willingness to study hard in order to excel in school is commendable,
but Hermione becomes so obsessed with doing well at school that she
resorts to the time turner, actually manipulating time and space to give
herself an advantage.  I suspect Professor McGonagall was, in a way,
giving Hermione enough rope to hang herself.  Hermione spends the year
buried in books, and her friendships suffer accordingly.  Finally,
Hermione comes to her senses and turns the time turner back in ("It was
driving me mad")  She has gained enough perspective to realize that
moderation is best.

The final, most poignant example I would like to offer is Harry himself,
with his experience with the Mirror of Erised.  He goes back to the
empty classroom where he found the Mirror to see his parents there again
and again.  His hunger to see them strains his relationship with Ron,
and he begins to lack interest in his own life, longing only to be
reunited with these shadows from his past.  Dumbledore wisely steps in
to counsel temperance.  "This mirror will give us neither knowledge or
truth.  Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have
seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even
possible.  The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I
ask you not to go looking for it again. . . It does not do to dwell on
dreams and forget to live, remember that."  In other words, Harry must
learn to temper and control the natural love and longing for his own
family he feels, in order to move forward to maturation.

It is peculiar to think about the Mirror of Erised in the course of
writing this essay, because I think perhaps I need to listen to
Dumbledore's warning myself.  In fact, I wonder whether I might not be a
howling hypocrite in writing this essay at all.  What Dumbledore would
say to me?  I have not gotten out of bed to look in the Mirror of Erised
three nights in a row, but I have gone to see the Harry Potter movie
four times in the last week.  Is it time for him to remind me not to
dwell in dreams, rather than real life?  Are we not all, in this group,
a bit excessive in our  obsession with Harry Potter?  Do we need more
temperance?

Comments, as always, are welcome.

For those of you who would like to review the earlier essays I have
written about the 7 Deadly Sins and the 7 Heavenly Virtues up until this

one, you can find them in the files section (note to the moderators:
could you please post this message in the same section, too.  Thanks):

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/ESSAYS%20-%20Peg%20Kerr/

Peg