Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil

[gwendolyngrace]

No: HPFGUIDX 38324

Greetings, all!

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Edblanning at a... wrote:

> The series' emphasis on personal choice, on it being our choices and
> therefore our ensuing actions, that define us, suggests that the
place to
> look for these moral values, however we term them, is in people's deeds.
>
(Snip some excellent examples)
>
> Which brings me back to where I came in, and to the argument I
proposed back
> on Feb. 21 when we were discussing Snapetheories. It seems to me
that the dualism which
> the Potterverse is not so much between 'good' and 'evil' per se, but
between
> a world view that recognises such moral values (that of what we tend
to call
> the 'Light' side) and one which does not (that of the 'Dark' side).
'Good'
> and 'evil' are not absolutes to the 'Light' side; motivation and
circumstance
> dictate whether a particular action is right or not. OTOH, 'good'
and 'evil'
> are concepts which are simply irrelevant to the 'Dark' side. Power is
> something which to the 'Light' side is to be used wisely and for the
general
> good; for the 'Dark' side, power is something to be exploited for
personal
> gain.
>
> This then allows for the 'greyness' of the 'light' wizards, it
allows for
> moral ambiguity to creep in as they struggle to make the right
decisions and
> sometimes make mistakes or do things which we can't understand. It
means that
> our heroes *don't* have to be saints. It means that someone as nasty as
> Snape, whom we can in no way categorise as a conventionally 'good'
man (not
> without the extensive use of apologetics, anyway), can fit into the
role of
> 'light wizard'.
>
> It also accounts for the one-dimensional way in which the 'dark'
wizards tend
> to be portrayed. There isn't much room for angsty decision making
here. If
> you don't believe in morality, but only in self-promotion within a
framework
> of obedience to a master who's creed is the domination of the weak,
decision
> making is a whole lot easier.


Excellent points, Eloise!

Your post made me think of several aspect of the musical, "Into the
Woods," where the central theme is also about choices and
interpretation of others' actions.

For those not familiar with the play, it follows well-known fairy tale
characters through their stories, interweaving them together by means
of a baker and his wife and their quest. The first act tells the tales
as we know them, more or less: Red Riding Hood, Jack and the
Beanstalk, Cinderella, and Rapunzel each have their trials and come
out "happy ever after." But in the second act, the actions of their
fairy tales bring about consequences none of them foresaw, and all the
characters must live through the implications. The four main
characters--Cinderella, Jack, Red, and the baker--come to the
conclusion that interpretation and decision are the most important
aspects of responsibility.

The overall message of the show is that appearances are deceiving,
actions have consequences, and a responsible person weighs those
consequences and then commits to a choice, hoping for the best. But is
also reminds us that paths can change.

As Eloise writes about the innate morality of a character lying in
intention, rather than action alone, I keep thinking how these themes
all tie in together. We've also discussed intention as a force behind
magic. How elegant and fitting if intention is also the force that
underpins morality and righteousness, as opposed to the polarity of
good and evil.

It also ties in to what I said in response to last week's question,
about how as HRH grow, they realize that they are part of a larger
world than they know, and that their decisions on a going forward
basis will impact circles outside of circles, and it is up to them to
decide how they will fit in that world.

So now we have intention as it pertains to the effect of magic;
intention as it pertains to the analysis of character and how that
informs the character's morality; intention as it affects the
decisions of characters who are exporing their place within a world of
fuzzy lines and incomplete motivations; and intention as the litmus
test of whether a character is ultimately on the side or right or wrong.

What I also like about Eloise's interpretation is that it tidily bags
up those characters who are convinced they are right, as well. For
example, suppose there is a Death Eater who is so utterly deluded that
their cause is right, proper, and just, that he will do anything to
advance it? I'm talking the kind of rapturous fanaticism that
accompanies the most ardent of martyrs. He believes with his whole
heart that what he does--killing that Muggle, torturing that
witch--will ultimately prove the righteousness of his actions. Thus,
he, too, does not stop to consider. He does not second-guess. He does
not doubt. And isn't that just as wrong as the one who simply doesn't
care about morality at all?

It would be an interesting corollary to posit whether one's intention
is also measured against one's self-doubt. I'm not talking about lack
of self-esteem, but one's tendency to wonder, "What if I'd done that
differently?" For example, Lupin's actions are not simply judged by
his *intention* to protect Harry while also protecting himself. They
must also be judged by his admission later that he felt uneasy, that
he *worried* about whether he was handling things properly over the
course of the year. The catch here is that in many of these
situations, it is only in retrospect that we can judge one's level of
doubt over a particular decision. Nevertheless, it seems to go
hand-in-hand with the intention to do right.

And of course, some decisions are easier to make than others. But
doesn't it follow that if on the one hand, the side of dark wizards do
not waste time caring about moral implications, they also rarely look
back at their actions with remorse?

How long or deeply did Dumbledore deliberate before allowing Harry to
face Voldemort in book 1? To what extent does Snape regret his
association with the Death Eaters? What really sets Harry apart from
Voldemort: his intent to be helpful and good, or his *worry* that he
may not be as good as he intends, or both combined?

It's unlikely that we'll ever really see many of these intention:doubt
ratios in action in the books, but I think that the two concepts are
clearly linked. One who goes through angsty debate about what to do
will nearly always also wonder whether the final decision was the
right one.

Gwen