Tough Peter (Was Real Wizards Aren't Squeamish )

[bookraptor11]

No: HPFGUIDX 34442

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "cindysphynx" <cindysphynx at h...> wrote:
> Elkins wrote:
> 
> > Pettigrew, on the other hand...well, every time we see the poor
> > wretch, he's in some state of utter abjection.  If he isn't 
> grovelling
> > for his life, then he's weeping in helpless terror at his 
impending
> > death at the hands of his old classmates, or he's cringing in fear
> > and revulsion from his Evil Undead Baby Master, or he's screaming 
or
> > sobbing or moaning in physical agony.  > 
> I've never been entirely sure what to make of Peter.> 

Cindy again:
> Is Peter Tough?  Yes, because he cut off his own 
> hand and considering that this probably hurt a bit, he handled it 
as 
> well as could be expected.  No, because he does a fair amount of 
> sniveling in the Shrieking Shack.  Yes, because he cut off his own 
> finger.  No, because he does a fair amount of sniveling in the 
> graveyard.  Yes, because he outsmarted Sirius.  The dial on the 
> Toughmeter is whipping around because it can't get a reading on 
Peter 
> at all.  I have to think of some other way to size up Peter.
> 
> And now that Elkins has made such an impassioned case for pitying 
> Peter, I even have a hard time sticking by my assessment that Peter 
> is the Least Sympathetic Character.  Oh, I'm so confused!

After reading both Elkins' and Cindy's posts, I think Peter is tough.
I see Peter's snivelling as something that's worked very well for him 
in the past, so why wouldn't he keep using it?  Maybe he was a bit of 
a crybaby as a child.  Even if he matured and toughened he can still 
turn the waterworks on and off at will when he thinks he's around 
people who'll take pity on him. He tried it on Sirius and Lupin at 
the Shrieking Shack because it was the pattern he'd developed with 
the group in school, the weak hanger-on who had to be protected. When 
Sirius cornered him after the Potters' deaths, he judged that it 
wouldn't work on Sirius on this occasion and didn't even try. He 
worked very coolly, cutting his finger off, and accusing Sirius 
without hesitating. If he was a true coward, I think he couldn't have 
helped crying and begging first, claiming to be under the Imperious 
Curse.

Although he does whine in front of Voldemort, I don't believe he does 
it with him for the same reason. I think it's a useful strategy 
because it draws V's contempt.  V is too dismissive of him to see him 
as much of a threat (unlike Malfoy). 

Donna, who can picture Peter crying and grovelling, while the inner 
Peter is thinking *Suckers!*