Harsh Morality - Combined answers

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 121225


>>Nora wrote:
>Ahoy, the cannons are firing again! :)
>Ahem.  To continue to play devil's advocate, most all of these 
supporters of the 'unworthy' (your word, not mine) also have one 
thing in common: their perspectives rest VERY heavily upon the 
prediction of future revelations, with a few admitted exceptions.<
 
Betsy:
I completely agree that the possiblity of "unworthy" characters (And 
I used that word to encapsulate all the characters Harry, and 
therefore the narrator for the most part, do not like - not as a 
judgement call.  Please don't hurt me! <g>) being redeemed, or shown 
to not be that evil at all really, depends greatly on future 
revelations.  

If Draco (as an example) is cackling at Voldemort's right hand at the 
final show-down, or the entire house of Slytherin runs to 
Voldemort's side, then they obviously chose the side of evil and 
their supporters will be left in a rather awkward position.

However, I'm arguing that JKR has not given us simplistic characters 
who are all evil or all good.  She has shown folks who fought against 
Voldemort to not be all that great themselves (e.g. Crouch, Sr. and 
his trampling of Wizard rights), and those who fail to stand with 
Dumbledore to not be the epitome of evil (e.g. Seamus and his poor 
mum).

I think there will be a definitive line drawn between the side of 
good and the side of evil, and that it will be broken into those who 
fight with Dumbledore and/or Harry, and those who fight with 
Voldemort, but I don't think all those on the side of good will shine 
with the white light of purity.  (Snape, for one, is quite attached 
to black. <eg>)  I could well see a scenario where Draco comes over 
to Harry's camp with some crucial information or something that turns 
the tide, still sneering at Harry, but unwilling to grovel for 
Voldemort.  And Fudge, slimy little man that he is, will probably 
support whomever he deems best suited to ridding the WW of 
Voldemort.  (To throw fat on the fire, I could also argue that the 
Dursley's have done their part for the side of good by keeping Harry 
safe all these years.  Are they good or evil?)

>>Nora:
>What we've been talking about here is the eminent possibility that 
things work out harshly, once we know all the information.<

Betsy:
Okay, I thought that folks were trying to say that JKR, herself, 
through the rules of the Potterverse, had set up a harsh morality 
wherein if you don't side with Dumbledore, you are by definition, 
evil, and if you do side with him, no matter what you do, you are by 
definition, pure good.  Something I disagree with completely for 
reasons I set out above.

>>Nora:
>Knowing all the information requires one to re-read the past with 
knowledge of the future, and to go "Well, maybe that Sympathetic!
Draco reading of mine really *wasn't* there".  [For a good example, 
search the archives and you'll find a well-known but no longer active 
here poster arguing that Draco was really honestly trying to warn 
Hermione in the DE ramage scene in GoF.  That doesn't exactly hold up 
with OotP Draco.]<

Betsy:
*rubs hands gleefully*  Oh, I'm not counting Draco out yet.  I think 
the books have strongly hinted that Slytherin House is needed for 
good to prevail (see the Sorting Hat song) and while Dumbledore has 
his own Slytherin in Snape, Harry needs one for himself.  Enter 
Draco.  *crosses fingers* Though I don't expect him to end up lily 
white by series end.

[As an aside: This is a really good and indepth post on Draco, for 
those interested. 
http://www.livejournal.com/community/idol_reflection/17096.html ] 

>>Nora:
<large snip on how easily one can twist cannon at this point>
>There is something at least moderately metaphysically BANG-y 
coming.  JKR has said that now is the time for Answers, and I think 
she likes Answers more than she likes ambiguity.  I see a lot of the 
wiggle room being closed off--not all, but most.<

Betsy:
Oh yes, the last two books should answer a lot of questions.  Are all 
Slytherins evil?  Is Percy evil?  Is Snape good? etc, etc, etc.  But 
the reason there is still a mystery, and the reason there is still 
cannon to point to for those who support the more ambiguous 
characters, even if Harry has dismissed them, is because JKR has 
written it in.  She, delightfully, has not set up straight from the 
beginning who all the good guys are, and who all the bad guys are.  
Of course, I'd be shocked if one of the trio suddenly ran to 
Voldemort's side, or if Bellatrix suddenly ran to Dumbledore.  But 
there are characters who still have time to surprise Harry, and by 
extention, us.  (Some of us, more than others most likely!)

>>Nora:
>Mystery novels always have a solution at the end.  Of course, 
there's the "what does it all MEAN?", but you can't really work that 
out before you know what all happens.  I'm going to be contrary.  I 
now bet on the much cleaner ending as opposed to the messy and 
ambiguous one.  We'll see, no? 
>-Nora cringes at the winter storm heading her way<

Betsy:
No storm from me, I hope! :)  I expect a clear ending too, but I also 
hope for a few surprises.  Surprises that will have us pouring back 
through the books and saying, "Oh yes, she gave us a hint here!" 
Or, "I always suspected it to be so!"  Or, "How could I have missed 
it!"

And I also suspect that some not-so-well-loved characters, like 
Fudge, will survive, and will have been on the right side in the end, 
but still won't be all that well loved.

Betsy