Moral Ambiguity in Main Characters

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 126976


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "abadgerfan2" 
<ABadgerFan2 at m...> wrote:
> 
> I recently read a crtique of the "Potter" books that caused me to 
> briefly question whether, as a parent, I should be endorsing the 
> series as whole-heartedly as I have. I remain a big fan, but I'd 
like 
> to at least expose others to a few of the critiques and hear their 
> views on such criticisms that I saw.  I'll start this message w 
just 
> one such point!
> 
> The first criticism was that the books "clearly teach that 
obedience 
> to rules or morality is required only when such obedience serves 
you 
> best." This cynical attitude of it's only wrong if you get caught 
may 
> well describe the "real world", but the argument is do we want to 
> teach our youngsters such values? The critiquer points to the 
amount 
> of rule-breaking and lying by Harry and his pals, the gradual 
> corrupting of Hermoine to share such situational values, and even 
> Dumbledore's rewarding or overlooking Harry's blatant disobedience 
to 
> rules, while acknowledging (in Book 4) his own ambiguous moral 
compass 
> ("It is my belief . . . that truth is generally preferable to 
lies.")
> 
> Your views?????

Hannah:  Well, yes, they do bend the rules, but I would disagree 
with some of the specific points raised.  Harry and co. do get 
punished for breaking the rules, and sometimes even for *not* 
breaking the rules!  The books also show how injustice and 
corruption devalue the rules.  And the worst incident we see where 
rule breaking is ignored/ not punished severely (that of Snape, the 
Marauders, and particularly the Prank) shows how being excused 
rather than punished can have serious consequences in itself.

On the whole, the HP kids are pretty much like normal children.  
Most of the time, they break the rules only where they perceive them 
to be unfair, or where it is necessary for reasons of emergency.  I 
think they are very moral books, and if JKR presented a world where 
everyone followed the rules to the letter, then it would be dull, 
unrealistic, and wouldn't appeal to children in the first place. 

Hannah