McG / DD / Re: Why should Harry be expected to listen to anyone at H
lupinlore
bob.oliver at cox.net
Wed Jan 26 06:52:27 UTC 2005
No: HPFGUIDX 123069
--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "festuco" <vuurdame at x> wrote:
<SNIP>
>
> Lupinlore:
> > It is my hope that Gerry actually meant to say something closer to
> > the second meaning and not the first. Thus, as I said, I choose to
> > believe that he did not mean what he actually said, and request that
> > he be much more careful in the future.
>
> I'm sorry but I'm not into political correctness. I meant exactly what
> I said, and will do so again in the future. Good and nice are not the
> same thing. Sometimes the good thing is nasty, and the nice thing is
> bad for you. Those detentions were a very good thing, in themselves.
> Not something 'horrible but with some good coming out of it.' They
> were his wake up call. No matter how unpleasant and nasty they were,
> they made him finally understand how dangerous his situation really
> was, what the real danger he had been in before had not managed to.
> Apparently he needed a more hands on experience with injustice and
> pain to get that message across, and the detentions did that job quite
> nicely. Since the detentions he actually understands what Umbridge is
> capable of, and with what she can get away with. And that if he
> himself does not keep his head down, he will lose his place at
> Hogwarts, there will be no adult to protect him. Not nice, but it is
> the reality he has to live in.
>
> If Umbridge had not been a petty sadist, she would have been far more
> dangerous to him. He would have had a normal detention, would still
> not have believed that shouting out the truth would not make any
> difference at all. And would very likely have lost his wand the next
> time he did something heroic but very much against the rules.
>
> Besides I don't think they were horrible. Getting dementors after you
> is horrible. Getting the MoM that's supposed to protect you trying to
> expel you for defending yourself is horrible. Getting that same MoM
> to give you a criminal trial in which they do their utmost to get you
> convicted for defending yourself is horrible. Getting your MoM
> ignoring that dementors were after you is horrible.
>
> What Umbridge does with her detention is just petty evil. Not nice,
> not at all. But nothing compared to what happened to him during the
> Summer.
>
>
>
I am sorry but I simply cannot agree with this way of looking at
things in any shape, form, or fasion. To wit:
1) The detentions as Harry's Wake Up Call. In a sense they may have
been, and that means good came out of them. BUT MAKING A CHILD CUT
HIS OWN HAND IS NOT GOOD AND NEVER WILL BE SO.
2) The difference between nice and good. This is a tired argument
most often used to defend Snape. YES, GOOD AND NICE ARE INEXTRICABLY
LINKED. It is true that nasty situations may have some good come from
them, BUT THEY ARE NOT GOOD IN AND OF THEMSELVES.
3) Harry as a dunce who needs a wake-up call about what is going on.
Harry understands very well how much danger he is in, and that the
danger comes from the person of one Tom Riddle AKA Lord Voldemort. He
also understands very well how much danger the Wizarding World is in.
Harry is in absolutely no need of a wake-up call on these matters.
It is Umbridge who is in need of this call.
Much of this relates to the idea of whether the end justifies the
means. If you mean "justifies" as in explains, the answer is
ABSOLUTELY YES. If you mean "justifies" as in turns into a moral good
in and of themselves, the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. It is true that
one may sometimes have to put up with an evil to avoid a greater evil.
This is perfectly logical and the end in this sense justifies the
means. However, IN NO WAY do the means cease to be evil. IN NO WAY
do they become good in and of themselves. In that sense the end NEVER
justifies the means.
Lupinlore
More information about the HPforGrownups
archive