TBAY - Winky and Crouch Sr. - Very Nasty and Twisted

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 45693

"Nasty and twisted," said Cindy. "Does sound like you, I must admit."

"I didn't mean it to be nasty and twisted," said Eileen. "I was going
to write a perfectly ordinary post about Crouch family dynamics, when
things began to fall into place a little too well."

"As I said, sounds like you," said Cindy. "So, what do you have for us
today."

"Have we ever talked about Mrs. Crouch on the list?"

"Yes, I believe Pip suggested she was a Death Eater," said Cindy.
"That made even Elkins blanche. Other than that, there was that
misunderstanding of whether "Mrs. Crouch did her son."

Eileen shudders. "That was a typo. We may be twisted, but we're not
that twisted. But other than that, there's been nothing?"

"Nothing I know of."

"Well, I have a Mrs. Crouch theory for you. It evolved from my trying
to figure out why I dislike Mrs. Crouch."

"You dislike Mrs. Crouch?" asked Cindy unbelievingly. "I thought you
worshiped the Crouches. Sort of like the Sugar Quill and the Weasleys."

"Well, I don't like Mrs. Crouch. Do you really think that breaking
Barty Jr. out of Azkaban was a good idea?"

"It's supposed to be sympathetic!" said Cindy. "Besides you like her
husband's part in that story."

"Because it's tragic irony. I said that he never let love define his
relationships. But I was wrong. Just this one time, he did. And look
where that got him. Now, Mrs. Crouch on the other hand. Let's just say
I don't like dying characters who impose last commands on their loved
ones."

"She wanted to save her son!" cries Cindy. "Have you no heart, woman?"

"A bleeding one, I think. Now, could it be that I dislike her because
she is bland and uninteresting? Not really. I don't have feelings of
intense antagonism towards Professor McGonagall or any other of the
bland female characters that litter the series. I think my problem is
that she put unbearable pressure on her husband to do something that
was totally wrong. I can't forgive her that. Crouch Sr. made all his
other horrible mistakes of his own volition, but she forced him into
that one... in the name of love. It sickens me somehow, even if she
was brave to die in Azkaban like that, and did sacrifice herself for
her son. But here comes the disturbing part..."

"I was waiting for that," said Cindy. 

"She dies but she doesn't leave the story. The entire Crouch Sr./Mrs.
Crouch dynamic is recreated between Crouch Sr. and Winky."

"EWWWWW!" said Cindy. "What are you suggesting here?" She looks at
Eileen like a lunatic escaped from St. Mungo's.

"Nothing indecent. I am not going to suggest that... errr... there was
something going on between the elder Crouch and Winky. But minus that,
the entire dynamic is exactly the same. Let's start with Mrs. Crouch's
one appearance. What do we get from that?"

"That she's "whispy" and quite upset about Barty being sent to
Azkaban, and her husband disowning him."

"True. She spends her entire time sobbing and rocking back and forth.
What does that remind you of?"

"Eileen!"

"Answer me. Was I the only person who saw Mrs. Crouch as being
described in the terms used for Winky throughout the entire book?"

"That may be an accident," said Cindy.

"Perhaps. Perhaps it is. But now we need to look at Winky. When Mrs.
Crouch dies, she just takes over her role, doesn't she? Batting down
Crouch Sr.'s objections to taking his son to the QWC. She throws his
wife's memory in his face, doesn't she? It's pretty obvious that,
despite Hermione's sizing up of the situation, Winky has Crouch Sr.
under her thumb until the QWC. By appealing to his love for his wife.
Oh, she's doing exactly the same thing Mrs. Crouch did to him, she is."

"Errr... right," said Cindy. "What next?"

"Has it ever occurred to you how often people tend to describe Winky
and Crouch Sr.'s relationship in terms of a marriage? I brought up the
"Caesar's wife must be above suspicion" parallel. Lurking about HP
sites, I've seen several people refer to Winky as like a battered
wife. "She seems to love him," says Ron, and that line always squicks
out people b/c they immediately imagine you-know-what. I think I know
why. In her relationship with Barty Jr., Winky also seems to be like
Mrs. Crouch. She loves him and wants to let him off the hook, believes
the best of him, even though she knows he wants to serve Voldemort."

"He dismissed Winky in the end."

"Oh yes he did! And what does that suggest about the Crouch family
dynamic now? Doesn't it suggest that in some way he was dismissing the
shadow of his wife? He didn't let go of Winky b/c she embarassed him.
He let go of her b/c she endangered him. Just as his wife endangered
him. The two: Winky and Mrs. Crouch, pretty much killed him in the
end.  So, yes, I think he was banishing his wife in some way when he
let go of Winky. Not so pleasant."

"And the very end?" asked Cindy fearfully.

"I find the very end extremely interesting," says Eileen with a small
grin. "An end in which Winky is forced to recognize that Barty was out
and out bad. Mrs. Crouch didn't live to do it, but Winky does it for her."

"Eileen, you are disturbing."

"I know."

Eileen