Official Discussion Questions for the next Few Months: Question #1

Mon Apr 1 03:43:14 UTC 2002

No: HPFGUIDX 37242

Hi everyone --

Last November, I reviewed a new secondary source on the HP novels by Dr. Philip Nel, an English professor at Kansas State University (see Message 30390).  This is a wonderful resource for HP fans, and I highly recommend it to your reading.  

Dr. Nel included a dozen or so discussion questions at the end of this book, and the Moderators have decided to have "official" discussions of one of these questions each week.  We will not be going exactly in the order set out in Dr. Nel's book but according to the preferences of the Moderator or Elf who is leading the discussion for that particular question.  Hence, this week we will be discussing Question #7 in Dr. Nel's book as that's the one I chose to introduce to the group.  The questions cover a wide range of topics, and I've uploaded a document with those questions to the Files area for those of you who want to get an advance feel for the questions:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/files/Discussion%20Summaries/DISCUSSION%20QUESTIONS%20FROM%20PHILIP%20NEL.htm

[Note the above link may need to be reconstructed if it breaks over a line]

Since some of the questions have been covered extensively or at least to some extent in this group, the Moderator or Elf leading the discussion will introduce Dr. Nel's question as written, follow it with additional commentary & then refer readers to selected past messages in the Message Archives to stimulate further discussion.

Dr. Nel is a member of our group, btw.  He is also teaching a literature class on HP this semester at Kansas State (oh to be so lucky as to get college credit for HP!).  I understand that some of his students have joined the list as well.  Welcome!

So, onward to Question #7:

Dr. Philip Nel writes:

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In GoF, Ron remarks, 'Percy loves rules,' and he wonders whether his brother would send a family member to Azkaban if it would advance his career (GoF, pg 463).  Reflect on the role of bureaucracy in the novels.  Does his tendency to side with bureaucracy make Percy susceptible to the same sorts of errors made by Cornelius Fudge and Barty Crouch, Sr., errors that ultimately (if unintentionally) help Lord Voldemort?  Might we expect him - albeit unwillingly - to aid Voldemort by following the letter of the law instead of its spirit?  Will he side with Crouch or with his family?

COMMENTARY & FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS:

As you'll notice from the brief parenthetical descriptions of past messages on this topic below, I'm a huge Percy fan.   I should also point out the meaning of the acronym P.I.N.E., which was formed by Trina and I at some point last year.  Successor to Percy Lovers Unite!, P.I.N.E. stands for Percy Is Not Evil.  

I do think Percy is susceptible to manipulation by the followers of Lord Voldemort; however, I don't think he's the only individual in the series susceptible to this sort of manipulation.  Percy's ambition is certainly highlighted throughout the series (we see him avidly reading "Prefects who Gained Power" at one point); however, by the time we've read through the end of GoF, we know that Percy is not the only Weasley with strong ambitions to better himself.  Fred & George's business plans and Ron's hatred of being poor certainly indicate that these characters all harbor growing ambitious goals.   A quick perusal of Peg Kerr's essay on "Ambition" in the HP series indicates that we've identified a fair number of other characters who are ambitious in one form or another (see Message # 1209).

Percy is by no means the only character who could unwittingly aid Lord Voldemort IMO.  As we've discussed before, there's hardly a single character who doesn't have some weakness that could be twisted to the uses of Voldemort & his DE followers.  So, is Percy's ambition highlighted more or about the same as some of the flaws of the other characters?  If you believe it's been stressed even slightly more, is this in your judgment a red flag or a red herring?  In other words, are we the readers meant to believe that it would be Percy who would be an unwitting pawn of the Dark Side or is Rowling perhaps misdirecting us?  Are Ron's statements about Percy and his familial relationships perhaps too heavy-handed?  Hermione seems to think so.  What do you think of Hermione's judgment in this matter?   

Percy certainly adheres to the "rules" in this series.  But, under what circumstances has he or would he abandon the rules in favor of some greater good?  I note that when Ron seemed to be in some danger at the end of the 2nd Task in GoF, Percy abandoned all dignity that went with his position as a "judge," presumably let his emotions override his almost certain objective knowledge that Dumbledore wouldn't endanger student lives and rushed straight into the Lake, looking "paler than usual."  I think this signals that when personal relationships are at stake in a threatening situation, Percy is willing to abandon the rules.      

Has Percy learned his lesson about blind adherence to rules?  He surely knows by the beginning of the action in OoP that his own failure to ask questions contributed to the demise of Crouch, Sr. and the eventual success of the plot to resurrect Lord Voldemort.  Some of us have noted that Percy was simply an over-eager young man in his first job in GoF.  IMO, Percy would be more on his guard from here on out.  

On the other hand, it's clear that Fudge is blinded to reality.  He will certainly make the official pronouncement at the MoM that all this business about Lord Voldemort returning is balderdash.  It seems reasonably apparent that Arthur Weasley will break from the MoM over this issue.  Will Percy be willing to listen to his family members or will his ambitions even temporarily override familial loyalties and trust?  Ron mentioned at one point that Percy wants to eventually become the Minister of Magic.  If a permanent career within the MoM is his stated goal, how likely is it that he will easily make the decision to follow his family to Dumbledore's side?  

Speaking of Dumbledore, it's obvious that Percy idolizes the Hogwarts Headmaster.  How will Percy decide between following his idol and his family members and following his life-long goal of a MoM career?  This obviously sets up a fairly strong conflict for Percy Weasley.  Do you accordingly see Percy becoming amore important character overall in one or more of the next HP books?  Is he really the same type of person as Crouch or Fudge?  How would you distinguish Percy from these characters?  

PAST DISCUSSIONS:

On Percy's AMBITION, see the following messages:

1209 (Peg Kerr's "Ambition" essay) 

15007 (Demelza: Percy will blindly follow rules to reach his ambitions) 

20213 (Penny: Percy is no more ambitious than the Twins or Ron) 

25027 (Amber: ambition isn't always "evil")

36579 (Amber: Why Percy is in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin)

On Percy's POTENTIAL TO REMAIN BLIND TO THE DANGER, see:

2998 (Peg Kerr's "Sloth" Deadly Sin essay)

9156 (Demelza: Percy & the Rules)

15007 (Demelza: Percy will blindly follow the rules)

15114 (Demelza)

16286 (Demelza)

17393 (Mags: he may not be adequately suspicious of orders)

21212 (Susanna: Percy may be a parallel to the common German soldiers in WWII who followed orders to his detriment)

27584 (Liz: Percy won't question the rules enough)

30440 (Jamie: the MoM is blind to the current dangers, Percy included in this)

On Percy's LOYALTY & GOOD TRAITS, see:

8733 (Charmain)

8764 (Trina: general P.I.N.E. post)

15043 (Penny: Percy is just over-eager in his first job)

15284 (Penny: Percy has already learned his lesson with Crouch & will be on guard)

16164 (Morag: Percy is gullible but human)

16248 (Penny: Percy's heart is in the right place)

16619 (Magda: Percy was just over-zealous in his first job)

17456 (Morag: Percy's loyalty is both his weakness & his strength)

24994 (Penny: Percy & P.I.N.E.)

25455 (Catherine: refutes Ron's comparison of Percy with Tom Riddle)

26544 (Catherine: Percy's heart is in the right place)

27259 (Amber: P.I.N.E.)

30380 (Amber: P.I.N.E.)

30453 (Penny: P.I.N.E.)

31780 (Amber: Percy and loyalty)

35060 (Debbie: Percy won't "crack")

35837 (Eileen: catalogues "positive Percy moments")

35896 (Eileen: caricature of Percy is masking deeper issues that will be revealed later)

On PERCY & OOP generally, see:

20037 (Milz: really intriguing theory under which Percy ends up in Azkaban for Crouch's murder)

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