Does JKR sees ambition as a flaw?

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 99648

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214" 
<dumbledore11214 at y...> wrote:
> In light of recent discussion about Slytherin house, I'd like to 
know 
> the answer to this question. 
> 
> 
> Now, I think we've established that JKR does not like Slyhterin 
house much. Frankly, me neither. For the obvious reason that 
she did not present any decent characters from this 
House.(Snape is a  special  case, because I've been thinking for 
a long time that he may turn out  to be a Gryffindor).
> 
> Again, I really dislike, even hate the pureblood bigotry, which is 
the heart of the Slytherin beliefs, at least as perceived by many. I  
also cannot make myself to like abstract, non-fleshed out 
characters,  even if some of them saluted Cedric and Harry.
> 

I think it's important to keep in mind that this anxiety to see the 
Slytherins as fleshed out and not stereotypical is planted in us by 
the novels themselves, and is one of the things that creates 
dramatic tension in them. JKR has created cognitive dissonance 
-- she's asking us to believe two contradictory things at the same 
time--and the desire to see it resolved impels us to turn pages, 
stand in lines , scour websites for clues and spend hours every 
day exchanging posts with the similarly obsessed <g>.  Naturally 
it's in her interest to keep that going.

I don't think we can conclude that  JKR hates all the things that 
make Slytherins  disagreeable. If you prowl through the fan 
fiction, you'll see that one mistake inexperienced writers make is 
to give all the characteristics they admire to the likable 
characters, and all the ones they hate to their antagonists. 
 That makes the characterizations one-dimensional. It's much 
more interesting if you take something you view as a positive, 
give it to the bad guys and let them do something really 
loathsome with it. 

I think in the Potterverse evil is a choice, not a condition.
Ambition is not evil--choosing to pursue ambition  at the expense 
of  the rights and freedoms of others is evil. 

Pippin