Twins and Duddley

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 145555

Jim Ferer:
> JKR has no problem with the idea of rough justice.  Montague in the
> closet is just one example; Draco getting his on the train twice are
> just two more.  I sure don't like the idea that murderous enemies
> getting into the castle through the cabinet is some kind of karmic
> justice. That's a gross injustice by itself.

Pippin:
But that might be the point, that this kind of rough justice is too
rough for most of us -- would we really want to live in a universe
that was intent on exacting its pound of flesh? JKR admits she
enjoys thinking up awful things to do to the bad guys...but who
made them bad guys? She did. Would you really want to live in
a universe where some all powerful being made you wicked and
then punished you for it? And laughed?

I thought the ton-tongue thing was hilarious when I first read it.
>From the perspective of OOP, where Dudley becomes a 
three dimensional character  who has a violent reaction
to dementors, and HBP where  we are told that Dudley has
suffered far worse than Harry in some ways, it's not so funny any 
more.

It's the Pinocchio effect -- Dudley became a real boy, not just
a goon, so suddenly his suffering mattered. But  it should have
mattered before and I was forced to realize that I, like the
DE's, must have shut down my compassion. 


I think it's what happens then that Rowling is interested in. 
It's easy to say that a character should have known better
all along, but it's what happens when they finally do
know better that counts. Do they make excuses for themselves and
continue what they were doing, or do they try to change?

Pippin