Lupin as a metaphor (was: DD and the rat)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 116589


Pippin wrote:
> We may be slightly at cross purposes here. I've never said that 
> because Lupin has minor character flaws he must be ESE!. My 
> argument was with those who say that because he has only 
> minor character flaws, he *can't* be ESE.  
> 
>   JKR has already shown us that minor character flaws can lead 
> to major lapses in judgment, and we agree that Lupin made 
> one of those when he   kept back the information he had about 
> Sirius.  Though Lupin could honestly say that he wasn't helping 
> Sirius get into the castle, he certainly wasn't doing all in his 
> power to keep him out. That amounts to a betrayal of 
> Dumbledore, as Lupin himself admits. 
> 
> We've already seen that Voldemort can analyze people's 
> characters and lure them into making bad decisions.  We've 
> seen people keep  making bad decisions  because the 
> consequences of admitting the first one was poor would be so 
> painful. The argument was that Lupin must be spared this trap, 
> because if he showed such poor judgment it would justify the 
> persecution of werewolves. It's as if when Harry screws up it's 
> because he's only human, but if Lupin did, it would be because 
> he's a werewolf. That's demeaning, IMO.

Carol responds:
While I don't believe in ESE!Lupin (only weak Lupin who should have
told DD what he knew about Sirius), I think Pippin's repeated
assertion that we can't excuse Lupin's flaws because he's a werewolf
is very important. We don't excuse Kreacher's treachery because he's a
House Elf. We would consider it prejudice if Hermione's individual
character flaws were blamed on the fact that she is Muggleborn. So
Lupin may be a werewolf with limited choices, but he is also a human
being (most of the time), and his choices, however limited, are still
his own. And it's demeaning, as Pippin says, to deny him full human
responsibility for his actions and the he choices makes when the moon
is not full.

Just as Kreacher's malice doesn't justify the persecution of House
Elves, Lupin's errors (or sins or crimes or whatever they are) do not
justify persecution of werewolves. The important thing is to *forget*
that he's a werewolf and hold him responsible for his own actions. To
do otherwise is to compensate for the half-human status that much of
the WW assigns to him by withholding judgment. If Snape is responsible
for his actions despite the poverty and abuse he (apparently) suffered
as a child, surely Lupin is also responsible for his own character
flaws despite having been bitten by a werewolf as a child.

A liar who has suffered lifelong prejudice because of a harelip or a
deformed arm is still a liar. A thief in a wheelchair is still a
thief. To excuse their behavior because of a limitation or deformity
is to rob them of their humanity. And Lupin, whatever limitations he
suffers, whatever prejudice he has endured, is human and must be
judged as human. To judge him otherwise because he's a werewolf is to
view him and the disabled people we're told he represents as less than
human.

Carol, who is *not* calling Lupin a thief or a liar, much less a
traitor and murderer, only arguing that he is accountable for his own
behavior, werewolf or no werewolf