Analysis of Lupin's Character.

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 96991

Steve (bboy_mn) wrote:
> I believe Lupin's entire life, all his responses, and all his
> interactions with people are driven by one deep seated very much
> SUBconscious principle. That deep subconscious principle is...
> 
> "If you really knew me, you wouldn't love me."
> 
> I want to emphasize most emphatically that this is not driven by
> conscious thought, this motivator occures at a deep subconscious 
level.

Del adds :
I quite agree with what you said. I suffered from deep insecurity 
too, for various reasons, but mostly because of some flaws of mine 
that I saw as absolutely repellent to others. If the people who 
liked me knew how much I could eat when I was feeling bad, if they 
knew how dirty my flat could become, etc..., they would stop loving 
me. It was kinda stupid, or most importantly *wrong*, but I was so 
sure of it that I would go to great lengths to hide those bad sides 
of my personality : I would go to shops where I had never gone 
before to buy my binge food, I would pretend I was having a party to 
justify it, or I would spend half a night cleaning my flat if 
someone was to come, or even pretend not to be there if someone came 
unexpectedly ! But at least I was lucky : I could *hide* my bad 
traits, most of the time. Even to myself.

Lupin is in a much tougher fix. First because he can't hide his bad 
side, he's registered, *everyone* can know about it. And second 
because he can't be told and showed that really his bad side isn't 
that bad. Binge-eating and being disorganised aren't bad, but being 
a werewolf IS bad, there's no changing that. No matter how much he 
tries to be a good guy the rest of the time, he simply cannot change 
the fact that he turns into a monstrous murderous beast once a 
month. Some women get desperate because they turn snappy and edgy 
once a month, but this is *nothing* compared to what Lupin goes 
through. (Yes I know he's got that potion now, but it's a recent 
development, it didn't exist during his young years, when his 
personality was mostly formed).

Seen that way, I agree with Steve that Lupin had a very strong 
incentive not to tell DD about Sirius being an Animagus. I've done  
stupid and irresponsible things too out of insecurity and fear of 
losing others' love.

When we're judging Lupin, we have to remember that this is someone 
who's been living pretty much all his life with the knowledge that 
whatever he does, however much he tries, he can *never* be just a  
normal average guy. It's a very heavy weight to carry around.

Del