Is Dumbledore's character inconsistent? (Was: Radio TBAY)

[Porphyria Ashenden]

No: HPFGUIDX 45207

First, I'd like to second Eileen's well thought-out defense of 
Metathinking. And Marina's, who has posted as I compose this. I feel 
that if someone tries to look at a work of literature without some 
consideration for its artificiality or its literariness, then they 
miss out on some of the richness of the text. Furthermore, even if 
Magic Dishwasher does not make an assumption like "HP is a LeCarre-
esque spy novel," still, the mere assumption that the characters 
would be acting according to real-world, realistic motivations given 
their situation is in itself metathinking. All approaches to 
literature involve some sort of "metathinking:" executive decisions 
about how to go about understanding it. Also, please let's go easy on 
English Professors; I nearly became one (I failed only due to lack of 
Lupinesque talent, not lack of admiration for it) and this is 
supposed to be a literary discussion group, so lets all try to 
respect each other's interpretive methods and play nice.

Next, I'd like to give my defense for why Dumbledore's 
characterization is not inconsistent. Oh, wait, I already have, in 
post 43396 (8/30). But since it's come up again, please forgive me 
for repeating myself in little over a month. 

Pip jauntily posed the issue:
-----
DUMBLEDORE: Which isn't the same as telling him to stop, is it? No, 
thank you to all your listies, it's been extremely pleasant to find 
that I have so many supporters in my characterisation problems, but 
I'm probably going to have to wait as long as the rest of you to 
find out whether it has some deeper explanation or is just 
inconsistent characterisation.
-----

For one thing, I suppose we should ask ourselves where we draw the 
line between inconsistent and complex. Presumably, all characters 
need some rough edges or enigmatic qualities to be interesting (this 
list has agreed over and over that pure-white characters are no fun). 
But of course, there's a point where a character's anomalous behavior 
strains credibility. So there's got to be a happy medium. I think in 
Dumbledore there is. 

I'll summarize here the points in canon where I think Dumbledore is a 
bit mocking or insensitive towards Snape (I quote them in 43396). In 
PS/SS, his words to Harry "Funny the way people's minds work," is a 
little dismissive of Snape's humiliation and anger over the prank. In 
mid-PoA, his joke with the vulture-hat Christmas cracker is a rather 
embarrassing thing to do in front of Harry and Ron who both hate and 
disrespect him so much. And I do find his bemused attitude toward 
Snape at the end of PoA somewhat cruel. I'll concede to those who 
have argued with me on this (Eloise and Pippin) that perhaps 
Dumbledore is trying to let the Trio and Snape know that everything 
is all right, but I still feel that Dumbledore does not pull his 
punches in getting that idea across to Snape. I read the text as 
written, that Dumbledore is not afraid to remind Snape of his past to 
make a point, and that he does indeed appear to enjoy himself while 
Snape is obviously in distress. 

However, I didn't have much trouble resolving all this. I admit there 
are a number of ways of interpreting this, but what really works for 
me is to imagine that Snape and Dumbledore have what is essentially a 
father-son relationship. I'll guess that most of us have had the 
experience of having an argument over something we deeply disagree on 
with a person we care very much about. And these can get ugly in 
direct proportion to the degree of emotional involvement. But they 
don't stop either party from continuing to care and be loyal towards 
each other. 

I like the conventional reading of the end of PoA *because* it makes 
Snape look tragic and miserable and it puts Dumbledore in an awkward 
position from which he responds eloquently if not quite 
compassionately. This provides for me the emotional power of the 
situation and makes the book profoundly moving. Poignant, but moving. 
I would rather not believe in an interpretation that irons out the 
complexities here. I like the complexities. But to each their own. 

Furthermore, I think it is reasonable to assume that Dumbledore will 
treat Harry differently than he does Snape. Harry is still a young 
boy who needs encouragement; Snape is a hardened former Death Eater. 
Not that Snape isn't hyper-sensitive, but I think Dumbledore doesn't 
feel he needs reassure Snape in quite the way he does Harry, or at 
least not in public. So although I do agree with Pip that Dumbledore 
behaves very differently with each of these characters, I only find 
here evidence of Dumbledore's complex relationships with them, and 
not inconsistency.

Bugaloo recently remarked:
-----
IMO, after re-reading the Shreiking Shack for the third time last 
night, I have decided that who Snape has a "real" problem with is 
Dumbledore. Here are the issues they do not ("seemingly") agree on: 
1) what to do with Harry when he breaks the rules; 2) the hiring of 
Lupin; and the 3) the acceptance of Sirius.
-----

Interesting observation. For me, I don't think that Snape has a 
problem with Dumbledore per se. Snape defends Dumbledore (to Draco in 
CoS and Karkaroff in GoF) and typically treats him very respectfully 
(nearly always calling him "Headmaster" and so forth). And Snape 
really comes unglued in the staircase scene in GoF when Crouch-as-
Moody implies that Dumbledore doesn't trust him. So I think that 
Snape relies on Dumbledore for his sense of self-worth and whatever 
partial sense of redemption he has. 

Bugaloo points out Snape's disagreements with Dumbledore involve 
Sirius, Lupin and Harry, and of course we know Snape has issues with 
James as well. I think all four of these characters unnerve Snape 
because they are all rivals for Dumbledore's affections. Snape sees 
them all as potential sibling rivals (well, "saw" in James's case, 
but still), and that makes him very jealous. He's not one to share 
Dumbledore's affection, and he doesn't understand that AD has enough 
unconditional love to go around. Anyway, I find an enormous amount of 
pathos in these characterizations and I am quite happy with my 
interpretation.

~Porphyria