[HPforGrownups] Harry's sacrifice

[Dave Hardenbrook]

No: HPFGUIDX 58586


Saturday, May 24, 2003, 4:58:05 AM, vixx_y wrote:

v> Which brought me to thinking - how much, or who, would Harry be 
v> prepared to sacrifice in his fight? I think that he would give his 
v> own life without a thought - but what if he had to give Hermione's, 
v> or Ron's? I think he could give those two, actually. It really gets 
v> interesting when you think - would he give Snapes? Draco's? The 
v> Dursleys?

Hmmm -- Would Harry let his two dearest friends go into the abyss in
order to save the Wizarding World...?  I think this topic could lead to
all sorts of ethical questions about "Ends justifying the Means."  It
reminds me of the old moral question, "If you were a mother, would you
sacrifice the life of your child if it would rid the world of disease?"

I do agree however about Harry sacrificing any*THING* -- That's what
makes a hero truly a hero.  My favorite example of an annoying,
"Buffy-like" (as described in this context) heroine is the title
character of Louisa May Alcott's _Rose in Bloom_.  In that novel,
Rose does all the righteous preaching, but all the actual courage and
self-sacrifice is done by Phoebe, the *REAL* heroine of the book, IMHO.

-- 
Dave