Ambition and Percy (WAS: Official Discussion Topic)

[elfundeb at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 37513

This very late and too long post is the product of my reflections on this 
week's Percy discussion topic, which got me thinking about the way "ambition" 
is portrayed in HP and the role it might play in the coming books.  

My reading of the books is that it outwardly leaves the reader with a very 
negative, Seven Deadly Sin impression of ambition.  For example, the Sorting 
Hat associates ambition with Slytherin in a none too flattering manner.  In 
GoF it states, "And power-hungry Slytherin loved those of great ambition."  
In PS/SS the Hat says of the Slytherins:  "Those cunning folk use any means 
to achieve their ends."   I read these statements as a clear association of 
ambition with the use of unscrupulous means to attain power.  Coupled with 
the long list of power-hungry Slytherins who turned to dark magic -- starting 
with Voldemort himself, Exhibit A to the principle of the corruptive 
influence of power, ambition gets a very bad name in the Potterverse.

Conversely, characters who are strongly identified with the Good side are 
arguably presented as not ambitious.  For example, Dumbledore sees in the 
Mirror of Erised only a pair of socks, and McGonagall suggests that he has 
great powers that he is unwilling to use.  Arthur Weasley seems content to 
run a very small two-person department at the MOM, for evidently a small 
salary, preferring to indulge his fondness for Muggles and their gadgetry.  
Only at the end of Gof do we learn that he's been "held back" at the ministry 
because he would not conform to Fudge's vision of "proper wizarding pride" in 
order to advance.

But I think that the "ambition is evil" flavor that seems to emanate from the 
books is too simplistic.  That's not consistent with the definition of 
ambition most of us would probably accept.  As Penny said, 

 Being ambitious or seeking power isn't *evil* though.  Plenty of 
people are highly ambitious & motivated for very good reasons.  
Perhaps Percy has a sweeping vision for vast reforms in the Wizarding 
World society if he achieves his goal of becoming Minister of Magic 
(I believe he intimates that he has ideas for changes at one point in 
the series).  Being power-hungry solely for the *status,* albeit not 
particularly praise-worthy, hardly constitutes *evil* though.  
> 
Me again:

As has been pointed out before, there are a number of ambitious characters 
whose ambitions are entirely honorable, such as Hermione, as illustrated in 
the current thread on Hermione and the Polyjuice Potion.  She desires 
academic success, but wants to do everything right.  Percy does the same 
thing. In fact, I think most of what Percy does in his job at the MOM is 
exactly what any young, ambitious professional would do starting out on his 
first job.  He is trying to distinguish himself to a boss who doesn't even 
know his name.  Having been assigned to write a report on cauldron thickness, 
he works hard to produce a quality report.  (Being a bit overzealous, he 
turns it in early, but wouldn't Hermione have done the same thing?)  When 
Percy gets the assignment to substitute for Crouch, which IMO he does not 
really have the experience to do, he relies on the instructions he is given.  
Yes, he should in retrospect have asked questions.  But he is 18 and in way 
over his head here.  There's nothing wrong whatsoever, IMO, about this 
expression of his career ambition.  

What distinguishes Hermione from Percy in my view is that Percy also shows a 
desire for the trappings of authority, as shown by, e.g., his need to polish 
his prefect and head boy badges; his need to tell Harry and Ron at the Yule 
Ball about all the important things he's doing at the Ministry, etc.  
(Probably every instance in the book where Percy is referred to as pompous 
would support this point.)  
Percy's ambition is frequently caricatured by JKR's use of phrases like 
"Percy the Prefect" as well as the twins' ridicule.  I think this is directed 
at the recognition-hungry, Humongous Bighead aspect of Percy's ambition, not 
his career goals.  I don't believe that JKR ever uses the word "ambitious" to 
describe Hermione or other examples of benign ambition.  (I wish the books 
were on line so I could check this assertion.)  This leads me to believe that 
when JKR uses the word "ambition" she means a desire for things that can 
corrupt, such as power, money or glory.  

Penny's question about Ron's expression of Percy's ambition: 

Dr. Philip Nel writes:

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).  

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?   

My thoughts (I'm probably focusing more on Ron's follow-up justification that 
Percy is really ambitious):  

I think Ron and Hermione are both partly right, based on their own 
perceptions of Percy. Hermione's refusal to believe Percy could ever throw a 
family member to the dementors, IMO, reflects the her compassion as well as 
her own interaction with Percy. But looking at the question from Ron's point 
of view, I might reach a different, equally reasonable answer.  Sirius' 
explanation of Crouch Sr. bears many similarities to Percy.  Both aspire to 
be Minister of Magic, both are highly zealous in pursuit of their careers, 
both work hard (perhaps "too much" would be a better way to put it), and both 
have strong views about wrongdoers.  But what I think Ron focuses on that's 
different from Hermione's view is that Crouch Sr. completely ignored his 
family, which seems in Sirius' view to be Crouch Sr.'s greatest error.  
Looking at Percy's interactions with his family from Ron's POV, this 
criticism of Percy certainly seems to have merit.  Some examples:

1. In PS/SS, after putting on his robes and prefect badge the minute he 
crossed the barrier at Platform 9 3/4, Percy rushes off to the prefects' 
compartments, leaving his family on the platform.  But, since they were 
reserved, surely he didn't need to rush?  If Percy had been on the platform, 
I would have expected Molly to tell him, as a prefect and oldest brother at 
school, to look after first-year Ron.  But since he's gone, she gives that 
job to Fred and George.  That he chose to associate with the prefects all 
term is evident from the fact that George has to demand that he spend 
Christmas day with the family.

2. Whenever we see Percy at the Burrow, he is always shut up in his room.  
This happens both in CoS, when he's writing to Penelope, and in GoF.  In 
addition, in GoF, Ron states that Percy wouldn't even come home from work if 
Arthur didn't force him to. 

3. Penelope Clearwater is notably absent in GoF, leading at least to the 
question whether he has abandoned her for his career (though he could have 
spent time with her at the Yule Ball when Harry wasn't looking).

This leads to more of Penny's questions:

Is he [Percy] really the same type of person as Crouch or Fudge? How would 
you distinguish Percy from these characters?   [I]s 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?

Me again:

I think most (many?) of us would agree that we would distinguish Percy from 
Crouch and other characters whose ambitions have taken over their lives, at 
least at this point in the story, on the basis that he has demonstrated a 
genuine concern for members of his family.  But I don't necessarily think 
that Percy's ambition is a red herring, regardless of how it plays out.  I 
think a deliberate comparison is being drawn between Crouch Sr. and Percy.  
One could readily imagine an 18-year-old Crouch just beginning in the 
ministry as having characteristics very similar to Percy.  My office has more 
than one example of one-time fun-loving summer clerks who now spend night and 
day at the office away from their families and with very little apparent 
remorse.   I can envision the same thing having happened to Crouch.  And the 
mere existence of the comparison illustrates the decisions Percy will face, 
and what could happen if Percy becomes even more isolated from his family.  

I believe this is another illustration of the "choices make our characters" 
theme. The 
> way  that JKR  illustrates the choices facing the characters by generational 
> parallels seems complementary to the "series of seemings" that Thomas Hardy 
> used in Jude the Obscure to suggest how our choices, or lack thereof, 
> determine who we are.  Thus,  I think Percy's dilemma and the influence of 
> ambition on other characters as well will become more prominent as a theme 
> in the coming books, as the younger characters grow more mature and begin 
> to face really difficult choices.   And as the past is revealed we may also 
> get more insight into how ambition may have played a role in the present 
> character of some of the older generation of characters, such as Arthur 
> Weasley.
> 
> There's obviously a lot more that could be said about JKR's treatment of 
> ambition in other characters that would make for fascinating analysis.  
> Just a couple:
> 
> 1. How has Percy's ambition affected Ron?  I think that beneath the surface 
> Ron is a lot like Percy.  Both share the same insecurities and desire for 
> recognition, and I would argue that both are equally lost in the Weasley 
> family dynamic.  (Barb Purdom wrote a post earlier this week (#37315) on 
> how the Weasley family dynamic, in particular the insertion of the twins 
> and their charismatic, attention-getting personalities between Percy and 
> Ron has brought about Percy's isolation from the family.)  IMO the twins' 
> constant ridicule of Percy has so affected Ron that he's unwilling to take 
> any action in pursuit of goals; rather he accepts recognition for passive 
> events such as being attacked by Sirius in his dormitory or being rescued 
> from the lake.  Perhaps someone with a psychiatric background could tackle 
> this.
> 
> 2. Snape.  I would argue that everything he's ever done is a result of his 
> ambition, or thwarted ambition.  Perhaps an analysis of Snape would be an 
> even better window into the role of ambition in the moral compass of the 
> books.
> 
> 3. The twins -- Ron also comments about their ambition, which is expressed 
> in their obsession with money, and suggests they might resort to 
> lawbreaking to obtain seed money for their joke shop.  Is the twins' crisis 
> over because of the windfall of Harry's Triwizard winnings?  That seems too 
> easy a solution to me for characters who have already resorted to gambling 
> and near-blackmail.  

4.  Other, minor characters who exemplify ambition run amok, like Oliver Wood 
whose 
> obsession with winning the Quidditch cup controls his life.
> 
> Debbie, sorry that Percy week is nearly over by the time I got around to 
> finishing this and wishing there were 30 hours in every day
> 
> 


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