Would JKR make Lupin evil?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 39743

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "greg_a126" <grega126 at a...> wrote:

>>>> Remus Lupin isn't just fighting in this upcoming war for 
himself.   Remus Lupin is fighting for every other wizard & witch 
in the world who has been bitten by a werewolf & ostrasized from 
society.  At the  end of the war, if it turns out that he's turned on 
the OotP, the 3rd group's closed minded-views on werewolves 
are going to have to been proven correct.  I for one, don't see JKR 
doing that.<<<

So...if one werewolf turns out to be evil, that would mean the 
wizarding world is justified in mistreating all of them? So far I 
haven't seen the slightest hint that Remus Lupin is interested in 
the plight of other werewolves, so how can he be fighting for 
them? It also isn't necessary that Remus' treachery, if it takes 
place, will become common knowledge. 

 I don't think it's necessary for Remus to be ever-so-innocent in 
order to show us that prejudice is harmful and self defeating. I 
think it's important for Remus to have flaws, and they might as 
well be big ones. If his only problem  is that no one, including 
himself, recognizes his real worth,  that makes him pretty much 
a Gary Stu (Mary Sue) character. Same profession as the author, 
no character defects, has a terrible secret and the heroes love 
him. Yawn. JKR's better than that.

Greg:
> In short, this war is going to force the WW to start reexamining 
 some of their old prejudices, but that's only going to happen if 
the  above 3 men remain loyal to the "good" side.<<

I can't see our heroes turning against all werewolves even if one 
of them betrays them. It is their leadership, not Remus' example, 
good or bad, which is going to affect the attitudes of the many. 

Catja3000 wrote:
>>I seriously doubt Lupin will turn out to be evil.  His "dark 
secret" is his werewolfism, and while a double bluff is certainly 
not beyond  JKR's powers (check out Aragog, for a 
mini-example), my gut tells me it won't happen with this 
character. <<<

 He's coming back for another book, which means JKR will be 
doing something to change our perception of the character.  
Otherwise there'd be no story.

Catja3000:
>>> " her overall theme is  that extending understanding to those 
who are different brings out  the good in them.<<<

Interesting. Where do we see this? Understanding may allow us 
to *recognize* the good in someone else, which is the gist of 
Dumbledore's closing speech in GoF.   I don't see anyone trying 
to  "bring out the good" in someone else, except Hagrid with 
Norbert, and we know how that turned out. 

Catja3000:
>>>  Making Lupin turn out to be a Voldemort supporter, 
 despite any pious cants about "bigotry made him this way," will 
 subvert that message, as his plight is so foregrounded.  It's a 
point  that should be brought up, and JKR is doing so with 
Hagrid's and Maxime's mission to the giants, but the overall 
point is one of compassion and cooperation.<<<

I think JKR can handle it. There's a precedent for a tragic, noble 
figure who is driven apart from his best friend by social issues, 
manipulated by a villain,  and goaded into joining a murderous 
conspiracy: Brutus in Julius Caesar. 

 Consider Fudge's conversation in The Three Broomsticks. 
"Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing 
changed when they left school."  We're being told that James 
trusted Sirius more than Lupin, and that some of James' 
friendships must have altered after he left school. Fudge doesn't 
know that Pettigrew turned against James, so whom could he 
have meant?  Only Lupin, assuming Fudge's information comes 
from Dumbledore and is reliable in this case. I don't think James 
and Sirius are prejudiced against werewolves. What happened 
to make them think  that Lupin wasn't reliable? Why did they think 
he was the spy?

It seems that Dumbledore could give Lupin a wizarding 
education, but he couldn't force the wizarding world to treat Lupin 
as a human being. Can't you  just imagine Lupin  getting the 
same treatment as Winky? "That's not the point of a werewolf!" 
and slam goes the door.  There are plenty of real life examples 
of people who became extremists under such circumstances. 

Catja3000:
>>> 
Also, and this is the kicker, JKR has said that Lupin was partially 
inspired by her mother, who died of MS.  She has said she 
wanted to show how people react to disease, and the way that 
society shuns and fears those who are ill, and to express her 
anger about that unfairness.  Without wading too far into 
intentional fallacy, I think it's safe to say that Lupin, whatever his 
recklessness in his youth, yada yada, was conceived a 
thoroughly good character.  
<<<

"partially" eh? <g> JKR has said Lupin is her favorite character.  
She's also said that out of all the teachers. Lupin is the one 
she'd most like to have teach her daughter...but I'm sure she 
doesn't mean that she wishes her daughter's teacher were a 
werewolf! 

IMO, it would be just like JKR to lay on about how wonderful 
Lupin is if she were planning to pull something. She likes to talk 
about how nasty Snape is, and that he's a horrible teacher. If the 
mean ugly schnook who's a terrible teacher is on Dumbledore's 
side, whose side is Mr. Nice Guy on?   

One more bit of evidence: as the gang was leaving the Shrieking 
Shack, Lupin "picked up the Invisibility Cloak and tucked it safely 
into his pocket." That shows a strange presence of mind for 
someone who supposedly has forgotten to take his potion, 
forgotten to deactivate the Map in his office, and forgotten that *he 
is about to turn into a werewolf* . The narrative purpose can't be 
just to get the cloak out of the way so Timeturned!Harry can't use 
it. That would have been accomplished just as well by leaving 
the cloak in the shack, which  was my mistaken impression from
previous readings.   What was going on?

Pippin