HP and the democratic equilibrium(Re: Umbridge, brooms and DEs)

[sophierom]

No: HPFGUIDX 87042

Geoff:
<snip> <You see on one hand the Death Eaters and on the other 
fanatics like Umbridge and Crouch Senior and the end result appears 
to be that they are clones of each other.> <snip>

Iris:
<snip><We could add that the global behaviour of the Wizarding World 
leads to the same dangerous situation. For example, refusing to 
speak Voldemort's name, ita est, to call him what he really is, is 
as dangerous as working for him. I'd better say: IT IS working for 
him. Using euphemisms such as "He Who Must Not Be Named" or "You 
Know Who" can lead to believe that he is not that terrible. It makes 
people forget how dangerous he is, and it opens the door to his 
return. That's all the paradox of tolerance, and all the delicate 
question of the democratic equilibrium. Who said that HP was only a 
child book?> <snip>

Sophierom:

Who indeed? :-)

I think both Iris and Geoff's points about Umbridge and 
the "respectable" WW vs. LV and the DE are excellent.  I wanted to 
add, though, that I think the euphemisms "You Know Who," "He Who 
Must Not Be Named" and "Lord Thingy" (my favorite from Fudge in OOTP)
are more a sign of fear and denial than tolerance.  Even if we 
understand tolerance by its most basic definition - to tolerate - 
and not its most common usage today - to accept, even include, 
welcome -even then the euphemisms suggest that the WW would rather 
pretend that LV is a devil, a bogyman, a "thingy," not a real person 
who was once a child, once had feelings ... basically, the WW has to 
pretend that he's not a product of the same world that the "good" 
people helped to make.  

I think this is one of the reasons why Dumbledore not only refuses 
to use euphemisms but also insists on using LV's boyhood name ... 
Tom.  In OOTP, when they are fighting, DD continually refers to LV 
as Tom, which at first I thought was a really clever slight (you 
think you're so great, do you? Well, I remember when you were just a 
snot-nosed kid in my class!).  But it's also an admission of LV's 
humanity ... and perhaps a reminder to DD himself that whatever LV 
has become, he developed in the same culture that helped produce 
the "good" guys like Harry, James, and even DD himself.  

Sophierom