Redemption

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 51637

I think part of what colors our attitude toward Draco Malfoy is that, at
least since World War II and certainly since the Sixties, "racism" has been
re-defined as the Eighth Deadly Sin...and the bar of "what is racism" has
been lowered, and lowered, and lowered yet again.  Attitudes that used to be
ubiquitous would now get one damned as a "racist."  There is a popular
pastime in present-day academia where a revered figure is suddenly denounced
as a "racist" for articulating attitudes that were perfectly ordinary and
even liberal for their time.

However, the Wizard World is often quite old-fashioned in its attitudes and
behavior; the atmosphere is, I imagine, rather reminiscent of
pre-World-War-II Britain in many ways.  Agatha Christie's characters would
fit right in, I think.  The attitude toward "Mudbloods" and "Muggles" is not
that different from what I am given to understand most British people felt
about foreigners (particularly dark-skinned foreigners or
non-English-speaking foreigners) in the old days.  They would casually refer
to "wogs beginning at Calais" without too much worry about whether the
people they were referring to could hear them.  (Keep in mind Arthur
Weasley's very patronizing comments about Muggles---if he were to make them
in my presence, I'd at least raise an eyebrow at being described rather like
a trained chimpanzee who can do tricks.  While he's not malevolent at all,
Arthur Weasley is, in his way, as much a pureblood and product of the
cloistered Wizard World as Lucius Malfoy his own bad self.)

So, one can see Draco's attitudes, at least a lot of them, as being the
product of where he was brought up and by whom.  And, yes, I think he can be
redeemed, if only by realizing just _how_ truly evil Voldemort is.  In some
ways, I think he parades his support for the Dark Lord partly as a way of
shocking his elders and some of his peers at Hogwarts, kind of like the
idiots who say that they're Nazis but couldn't articulate any National
Socialist principles if their lives depended on it.  Most of these jerks,
IMNSHO, would _freak out_ at actually being confronted with what the Nazis
actually did, face-to-face.

For that matter...what do you all think of the _Dursleys'_ chances of
redemption?  In a lot of ways, I feel terribly sorry for Dudley, obnoxious
little sprog that he is, if only because I can imagine the terrible shock
he's in for when Real Life(tm) rises up and whacks him in the face.  What
would you all think if, in the next book, we learned _why_ the Dursleys are
so magic-phobic (or is there a better word for that?) and they actually do
have reasons for hating and fearing magic that make sense?

Right now, the Dursleys are caricatures straight out of a bad Roald Dahl
book; I think that JKR could have done much better with them while still
making it clear that Harry's not well off with them.  I would also like to
see them redeemed---and Draco as well, if only because I do like his snarky
comments.

Eric, trained chimpanzee who can do tricks *ook ook*