[HPforGrownups] Is Lucius Malfoy Abusive?

[annegirl11 at juno.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 112290

Joe Bento said:
> fan fiction stories by different authors have concentrated on 
> Draco's abusive homelife, and I'm most curious if this stems from 
> clues in the books.

Aura now:

I have no doubt that Lucius is at least verbally abusive and emotionally
screwed up. Anything physical? I don't know, maybe; I wouldn't expect
anything extreme, but I wouldn't be surprised by it, either.

In the CoS DVD extras, the guy who plays Lucius says that he wanted to
give the audience some explanation for why Draco is such a little
bastard, so he play Lucius as "bullying" Draco quite a bit. And it isn't
just coming from the actor; obviously the character is written that way
in the movie.

> Draco obviously has the highest respect for his father.  Is this 
> perhaps partially out of fear?

I think it's mostly out of control. Draco has been raised to respect his
father and not question his father's beliefs or behavior. Squashing your
kid's inner spirit is at least bad parenting, and it's a question of
methods and degree as to whether or not it's abuse.

As for canon proof? The scene in the beginning of CoS at Nocturne Ally
does show Lucius ridiculing Draco, and you get the sense that Draco knows
that he'd better toe the line or else. Aside from that,  we only see
things from Harry's POV, but I think anyone -- including JKR -- would
recognize that a kid with as much anger as Draco has to be in quite a bit
of pain himself. And anyone who has the kind of hatred Lucius does that
would make him an active and *ambitious* Death Eater has got to have some
issues himself. 

So, yes, I think there's issues of control, some sort of verbal or
emotional abuse, and a generally unpleasant emotional climate between
father and son. But I don't think it's as simple as Draco being a jackass
because he fears his father will strike him if he isn't. Because abuse is
never as simple as that.

Magda said:
>Draco's whinging in Mr. Borgin's shop while Harry watches reminds me
>more of a spoiled brat than an abused one. 

I don't see that those have to be mutually exclusive; or, as someone else
said, that buying brooms for the Slytherin team means that Lucius is a
saint. Abusers don't abuse b/c they hate their child, they do it because
they have issues with anger, control, and other emotional stuff. Abuse
isn't just a matter of getting hit, either; the undercurrents of control,
fear of anger/confrontation, and issues of self esteem and insecurity
(from both abuser and abused) are complicated and are more damaging than
just being hit from time to time (and I do believe that Draco is probably
only hit once in a while, when his father is most angry, if even that
often). Draco and Lucius display the typical abusive parent dynamic:
having extreme control over the child, Draco being exactly like his
father in all the bad ways, Draco being such an ass in so many ways.
Individiually, these things don't mean much, but if you look at the
Draco-Lucius relationship as a whole, it seems strange to me to *not*
suspect abuse.

On a somewhat related note, of all the "evil " characters in the books,
Draco is the only one I'd like to see reformed, or at least become
self-aware. Not because I like him (I hate the little bastard), but
because it would resolve his character arc nicely. I see him as a kid
who's had some bad influences (his parents, Snape) but he's still just a
*kid*. People can and do grow beyond their childhoods. At some point --
maybe in a final battle -- I'd like Draco to see his father do something
so heinous, that even Draco can't stand by it, resulting in a big
father-son blowup and parting of the ways.

Aura

~*~
Well that's a horse of a different color.
Fanfic and original stuff at www.homepage-host.uni.cc/w/ofnone

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