[HPforGrownups] Re: Conspiracies and re-assessments

[caesian]

No: HPFGUIDX 111934

On Sep 2, 2004, at 3:25 PM, pippin_999 wrote:

> > >  Pippin:
>  > >  ::blinks:: IMO, grayness was studying illegal magic and leading a
>  > >  werewolf through a populated area for kicks. Evil is holding
>  > >  someone against their will and threatening to strip them naked
>  > >  in public. Does evil have to be wearing a robe and a hood before
>  > >  we recognize it?
>  > >
>  > >  Pippin
>  >
>  > Caesian:
>  > Oh for heaven's sake. :: slaps forehead ::  I see the light!  I
>  mean,  even though (obviously) the author intended that when we look 
> back
>  on  that scene, we'll all realize that it was Lupin who was really,
>  really  evil.  Lupin who kept trying to read his book, and didn't 
> laugh
>  when  James insulted Snape.

Pippin now:
>  Actually, I think that is exactly what JKR intends. We will see that
>  Lupin's choice to look the other way while what he considered to be
>  really bad things were being done foreshadowed similar behavior in 
> the future.

<snipped>
>  Most of us would not decide on our own to commit genocide or eat 
> little children, but history shows that a great
>  many of us are sadly capable of looking the other way while these 
> things are being done, or of being led to do them ourselves if no one 
> is brave enough to stop us.
>
>  IMO, JKR is not addressing herself to potential Riddles, she's 
> addressing herself to the complacent and the apathetic. Harry 
> complacently made some assumptions about his father that turned out to 
> be wrong, and I suspect most readers were just as surprised as he was.
>
>  Pippin

Caesian:
Pippin, you make an articulate case again.  I am reminded of a 
quotation from Dr. M.L. King that goes something like this:

  "In the end, what we remember is not the words of our enemies, but the 
silence of our friends".

You will likely conceed that it is hard for anyone to act as if all the 
world is their friend, especially when the world contains some pretty 
greasy gits.  In this case, Severus was most certainly not behaving as 
if Lupin were his friend.  Nor did Snape react particularly well when 
someone did summon the courage to defend him.  However, Lupin would 
have been a better man if he had looked up from his book and objected.  
No one disagrees on this point.  Especially not Lupin himself.

What we disagree about here is whether being flawed is the same as 
being evil.  Silence can be a horrible weapon.  It depends on the 
situation.  Peter was silent when he knew the Potters had been betrayed 
to Voldemort.  That was evil silence (not to mention that he himself 
had betrayed them).  Lupin was silent when Snape was getting dangled by 
his ankles, and I blame him AND every single student on that lawn, with 
the sole exception of Lily.  Are they all evil?  No, they're all 
flawed.  And on a different day, she probably was too.  I think we may 
have to agree to disagree on the definition of the word evil here - I 
can honestly say I understand your argument, even if I don't agree with 
using the word "evil" that way.  Afterall, Dr. King (even in his "worst 
memory"?), continued to regard those who were silent as "friends".

Caesian

  

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