Ageism and the Futility of Blame, was: Re: Responsibility for Sirius's Death

[nibleswik]

No: HPFGUIDX 84728

Udder Pendragon:
<snip>
> I read a lot about who is believed to be responsible for Sirisus 
dieing. <snip>  
> I don't blame Harry at all. He is only 15and there are adults(?) 
around him who are supposed to protect him and not, as in the case 
of Snape, to use him as a target for their own spite. 

Oh, grr! I wrote a long, detailed reply, and it got deleted. 

Being 15 ought not exempt one from blame. This does nothing but 
perpetuate an ageist system that drives every minor with half a 
brain completely nuts. If you tell me I'm less equipped to make my 
own decisions than some sorority chick who spends most of her time 
puking or in the ER for alcohol poisoning simply because she's 
reached that magical age of 18, I will laugh. A lot. My parents gave 
me a lot of freedom from very early on, and it was the best thing 
they could possibly have done for me, because I learned to be 
responsible very early. Handing kids a whole bunch of rights on 
their 18th birthday seems terrible! Are they supposed to become 
mature overnight? 

Age is such a dreadful criterion for judging . . . anything, really. 
Most people I know aren't one age -- they may be physically 23, but 
mentally 40, 8 or 9 when they try to draw, 5 when upset, and 3 when 
asked to sit still. I know people my age (14) who seem to me much, 
much older because they are emotionally more mature. Conversely, 
stick me in a group of 14-year olds, and I'll stick out like a sore 
thumb, as I spend most of my time around people over 18, as I attend 
college, which really doesn't help matters. So, yeah. I've veered 
rather off-course, haven't I?

My point was that it is my belief that one should be held 
responsible for one's actions as soon as one is old enough to 
understand that actions have consequences. Harry definitely 
understands that, as do most 15-year olds, so he should be just as 
ripe a target for criticism as the next person. He knows better, as 
it were.

Now, about the blame: I think figuring out who to blame is 
completely useless. The list is endless. Sure, there are the obvious 
ones, like LV, Bellatrix, Harry, DD, Kreacher, and Sirius himself, 
but that overlooks so many! -- Umbridge, for obvious reasons, Ron, 
Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna, for helping Harry, Grawp, for 
not eating the lot of them, Hagrid, for not training Grawp to eat 
the lot of them, Sirius' parents', not just for being miserable to 
him, but for conceiving him in the first place, Buckbeak, for not 
ripping Kreacher to pieces, the employees of the MoM, for not making 
it absolutely impossible to get into the Department of Mysteries, 
and so on. Sure, I'm getting a bit outlandish with those, but they 
could theoretically have averted Sirius' death, couldn't they? It 
doesn't matter who's to blame. People make choices, and their 
choices will help some people and hurt others. It's really that 
simple, I think. Besides, worrying about blaming people is far too 
similar to that song from Into the Woods for my own comfort. 
Actually, that would make a great FILK ("So then it's Ron's 
fault!" "No, it's not Ron's fault!").

Cheekyweebisom