So, Dumbledore's a tragic hero. So what? (long)

[Gielreta]

No: HPFGUIDX 133715

I'm certain that this has been mentioned in pieces, but the search
function and I can't find 
a nice conglomeration.  I believe that with the closing of HBP,
Dumbledore becomes a 
tragic hero.  Specifically, here's why:

Aristotle's Requirement - Dumbledore's Fulfillment
*Born into Nobility  - Not necessarily known, but he has  Godric's
sword.  He certainly acts                                            
                                                   
regal.  i think it's close enough.  This is one of the more flexible
ones, anyhow.

*Responsible for their own fate- Certainly.  Dumbledore gives no
indication of being 
bound by a prophecy, as Harry may (or may not) be.  He has always
acted as he has seen 
fit, against Ministry decrees and popular opinion (pretty much
throughout OoTP).  Some 
even think that Dumbledore permits Snape to kill him.  In this case,
he certainly controls 
his own fate.

*Endowed with a tragic flaw-  I believe that this flaw is the
capacity to love too much.  
Along with a trusting spirit, this leads Dumbledore into many
difficulties, eventually 
including his own death.  Even if Dumbledore asked/permitted/allowed
Snape to kill him, 
his extreme love for and trust of Snape led to the sticky situation.

*Doomed to make a serious error in judgement-  I see at least two:
not informing Harry of 
the prophecy, and trusting Snape.  Both errors led to death- I'd call
that Serius for sure.  
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

*Fall from great heights or great esteem-  Well, this quality comes
up several times.  
Earlier, Dumbledore is fired from the Wizengamot and other things. 
His worth has 
declined in the eyes of Snape and others as he ages and becomes even
more trusting and 
loving.  He is no longer so feared by Voldemort.  Finally, and most
poignantly, he falls 
from the ramparts when he dies- falling form great heights, literally.

*Realizes he has made an irreversible mistake- Just before his death
("Severus, please.") 
He knows what is coming.  

*Faces and accepts death with honor- yes.  He saves Harry, again.  He
is kind to Draco.  He 
asks Snape ("Severus, please.") But I don't recall that he begs or
grovels in any sort of 
demeaning fashion.

*Meets a tragic death- Naw.

*The audience is left with a sense of waste and fear- to some degree,
yes.  We mourn the 
death of the greatest wizard we know, and we wish he could have stuck
around to help 
Harry again.  We also sense that he had access to the kind of power
that Voldemort has, 
but he chooses not to use this.  Minerva states this for us in
chapter one of SS.

So, I think that's a decent argument that Dumbledore is a tragic
hero.  But so what?  What 
is the purpose?

In his Poetics, Aristotle argues that a good tragic hero arouses the
emotions of fear and 
pity and, through catharsis, cleanses the audience of them.  I can't
help but see a 
connection with the phoenix.  The old, ugly bird is consumed in a
painful, apparently 
tragic event, but it emerges with the raw strength of new birth, and
grows quickly into its 
new glory.  Similarly, Dumbledore is consumed, but his tragic death
purifies his audience 
of fear and pity.  Harry and those affected by Dumbledore's death
have experienced their 
catharsis and will emerge stronger, clearer, and extremely
purpose-driven.  At the very 
end of HBP, we see this in Ron, Hermione and Harry as they prepare to
go hunt down the 
remaining Horcruxes.  In a sense, Dumbledore's death frees them from
the obligation they 
have to the school, allowing them to pursue a greater purpose.

Finally, what all this have to do with the future?  I think it's
quite reasonable to expect a 
great final showdown between Voldemort and Harry.  "Neither can live
while the other 
survives."  However, the prophecy  does not say that one has to live
the other very long.  I 
think that the winner of the great battle will have to die sometime
shortly afterward in a 
tragic way.  This tragic death after the victorious killing of the
other will be the final 
catharsis that cleanses the wizarding community from this long, long
ordeal.  Almost as 
long as this post.

>From the author of her first mini-essay,
Ginger