Draco: Dudley and Snape

[Moonstruck]

No: HPFGUIDX 47479

Some thoughts on Draco:

I've been going through the books again and reviewing
Draco's scenes, how he interacts with the other
characters and what types of character nuances he
displays. 

The thing that really sparked this sudden curiosity
was a discussion I had with Heidi Tandy. She brought
something to my attention that I had never considered
before: In GoF, when the Death Eaters conjure the Dark
Mark and Harry, Ron, and Hermione run into Draco while
fleeing to the Forest, Draco is fairly hateful to
Hermione, but he nonetheless keeps urging her to get
away from the DE chaos. And Heidi's right. Draco's
quite nasty to her, but for someone who supposedly
hates her and hates Mudbloods, it's surprising that
he's *not* goading her into the center of the danger.
Instead, he's warning her (granted, in a verrrrry
roundabout manner) against it.

That's not to say I believe the canon supports the
notion of Draco being interested in or having a
relationship with Hermione, because that's stretching
things a bit. But this different perspective, paired
with Draco's depiction in the CoS movie, has prompted
some questions about Draco.

As I've been going through the text, I've found Draco
compared to two other characters -- Dudley and Snape
-- and I suspect both are or will prove to be dead-on
estimations of Draco's character. I suppose what I'm
wondering if, in a very loose, non-literal manner, he
has begun the series as a Dudley-type of child, but
will later undergo a re-examination of his beliefs and
ethics, as I suspect Snape did at some point during
Voldemort's original reign.

Draco's similarities with Dudley are very wrapped up
in the nature of their relationships with their
parents and the kind of values they've passed on to
their children. I think both the Malfoys and the
Dursleys do their children a great disservice by
raising them as spoiled, superior children. Think
about all the presents the Dursleys shower upon
Dudley, all of Petunia's little baby pet names for
him, how they go out of their way to arrange
advantages for him and shelter (stifle) him through
any remotely unpleasant experience. 

In one sense, you could say that all of this
exemplifies how deeply the Dursleys love Dudley. I,
however, see it as bordering on child abuse. By GoF,
Dudley has ballooned so massively from his parents'
overindulgence, it's actually threatening his health.
Even a note from his teacher won't dissuade Petunia
from believing Dudley should be able to have whatever
he wants. Additionally, Vernon ensures Dudley's
acceptance to the private school (which denotes a
level of social superiority) he attended as a child.
One imagines Vernon is planning to set Dudley up in a
cushy job after he graduates. Petunia and Vernon are
insecure, judgmental, nosy people who bully those of
smaller stature (both physically and socially) in
order to make themselves feel powerful and important.
Dudley, naturally, has inherited this behavior, and we
see it in his treatment of Harry.

I'm sure the parallels between the Dursleys and the
Malfoys are apparent in the above paragraph and since
I have begun to consider the similarities between the
two families, they very strikingly mirror each other.
Muggle on one side, Wizard on the other. I imagine
this is JKR's way of pointing out the absurdity of the
Malfoys hating Muggles like the Dursleys, and vise
versa, when they are certainly made from the same
cloth. Ignorance, cruelty, superficiality exist in
every culture.

I have absolutely no specific idea of what will happen
to Dudley, but one thing is certain for both him and
Draco. At some point both are going to have to face
the world without the intervention of their families
and both will fall on their faces. Neither the Malfoys
nor the Dursleys have equipped their sons with the
skills to function independently, to rely on their
intelligence and skills rather than their name to get
ahead in life, to think for themselves. The final
example is incredibly apparent with Draco. At this
point, from what we've see of his behavior, Draco is
basically Lucius' puppet, his mini-mouthpiece at
Hogwarts.

But for all his posturing and bullying, Draco is
completely dependent on others for his gumption. He's
cowardly -- he ran away from Voldy in the Forbidden
Forest in PS/SS and, as I was rereading some of the
passages of Draco's interaction with the trio, it was
obvious that he's full of sarcasm and superiority when
he's at a safe distance, but the minute he's directly
confronted he said or does nothing. He simply walks
away. He does this to Harry repeatedly. He's equally
as low-key when his cohorts aren't around to cheer him
on. With Draco, it's a "never mind the man behind the
curtain" situation. 

And why is he like this? Is he simply just a rotten
little bastard? Yes, but that's not the only reason.
Why does Draco spew such hatred toward the trio?
Because he'd like to be part of it. He was perfectly
friendly, albeit stuck-up, when he first met Harry at
Madame Malkins. In fact, even after he discovers
Harry's identity, he offers his hand in friendship.
Deep down, I imagine there are aspects of Harry, Ron,
and Hermione that he secretly admires/likes and I'm
almost positive that he envies the loyalty, respect,
acceptance, and unconditional love the trio give to
one other. However, Draco's problem is his
presentation. Harry chose to be Ron's friend because
Ron was friendly, accepting, and good-natured. Harry
chose not to be friends with Draco because, while
Draco was "friendly," he was also judgmental and mean,
and the thing he promised to give Harry as a friend
was power, position, and dominion over the other
students. Unfortunately, that's the only way Draco
knows how to make friends. His friends "like" him
because he's rich, his family's important, he gets
lots of expensive gifts, etc. None of Draco's friends
are with him for the quality of his character or great
personality. And that's really sad. 

I was rereading the mudblood scene in PS/SS and I
found it newly interesting. We don't know of Draco
throwing around the word Mudblood until that specific
point in the series. In other words, he doesn't go
around bullying mudbloods or shouting slurs at them.
He only invokes it when Hermione points out that he 
got on the Quidditch team simply because his father
bought them all Nimbus-2001s, not because he has great
flying skills. This really seems to strike a chord
with him, and he pulls out the most hurtful thing he
can think of to hurl back at her. Draco didn't call
Hermione a Mudblood because he's such an anti-Muggle
fanatic, but because she either hurt his feelings, or
struck his insecurities, maybe both. It probably
doesn't help, either, that Hermione is the one student
he can't outdo. She's always better than him.

Whatever it is about Hermione that caused him to
behave so atrociously, his reaction betrays the high
level of insecurity and sensitivity Draco possesses.

I agree, to some extent, that Draco looks up to his
father, but I think Draco has many conflicted, complex
emotions regarding his father. I'm convinced this is
only going to worsen as he gets older and, one hopes,
wiser. You can attribute part of Draco's behavior to
admiration for his father, but I think most of it is a
desperate attempt to secure his father's love and
acceptance. I really don't get the impression that
Lucius feels any real love toward Draco. He buys Draco
all those expensive things not because he cares for
Draco and wants him to have the best, but because
Draco is a representative of both Lucius and the
Malfoy name. Thus, Draco must exude old money and
class to the world. Again, Draco's not his son, he's
his advertisement.       

Now that Voldemort has returned to his full glory,
things are only going to get worse. All of the kids at
Hogwarts are going to have to grow up very quickly,
which will put Draco at a distinct disadvantage. And,
honestly, who's going to place first on Lucius' list
of priorities: his son or his position with the Death
Eaters? Once things really heat up, Daddy dearest
isn't going to give a fig about Draco's safety or
well-being. In fact, I believe he'd even sacrifice
Draco for Voldy and the Death Eaters.

That fact, combined with Draco's (hopeful) eventual
realization that his parents' values and parenting
practices harmed him far more than they helped him,
is, I believe, going to create in Draco a great deal
of resentment and hatred toward his father. I also
think it will force him to reevaluate his own values
and beliefs -- what of his parents' or, more likely,
father's rhetoric does he actually agree with? 

It's my great hope that at this point, we'll begin to
see Draco's personality turn more toward Snape. I
think he'll turn against his father and the Death
Eaters. Whether he'll end up joining forces with the
trio or contribute in some way to Dumbledore's
crusade, I'm not sure. I've heard speculation that
Harry will end up saving Draco's life, which would put
Draco in debt to Harry. It's a bit too James and Snape
for my taste, but JKR does love her parallels.
Nonetheless, I'm convinced Lucius is going to be the
influence that drives Draco to a crisis of
identity/morality. And I'm fairly confident that Draco
will be reformed in some way before the series ends. 

-Jessica :) 
   

=====

 "How many Lupins does it take to change a light bulb?
Who needs light when you've got Lupin?!" - Miss_Tori


http://www.livejournal.com/users/moonstruck4rjl/ 

Nimbus_2003-An International Harry Potter Symposium: http://www.hp2003.org/index.html 



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