Some SHIP comments & Draco's Potential for Redemption

[serenadust]

No: HPFGUIDX 38017

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Penny Linsenmayer <pennylin at s...> wrote:

> Jo serenadust wrote:
> 
> <<<<I've read all the posts exploring the possiblity of Draco's 
> redemtion, and am utterly unconvinced my any of them.  His 
character 
> has been consistent from the first moment we meet him, and has 
> steadily gotten more malignant.  By the time the kids are on the 
> train in GoF, he is probably 15 (or nearly so), and has clearly 
> chosen his path.  I agree with lucky kari that he has crossed an 
> important line, and would not find it believable or likely that he 
> would change his position after this.  Like it or not, most 
people's 
> basic characters are fairly well fixed by this age.>>>>
> 
> Well, others have commented on this already, but I'll just say 
that I would find it terribly disappointing if a series that is all 
about *choices* portrays a *child* who is irredeemably evil from the 
age of 11 onward.  He's only 14 in GoF.  Severus Snape apparently 
was able to make a life-altering change at a much older age, so why 
not Draco?  Why is it not believable that an author who uses a theme 
of free choice so readily would set it up so that a character, once 
seemingly on a set path but then later exposed to the true nature of 
evil and its implications, might make different choices on his road 
toward maturity & adulthood?  I suspect Draco is just following the 
party line (his parents or at least Lucius).  Once he's actually put 
into a position of seeing the real-life consequences, he *might* 
make a different choice.  I also don't buy that everyone's basic 
character is fixed by the age of 14.  It's my experience that most 
people do a tremendous amount of changing & growing after they leave 
home for the first time -- generally college or first job or 
whatever, ages 18-29 are times of huge change for many people.  So, 
I remain optimistic that Draco *can* be redeemed.  The possibility 
is there, but of course, it's anyone's guess as to where JKR might 
be going for certain.

I haven't said in my post that it is *impossible for Draco* to be 
redeemed; only that there isn't one shred of canon evidence to 
support the possibility. I also never said that everyone's basic 
character is fixed by the age of 14; I said *most* people's 
characters are. I agree that the series is all about choices, and 
Draco Malfoy has been entirely consistant in making the most 
negative ones.  He's not "irredeemably* evil from age 11; he's 
making decisions to go in that direction every step of the way.  

Of course, Snape *did* make a life-altering change at a much older 
age, but I don't see anything in any of the books indicating that 
Snape was anything like Malfoy at an early age (apart from being in 
Slythern and hating James & co.).  Draco is the spoiled "golden boy" 
of his family who always gets what he wants (except when it comes to 
defeating HRH).  Snape gives every indication that he had a pretty 
rough time of it at school and in life in general as a kid.  You can 
reasonably speculate that this played a part in his choice to become 
a death eater, and in his general bitterness toward life.  However, 
there had to be a fundamental shred of honor or decency somewhere in 
him which helped him to make the really hard choice to put himself 
at risk, and change sides in the conflict with Voldemort.

In contrast, Malfoy shows absolutely no sign of honor or character, 
even in dealing with his own allies.  He shows almost as much 
contempt for his best friends, Crabbe & Goyle, as he does for his 
enemies.  In fact, I'd argue that he has more respect for HRH than 
he has for C&G. It takes true courage to do what's right instead of 
what's easy;  Malfoy has never shown the slightest suggestion of 
courage (if I've missed an example of his displaying any real 
courage, please point it out).

It's true (as Penny points out) that people do a huge amount of 
growing and changing through their early adulthood, as anyone who 
has attended their 20 year high school reunion can confirm.  Life 
has a way of knocking the rough edges off of people by that time, 
and many who were jerks as teens, actually are quite nice by their 
late thirties.  However, Draco's behavior goes way beyond teenage 
jerkiness.  There's simply nothing in his life that will force him 
to completely overhaul his personality.  He's very happy with 
himself as it is.  As Dr. Phil says, "it's working for him"

My point was not that *no one ever reforms* if they were nasty as 
kids.  The point I was trying to make was that I believe the author 
is trying to illustrate for us *how* a truly evil person develops.
I find it depressing that many people entertain the possibiltiy that 
characters such as Ron, Percy, the twins, and even Neville for 
heavens sake, will go over to Voldemorts side, but still think that  
Malfoy is a candidate for redemption.  Rowling could conceivably 
pull some huge plot twist out of her hat, but she usually lays 
*some* ground work for it in advance.  I've searched through the 
canon, but I sure don't see any signs of it.

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to clarify my earlier remarks.

Jo Serenadust, somewhat depressed to again disagree with Penny, 
whose posts I really enjoy anyway