Draco as Darcy?/Draco Redeemable How?

[aldrea279]

No: HPFGUIDX 38839

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...> wrote:
< Now, I realize that this is mostly Lucius' fault for
> setting such a crappy example.  But given that Draco is what he is,
> and was brought up the way he was, what will motivate him to 
change? <snip>  His
> parents won't guide him to better behavior; neither will his 
friends. 
> His head of house can't do it without risking his cover, and his 
other
> teachers are taking a hands-off approach.  I suspect that if Draco 
is
> to be redeemed, then life itself will have to be his teacher.  Some
> future sequence of events will have to break through his selfishness
> and arrogance and force him to start caring about how his actions
> affect other people.  

What would change him?  I think something very large, something that 
would cause both mortification and a cause to wonder about his 
actions and the consequences that follow-- like say, perhaps, the 
death of his father?  But, to further think about this: the death of 
his father *by Voldemort's hands*? That would definately shake some 
views implanted in the Malfoy family household(which I would LOVE to 
see happen).  Since alot of people see Draco as being destined to 
follow in his father's footsteps(and from what we've seen, Draco has 
no objections in doing so) his father's death by this way might just 
make him see the light- that being on Voldemort's side isn't the 
surest way to power(which I think that's basically what his father 
has been implanting in him).  Think about this: If Draco knew that 
Snape was a Death-Eater turned good, would he like/suck up to Snape 
so much?  I don't think Draco's father let's him know about such 
things- he tries to make him see that everyone that follows Voldemort 
prospers, and those that don't suffer.  Oh, perhaps that is a source 
for his hatred of Harry?  Harry is a living defiment of Voldemort, 
and so perhaps Draco sees it as his job to make him suffer for it?  
*shrugs and hopes someone can make sense of that*


> I think it's worth reiterating at this point that I'm not arguing
> against the possibility of Draco turning good.  I just think that
> setting him up as the Potterverse Darcy glosses over his flaws and 
the
> obstacles that stand between him and redemption.  

Ah ah ah, but Draco being the -Potterverse- Darcy has a small
(amusing) something to it, I think.  I don't think there's enough for 
a parallel, but they do have similarities.  They both have that 
similar characteristic flaw- Pride.  Each of them had it implanted in 
them because of their social status.  Now I KNOW someone here has 
made the point about how Pride can't be associated as being good, and 
they used examples from the Potterverse- Lockhart, Lucius, Draco, 
Crouch, Voldemort, etc. It's just the way the Potterverse is set up- 
there has to be a somewhat clear distinction between good and evil.  
Draco is proud and ambitious- therefore he must be "evil" because of 
it.  But as we saw at the end of GoF, things are starting to change 
in the WW(and especially, I think, at Hogwarts), and so this could be 
a setup for Draco's developing more as a character.  But I think only 
something that will knock the proudness right out of him will cause a 
good change.

Darcy, stung by
> Elizabeth's accusations, goes off to do some soul-searching and 
voila!
> -- returns as a suitable love interest.  Why is he able to do it so
> easily?  Because he was a fundamentally good person all along, 
brought
> up right from early childhood.  Draco's been brought up very, very
> wrong.  In a way, I think comparing Draco and Darcy does Draco a
> disservice; if he redeems himself, it will be a far greater feat 
than
> what Darcy managed.

Very true also.  I don't see a parellel, just similarities that -
could- mean someting(like possible redemption) and could not.  But 
overall, I just find the theory fun to think about- Draco reformed 
and a romantic interest to Hermione?  Oh, lol, very far-fetched as of 
right now, but I find things that are just thrown way way out there 
interesting- even if they are just plain impossible(although who's to 
say they're not plausible?).


Pen Robinson:
<Of course, we are seeing him from Harry's POV, and from
the outset Harry has not liked Malfoy. But Harry has not liked Snape
either, yet we have been given information to show that Snape is,
underneath it all, on the right side. In fact, Snape's behaviour is 
nasty
and spiteful, but his *actions* have shown good intent - saving Harry 
at
the Quidditch match in PS, saving the trio from Lupin and Black in 
PoA, and
the revelations in GoF that he is a reformed Death Eater. He's still
unpleasant to Harry at every opportunity, but we have glimpses of 
promise,
and insights into possible reasons/excuses for the unpleasantness.<

But that is of right now.  In the beginning, we had many reasons to 
hate Snape, because of the things he did to Harry.  It's true that 
now we know that Snape has his excuses for some of the more spiteful 
things he did to Harry, although we see that he still despises the 
young Potter boy.  

<What have Malfoy's *actions* been? As far as I can see, his actions 
have
been just as nasty and spiteful as his words. He dressed up as a 
dementor,
knowing that it might make Harry fall off his broom (possibly 
fatally), and
undoubtedly hoping it would cause Harry to lose the Quidditch match; 
he did
everything in his power to get Hagrid sacked over the Buckbeak 
incident
which was in fact his own fault; he supplied Rita Skeeter with vicious
gossip. What has he done to make people so convinced that he's worth
redeeming?<

True, Malfoy doesn't seem to have any redeemable qualities or even a 
descent excuse for his actions towards Harry- other than that he 
doesn't know any better.  This is the way that he has been brought 
up, living in a death-eaters house hold.  I'm not trying to defend 
Draco, I hate him as much as the next HP fan- I just don't think the 
optimist in me can ever truly think of anyone as being completely 
evil and bad.

<I don't say that a nasty and spiteful schoolboy can never deserve
forgiveness, can never be reformed, but I don't so far see any 
evidence
that underneath it all Malfoy has a basically worthwhile character.<

As you said yourself, we only see him through Harry's eyes- and the 
only interactions Harry has had with him are bad ones.  We don't know 
as much as we think about Draco Malfoy, I'd say.  But then again- 
maybe we do, and the only thing Draco is ever going to be is a rival 
to Harry. *shrugs* We'll just have to see what happens, I suppose.

~Aldrea