Rowling and Philosophy

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 53702

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tom Wall" 
<thomasmwall at y...> wrote:

> Treason, the betrayal of a trust, is a pretty hefty crime. 
> But we don't have Voldemort on it yet.

To which I replied that Ginny and Hogwarts itself were victims of 
Voldemort's treason. 

Tom said:
>>>it's not the kind of 'selling your loved ones 
 down the river' kind of treason for which Brutus, Cassius, and 
Judas  were responsible.<<<

I see what you're getting at, but I'm not sure Dante would. 
Cassius was not an intimate friend of Caesar's.  The story, 
according to Plutarch,

http://www.4literature.net/Plutarch/Marcus_Brutus/2.html

 was that Caesar forgave Cassius for siding with his rival 
Pompey.  For Cassius to turn on him was then considered 
particularly vile,  as if Snape were to turn on Dumbledore after 
being given his second chance. 

I  believe Dante chose his three mortal sinners to represent 
treason against spiritual, temporal and familial benefactors, with 
Lucifer of course having commited all three.  ( Brutus was 
supposed to have been Caesar's natural son.)   To the medieval 
mind, their sin was not to betray someone they loved. Rather,  it 
was  to fail in  love toward someone to whom  they owed fealty: a 
father, spiritual superior, or lord.

 Since Christianity teaches that if men were not sinful they would 
love even their enemies, I'm not sure how your definition could 
be applied in Dante's cosmos, since any betrayal would be a 
betrayal of someone who should be loved.

Though perhaps Riddle's betrayal of Ginny would not put 
Voldemort in Dante's lowest circle, since he doesn't owe her 
fealty,  it is no mere fraud. He couldn't have invaded her soul 
without winning her trust at the deepest level. This is very unlike, 
say, Bagman's fraud on the Twins which relies simply on the 
general social contract not to pass false coin. 

All that said, I see what you mean. But of course it's impossible 
for Voldemort to betray anybody he really cares about, since 
according to Dumbledore he doesn't really care about anyone, 
even his own followers.  

The Trio have all at various times felt betrayed by one another, 
but it has always turned out to be a misunderstanding on some 
level.  Harry has yet to be  betrayed by anyone he really cares 
about.  Ron is the only one who's experienced that kind of 
betrayal, by Scabbers. Maybe that explains his attitude in  GoF, 
when  he  becomes so deeply suspicious of Harry and 
Hermione too.

I think Harry will experience such a betrayal eventually, and of 
course I see Lupin as the most likely candidate. I don't think that 
this will undermine the position Rowling is presenting about 
prejudice but rather permit her to test and amplify it. But that's 
another post.

Pippin