Naive Draco (was: Elkins' Draco Malfoy Is Ever So Lame)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 124694


>>SSSusan:
>Betsy, could you elaborate a bit on the naive part?  I'd like to 
hear in what way(s) you believe Draco to be naive.  
>Are you saying that you think Lucius has NOT shared much of his DE 
past with Draco?<

Betsy:
Sure! (Always love to elaborate. <g>)  I don't think that Lucius sat 
around and waxed nostalgic about being a Death Eater.  For one thing, 
he'd had to convince the WW that he'd been under Imperio; for 
another, Death Eaters are still in danger of being locked up in 
Azkaban.  There's no canon that supports this either way, but Lucius 
is at least a little bit cunning, so I don't think I'm going out on a 
limb on that.

BUT...  I do agree that Lucius waxes nostalgic about the good old 
days when blood meant something, and about how wonderful the dark 
arts are, and maybe a little wink, wink, nudge, nudge with his old 
Death Eater buddies about good times they'd had.  I don't think he 
sat down with Draco to talk about all this (the Borgin & Burkes scene 
suggests a certain coldness there), but I'm sure Draco heard plenty 
at the dinner table, etc. So Draco is influenced by his father's 
politics, but is not made aware of the full extent of the ugliness of 
his father's past and his beliefs.

>>SSSusan:
>I've always gotten rather the opposite impression. That is, that 
Lucius shares a LOT of information with Draco. Consider how Draco is 
the one who tells Harry that he ought to want to kill Sirius Black 
for what he did.  Consider how Draco drops that word "dogging" after 
Sirius accompanied Harry to Platform 9 3/4. Consider that Lucius 
didn't do his Borgin & Burkes business away from Draco's wondering 
eyes.  I see all this as evidence that Lucius keeps little Draco 
quite informed indeed.<

Betsy:
I read it more as Lucius forgets about Draco's presence, or maybe 
underestimates how much Draco takes in and retains (a common mistake 
amongst adults).  Because Draco is *very* careless about sharing 
information he gains with others.  I cannot see how telling Harry 
that the Malfoys' know Sirius is an animagus can help the Death Eater 
cause at all.  If Lucius shared this information with his son, rather 
than being careless about speaking in front of him, I'm sure he'd 
have told Draco to keep quiet about it.

When Lucius has information he *really* doesn't want to share (e.g. 
who is Slytherin's Heir) he does make sure to keep Draco out of the 
loop.  Which makes me suspect that some of the conversations 
overheard by Draco may have occured without Lucius's knowledge.  
Again, no canon support, but I can well imagine Draco lingering 
outside doorways or at the top of staircases at Malfoy manor.

>>SSSusan:
>Like you, I'm not 100% positive I could call Draco's position at the 
end of the series, but mostly that's because I find him so shallow as 
a character [perhaps JKR's intention? perhaps the limitation of the 
narration coming from Harry's POV?] to be able to read much about his 
inner workings or motivations.  
>But naivete?  Not a word I'd have thought to use for Draco.  Would 
love to hear more canon on that one.<

Betsy:
Mainly I think Draco is naive because of how forthrightly he states 
his opinion.  The entire school knows he hates Potter and friends.  
The entire school knows he hates Muggle borns.  When Mrs. Norris is 
petrified, Draco, rather foolishly, yells out his support for the 
crime.  And in joining the IS, Draco, again rather foolishly, pits 
himself against the entire student body.  IIRC the IS was formed 
*after* the Hogwarts body (including teachers) began to rebel.

Draco is on enemy territory (Dumbledore's turf) and every single year 
he pits himself openly and aggressively against everything Dumbledore 
stands for.  Even his father suggests that he's being less than 
wise.  Draco has shown himself to be a physical coward, and he's got 
some intelligence, so I can only reconcile his open aggression with a 
naive view on whether a war is coming and what it will look like.

I kind of compare him to a child being raised by Klan parents.  He 
learns who to hate, he learns the vocabulary and the skewed views.  
But he doesn't really know what it means to be a Klan member until 
he's taken on his first lynching.  Everything else has just been 
words and racial "pride."  But suddenly what his parents stand for 
are right there in front of him in all its barbaric ugliness. 

Draco can't see thestrels, so he's not being brought along on Muggle 
lynching parties.  I also doubt his father is busily teaching him the 
Unforgivables over summer break. (Wouldn't Draco love to brag about 
it if he was?)  When his father (and mother?) do go on a Muggle 
baiting trip in GoF, Draco is sent off into the woods.  (By himself, 
stangely enough.  I wonder why his parents didn't think he might be 
in danger if the mob got too far out of control?) 

You're right SSSusan, JKR really doesn't give us much insight into 
Draco's motivation and character.  So we have to take what hints we 
can and build on them.  And I may have built in a wrong direction.  
But from what I've read, I just don't think Draco really *knows* 
what's at stake.  Probably most of the students at Hogwarts are in 
similar situations.  I'm quite sure that will not last into the next 
books.  For one thing, Lucius is in jail, and that has to have 
brought it home for Draco just a little bit.  It will be interesting 
to see which way he goes.

Betsy