ESE!Lupin? (was: Re: Snape is Innocent!)

[Renee]

No: HPFGUIDX 133632

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:
> Pipin:
> > I believe parallel to the question of what would make a nasty git
> > like Snape serve Dumbledore, Jo is dealing with the question of 
what 
> > would make a kind and decent person choose Voldemort, and 
> > establishing that Lupin is indeed capable of love is part of 
that. 
> > 
> > Of course there won't be proof till Book Seven, if ever. But I'm
> > about 99% certain now.
> 
> Jen: First, I don't understand how if ESE!Lupin isn't confirmed in 
> Book 7 it would still be true. If JKR never follows that 
particular 
> storyline, it might be plausible given the information in the 
books, 
> but it would never be canon.

Renee:
ESE!Lupin? I'll jump into the fray!
Jen, I believe Pippin is merely saying that she believes Book 7 will 
bring the proof.

Jen: 
> And Book 6 generates more hurdles than support for ESE!Lupin, from 
> what I read. The introduction of Fenrir as the werewolf Death 
Eater is 
> in opposition to Lupin in canon. A man who was bitten and chose to 
> turn his trauma into a life of evil actions. 
> 
> Whereas Lupin, despite his traumatic childhood and lifetime curse, 
> continues to choose a life of humanity---having friendships, 
teaching 
> others, furthering a cause and, the big leap in this book, 
allowing 
> himself to be vulnerable through intimate love with another person.
> 
> And most of the other werewolves Remus is living amongst have also 
> chosen Voldemort's side over the WW! He calls him 'his equals' but 
> then 'sounded a little bitter'--this isn't work he enjoys or 
perhaps 
> even feels is productive. He understands why a person living on 
> the 'margins of society' might choose to side with Voldemort, even 
if 
> he himself hasn't made that choice. He knows it will be very hard 
to 
> persuade them otherwise.
> 
> To find out Lupin is acting like all the rest of the werewolves in 
> Potterverse would be a bit ho-hum. It's much more interesting to 
trace 
> why he *didn't* chose the path the others did, and I very much 
think 
> DD allowing him to attend Hogwarts, and his friendship with the 
> Marauders, very much influenced Lupin's later choices as outlined 
> above.
 
Renee:
Book 6 is quite obviously about love. And not just romantic love; we 
see all kinds of it, including Hagrid's sincere love for a monstrous 
spider. One of the points of the werewolf subplot, IMO, is to tell 
us how Lupin would most likely have ended up without the love of 
Dumbledore and his Marauder friends. The fact that he calls them his 
equals shows that he's keenly aware of this: basically, he's not 
different; but for the grace of Dumbledore and his friends, he would 
be one of them. 

One of the chief characteristics of Voldemort is, that he never knew 
love. The redeeming grace of Draco Malfoy is, that he loves his 
parents (and I'll admit here that I was wrong about him!), which is 
the reason why Dumbledore does his utmost to talk him out of 
committing murder. Love is what makes the difference. Murdering 
someone will cost you a piece of your soul and dehumanise you 
(symbolical message of the Horcrux device). Murdering as many people 
as Lupin has done according the ESE theory would have rendered him 
virtually incapable of love. Yes, a kind and decent person can 
choose Voldemort, but if he doesn't turn away from him in an early 
stage, such a person will not remain kind and decent, because the 
things Voldemort makes him do will kill his capacity for love. 

And then, I have this weird little theory that JKR has been 
following the ESE!Lupin debate on this list and decided to do 
somthing about it. :) IIRC, the ESE!Lupin theory was born when 
Pippin suddenly saw Lupin - dealing chocolate on the Hogwarts 
Express - as a metaphor for a paedophile. Now my little theory is 
that JKR knew this and countered it in HBP by throwing in Greyback, 
the real paedophile metaphor, the truly evil werewolf who preys on 
little children in order to damage them for life.

Renee