Fudge is evi l was TBAY: The Order of the Flying Hedgehog: open for business

[Ali <Ali@zymurgy.org>]

No: HPFGUIDX 48390


Fudge is evil?

Why does Fudge need to be "good" or "evil"? Why can't he be as his 
name implies – a fudge between the two?

I don't think that it would be unfair to see the characters in the 
Potterverse as on a good/bad continuum. Voldemort is fairly obviously 
at the end of the bad, and for argument sake I put Dumbledore at the 
end of the good. No other character is painted in such black and 
white terms. Even Harry, who we know will never go to the bad side is 
hardly an angel. He lies, he enjoys getting one over Draco, yet, he 
is virtuous and brave and acts selflessly for the benefit of the 
good. 

Why must Fudge then be "evil"? By failing to believe that a risen 
Voldemort was possible, and failing to act, or worse still, 
preventing Dumbledore from acting to stop Voldemort in his tracks, he 
is benefiting the Dark side. This stance doesn't need to be because 
he wants Voldemort to come back. Rather that he is so scared of the 
memories of Voldemort's previous reign, that he is incapable of 
rising to the challenge. This makes him dangerous. Certainly history 
will not regard him kindly, but it does not make him evil. He can be 
self absorbed, terrified of losing his position. This wouldn't 
qualify him as a "goodie", but it hardly makes him evil.

Fudge is certainly very dangerous. Allowing Sirius to lie unconvicted 
in the cells of Azkaban is hardly a trait that I would admire in a 
politician. There are definite questions to be asked over Sirius' 
arrest and indeed Hagrid's. These could easily be explained by the 
word "fear". Is it not possible that Sirius' wand still lies bagged 
up  in an evidence archive. There was no trial, there is no 
suggestion even that Sirius gave a witness statement or  tried to 
tell anyone what happened. The circumstantial evidence was 
compelling; people looked no further.

Fear would perhaps have allowed for Sirius' arrest in what was 
effectively wartime. Internment has been justified in such times of 
crisis by many countries that would otherwise like to display a sound 
judicial system. Whilst this makes me personally feel very 
uncomfortable it does not make him worse than many leaders over the 
years.
Fudge's failure to move on though, is shown by the absence of a trial 
even years later for Sirius. He is driven by fear of bad public 
opinion. This fear drives him to send Hagrid to Azkaban and failure 
to check Lucius' influence upon committees within the wizarding world.

As others and I have previously commented, I am struck by the 
resemblance of Fudge to Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain had seen 
Britain go through the First World War, carnage so horrific that he 
was prepared to do, or believe anything to stop it happening again. 
Of course, appeasement proved a catastrophic disaster and led Hitler 
to grow unchecked. This policy was evidently very wrong but the 
belief behind it was not evil. 

I also speculate on Fudge as a kind of Pontius Pilate figure. When 
Harry was the darling of the populus, Fudge was very protective of 
him. If the tide changes, I would not be surprised to see Fudge 
martyr Harry, figuratively, at the very least.

Ali