Why I Dislike The Twins

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 43295

Elkins wrote:
>>Some people have taken some umbrage with my tone on this 
thread. Both Pippin and Catherine registered objections to my 
use of the word "cads" to describe the twins. <<

I did? IIRC, I objected to the word "bullies". "Cads" is much more 
suitable, IMO, if you are looking for a derogatory term for the 
Terrible Two. A cad,  according to my dictionary, is "unprincipled 
or ungentlemanly," which I find much more descriptive of the 
Twins in their worst moments, such as the end of GoF, or 
contemplating the blackmail of Bagman.

They do put Percy at his wits' end, but unlike Elkins's friend, 
Percy has not been driven away from his home, nor is there any 
indication that he'd prefer to live elsewhere. Except perhaps at 
the Office. But I took that as more an indication of incipient 
workaholism than Twinavoidance. He seems to be just as 
obsessed with his job after the Twins go back to school.

And like others, I have yet to be persuaded that the Twins target 
anyone, inside or outside of their "magic circle," whom they 
perceive to be of less account than themselves, except for their 
behavior at the end of GoF which I will get to in a moment. When 
they are incensed with  Harry in PS/SS, do they tease him or play 
pranks on him, or try to get him into further trouble? No...they just 
refuse to speak to him. 

I admit that the twins can be pretty obnoxious, but I resist calling 
them bullies, because if they are bullies, then what do we call  
Draco, Dudley and Snape? As Shaun points out in his post, the 
Twins may be bullies in some technical sense, but they aren't 
bullies of the same order as DDS, and they require a different 
kind of intervention, which, in fact, they usually get. It would be a 
pretty lame anti-bully intervention program that cracked down on 
F&G and let Draco and Snape get away with everything...which 
is, of course, exactly what's happening. <g>

Bugaloo asked:

>>So I guess what I am saying here is if someone has come up 
with any significant way in which the twins behavior may effect 
the HP series in the long run-please let me know.<<

I think it relates to the theme, introduced by Sirius, that some of 
the people who were fighting Voldemort  resorted to the same 
methods that he used, even though they would never support the 
Dark Arts. 

I was startled when Dumbledore "placed a foot underneath 
Moody's unconscious body and kicked him over onto his back."
GoF ch 35) That might have been only prudent  since a downed 
enemy could  be faking it, but it was also a gesture of contempt.

This is the first scene in which Harry understands why 
Dumbledore is feared, and it also shows us that even 
Dumbledore isn't immune to the sort of temptation Sirius was 
talking about.    Harry will probably find himself confronted with 
choices about how much force he is justified in using.
 
Nonetheless, I don't think Dumbledore would have approved of 
what the Twins did on the train. A simple "what's going on here" 
would probably have been enough to cow Draco and his goons. 
(Draco has yet to stick to his wands when outnumbered.) 

I see the readers hesitating between the values of peacetime 
and wartime, and forced to ponder the difference between them. 
Dumbledore's gesture looks very different depending on whether 
we regard him as a soldier or a policeman. 

Similarly, those who defend the Twins' action feel that since 
Draco declared himself for Voldemort, violence against him is 
justified.

The  train scene  raises the question of who ought  to be 
regarded as a non-combatant. In a society where everyone over 
the age of ten goes armed, should we expect teenagers to be 
treated as civilians?


Pippin