repost Re: Good & Evil in the Potterverse (was Harry Agonistes (

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 99279

Sorry, messed up the attribution but good there.

Pippin:
> > > I didn't explain that well. I don't mean that the  characters
in 
> > > Tolkien, Lewis and Star Wars don't struggle with moral 
> issues.  What I mean is that when Aragorn says, 'Good and ill 
> have not  changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing 
> among Elves  and Dwarves and another among Men,' nobody 
> thinks he's talking nonsense. And a similar sort of universal 
> morality  prevails in the Star Wars movies: the Jedi have been 
> upholding  one ideal of peace and freedom accepted across 
the  galaxy for  thousands of years
> > > 
> > > But Rowling's world doesn't have that kind of unity. 
> > > 
> Naama:
> > Now it's my turn to ask, are we reading the same books. I 
don't  see  any ambivalence at all regarding Right and Wrong in 
the  Potterverse.  IMO, JKR holds a universalistic concept of 
morality,  and Aragorn's  quote, "Good and ill have not 
changed..." could  easily have been said  by Dumbledore. <<


Pippin:
 Can you imagine Gandalf or Aragorn seeking alliance with 
 Giants who "half-kill each other every few weeks"  and decorate 
 themselves with human bones?  Would they offer rights and 
 freedoms to the Orcs?
 
 JKR may well believe that there is a constant moral ideal and 
 that everyone should aspire to it. Dumbledore does his best to 
 influence others. But he does not assert the power to make 
other  men see the truth, nor does he condemn out of hand 
those who  do not see it as he does. 
 
 The message of the Sorting Hat's new song, and of 
 Dumbledore's closing words at the GoF feast imply to me  that 
 any aim, no matter how noble, may become corrupt once we 
 close our hearts to those who do not share it. Now I could be 
 wrong, and it may be that JKR has introduced this idea only to 
 show us how wrong-headed it is. We'll see. 
 
 To me  JKR seems to be saying that while we are threatened by 
 the truly perverse, we would do better to stop expecting that 
 everyone conform to our ideal of morality and concentrate on 
 fighting perversity together.

Pippin