[HPforGrownups] Thoughts on the Dementor's Kiss

[Bernadette M. Crumb]

No: HPFGUIDX 38480


----- Original Message -----
From: <Edblanning at aol.com>

SNIP

> I think that Dave's interpretation may be the correct one. But
again, it
> makes me ask questions. Dumbledore seems to believe in the
survival of the
> soul after death, but I don't think we hear the idea anywhere
else, do we?
> Presumably the WW has no concept of any judgement of the soul
after death if
> they think it is worse to annihilate a soul than to let it take
the
> consequences of  its actions in an afterlife.

Well, I think we can say that there is one piece of evidence of
sentience after death in the WW. Look at the ghosts.
Nearly-Headless Nick certainly isn't just a repetitive energy
waveform repeating the same actions over and over again in a
limited area.  He's personality, thought and initiative, just
differently corporeal than he was when alive.  He's got feelings
that can be hurt and a sense of humor and a sense of pride.  He's
still very human despite his corporeally-challenged state.

In regards to where the souls of those who don't become ghosts
go, well we don't know anything about that from canon.  But I do
feel that we can postulate, based on the types of ghosts we find
at Hogwarts, that there is some kind of afterlife where sentience
continues.  In regards to the "final judgement" sort of things,
no, we have nothing in canon as far as I can find that points to
any belief in anything like that.

> But, as Bernadette asks, does the WW actually *know* what
happens to the
> victim's oul? After all, presumably no-one's come back to tell
them. Do they
> care?

I am very uncomfortable with the idea that they might know what
happens and have chosen to do it anyway (which makes the WW an
even more ruthless society than we've postulated it might be--the
Livian Rome connection), but I'm also uncomfortable with the idea
that they've chosen a method of social/judicial punishment where
they don't actually know the full effects of the process, having
the possibly mistaken assumption that the soul is destroyed, when
it  may not be.  The whole issue of the Dementor's Kiss and the
way it is administered (in the bureaucratic definition and the
physical definition of the word) points out a lot of
controversial issues about justice, crime and punishment in the
WW.  Unfortunately, I don't have time to address any of those
right now... (aren't you glad! *grin*)

Bernadette

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no
survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value
to survival."
-- C.S. Lewis (1898-1963).