ESE!Fudge

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 113701

> Siriusly Snapey Susan wrote:
> <snip>
> 
> I'm one of the ones who's been arguing in favor of ESE!Fudge, but 
> I've also never believed he was a DE. You make an excellent point 
> that, if he had been, it would make little sense for Voldy not to 
> have asked him to take some pretty major, direct actions to advance 
> his rise back to power.  Fudge has done some things which I think go 
> beyond the bumbling, waffling, power-hungry politician--things which 
> I think really can be interpreted as (or hypothesized to be) evil--
> but just as Dolores Umbridge may well be evil but not be a DE, so 
> with Fudge.  As Sirius said, the world isn't divided into good 
> people and Death Eaters [paraphrased].  Fudge is, imo, at a similar 
> place on the good-evil spectrum as the DEs, without actually being 
> one of them. <snip>

Carol responds:
The good-evil spectrum. I like that. The only person so far that I
would place at the far end for goodness is Lily. At the far end for
evil, we have Voldemort and Bellatrix (and the non-DE Umbridge). Some
of the other DEs would probably go there as well, probably Dolohov
Barty J. (fortunately "demented") and Lucius Malfoy (though I don't
think Lucius is *quite* as evil as Voldemort since he seems capable of
some sort of love for his wife and son. But many people, let's say
Sirius Black and Severus Snape are somewhere in the middle, neither
good nor evil but having some good and some evil traits. And Fudge,
too, seems to belong in the middle. I very much doubt that he's cast
any Unforgiveable curses or committed any actual crimes (unless you
count accepting bribes). I think "corrupt" and "weak" are closer to
describing his character than "evil."

My point is simply that we're abusing the word "evil," which should
stand for conduct and character so morally reprehensible, so wicked
and cruel that no redemption is possible. Tom Riddle reached that mark
when he murdered his father and grandparents if not before. But surely
we shouldn't use the same term for Fudge as for Voldemort. If "evil"
applies to any behavior we don't approve of, from Percy's quarrell
with his family to Draco hexing Harry when Harry's back is turned,
then the word "evil" has lost its force. "Bad" I can live with,
especially for Draco (definitely a bad kid but still a kid and not to
be compared with Voldemort or Bellatrix, at least not yet). But let's
save "evil" for those who truly deserve the label and find some other
word for those in the middle of the spectrum who have yet to cast an
Unforgiveable Curse or do anything else that the WW itself would
define as wicked. And that includes holding "racist" (or classist)
views. There are degrees of wickedness here that IMO should be kept in
perspective.

Anyone have a suggestion for a word or words other than "evil" that we
can use for these people?

Carol, who earlier raised a question on the meaning of "wonderful" in
a particular context and who laments the fall of many good words into
mushy imprecision in this century and the previous one