Peter and the easy way (was: Yellow Rat Spell - Maybe it really did work)

[errolowl <nithya_rachel@hotmail.com>]

No: HPFGUIDX 50899


I wrote:
Peter's stand against Sirius was not one of bravery – it was the 
typical rat mentality of resorting to desperate measures when backed 
into a corner. A Rat has an excellent sense of self preservation
– it will run to escape most things – but a cornered rat is a
different proposition. If JKR has brought out anything, it is that 
Peter values his own skin too much.

Finwitch:
>>Well, he IS the rat all right... survivor. Yellow does stand out 
most clearly against black background but is nearly _invisible_ 
against white. So I can see how the yellow Pettigrew remained so 
unnoticed amongst those who're loyal to _Albus_... Then this yellow 
thing stands out when Mr _Black_ reveals him;<<

Me:
LOL!!! I never saw that in Technicolor before! <VBG>..but isn't 
Sirius loyal to Albus as well? That might have made a murky grey 
background <g>

Finwitch again:
>>Yes, well - Scabbers/Peter Pettigrew/ Wormtail was a yellow one, 
all right -- but as I see yellow as a colour that somethimes stands 
for gold (heraldics- yellow in flag, gold in the crest), as colour of 
of spring, fertility, easter, rebirth (as the first spring flowers 
are yellow and we tend to dye eggs yellow on easter)-- spring-as in 
*running* - is that where the yellow/coward-thing mentioned comes 
from?<<

Jazmyn:
>>Peter is not lacking in bravery. Takes a lot of guts to cut off 
your own arm, you know. Or to milk venom from a giant serpent or tend 
to Lord Voldemort. He could have in fact. just left the contry and 
wentinto hiding..<<

Torsten:
>>No, he's desperate and incapable of taking care of things himself. 
He needs someone strong to protect him and to tell him what to do. 
And his 'bravery' is born out of desperation, too. Cutting off his 
own arm is still better than facing what LV would do to him if he 
refused to do it. So it's not real, hero-type bravery, it essentially 
is just the opposite, cowardice. He's too afraid of one thing, so he 
faces the other thing, always taking the easier route.<<

Me again:

Ah, I like Torsten's last sentence there! No one else in the
series so far has been this starkly presented with the choice between 
what is right and what is easy. Peter the rat comes across as 
cowardly, picking the easy route, doing anything to save his skin. So 
far he has never exhibited any bravery.

But maybe, just maybe, he's not as cowardly as he thinks he is 
either. As Jazmyn pointed out, cutting off your arm or milking a 
serpent *do* require some inner steel – never mind that it was 
brought on by desperation. Deep down, Peter has a lousy sense of what 
he can do. He never tries the hard/ right way (feelings of inadequacy 
as compared to the other Marauders?), opting for the easy as the only 
option open to him.

"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord..you have
no idea..he has weapons you can't imagine..I was scared, Sirius, I
was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to 
happen.." (PoA, US 374)

Maybe under the right light, yellow will turn to gold. Maybe Harry, 
who exercises his Bravery at every opportunity can show him better. 
This might indeed end up like the Frodo-Smeagol relationship. And as 
I tend to think that all the Marauders were in Griffyndor, I'm
sure the sorting hat saw *something* in Peter.

I know Peter's character has been discussed to death..but I
can't find any of the posts – would those with total recall
please 
help me out here?

Errol.