In Defense of DD (was Re: DD's dilemma)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 126537


John said:


> Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. JKR cannot re-
mould 
> DD's character, refine his flaws, just to satisfy the demands of 
us 
> readers. He is supposed to be seen as "good", yes, but JKR has 
made 
> just as concerted an effort to show that DD is not perfect, not 
> infallible; in short, he's human. DD does *appear* a fairly 
detached 
> individual at times(such as at the end of OOTP, as cited by 
> Lupinlore), I agree, but that does not mean he is any less 
> compassionate/sympathetic then those of us who "proudly wear [our] 
> hearts on our sleeves." DD's persona seems, to me, to be a coping 
> mechanism for all the ills he has seen and experienced during his 
> time. His acting whimsically, etc., appears to be another way of 
> bearing that burden. [Just one question: to what extent do you 
think 
> DD has been desensitized by his many experiences of human 
suffering?]

True, I suppose, but nevertheless rather beside the point.  The 
point is that JKR is trying to sell a particular image of 
Dumbledore, and it just isn't getting across.  If he is 
indeed "compassionate/sympathetic" then we need to see much greater 
evidence of that than we have received to this point.  You say that 
JKR can't remold his character just to please readers.  I suppose 
that is true.  However, if sympathy/compassion ARE part of his 
character presumably they can be revealed in a relatively clear 
fashion.  At this time, to many of us, postulating a cold and 
manipulative Dumbledore simply fits the evidence better than a 
sympathetic/compassionate Dumbledore who for some reason behaves in 
bizarre ways not very consistent with sympathy or compassion.



> 
> There is one other point to be made here, I think. DD, when he 
> planned Harry's future and ultimately left him on the Dursley's 
> doorstep, may have felt some attachment to the boy, but I doubt 
very 
> much whether he *loved* him, as such. The same applies to Harry's 
> first ten years with the Durlseys. Only after Harry came to 
> Hogwarts, and met the challenges confronting him there, did DD's 
> feelings for the boy develop. That must be kept in mind, I feel, 
> when analyzing his original decision, and the said anguish and 
> tension that went into it.   
> 

True, but that does not help Dumbledore's case.  It only makes him 
look like a cold and reprehensible person who uses an infant as a 
pawn in his schemes.


> As to the supposed lack of remorse 15 years later, well I've given 
> my view on that. Note that those very mistakes DD made during OOTP 
> that you refer to were, in fact, borne out of his *love* for, and, 
> as a consequence, certain blindness towards, Harry. So he 
certainly 
> cares deeply about Harry even though, one might argue, he isn't 
> under *any* duty to "love" him, such as a father would love a son, 
> such that DD now does.
> 

I really am curious what evidence you see, John, for Dumbledore 
having any remorse for Harry's suffering?  I'm not trying to be a 
smart-a**, I'm really curious.  I grant that he seems sorry for his 
mistakes of Harry's fifth year, but I see no evidence at all that he 
has any remorse for the pain his decisions have inflicted on Harry 
over the last fifteen years.  And absence evidence of such sorrow, 
and a much better explanation of his decisions, then I and others 
simply don't see him the way JKR wishes us to.

> 
> Obviously these fairly irreconcilable positions mean that we 
aren't 
> going to reach genuine consensus on this topic; I suppose both 
> points of view are subjective ones, and I suppose it is the rather 
> different approaches to these books employed by readers that lie 
at 
> the very heart of the issue. Unless I'm much mistaken many of the 
> readers identifying with Lupinlore find Harry's suffering very

real 
> (sorry, can't really express that any better; hope you understand 
> what I'm getting at). For me, the fact that Harry and his 
suffering 
> are fictional events make it quite easy to, firstly, see DD's 
> decisions from a logical standpoint and, secondly, to put forth a 
> defense of his actions. In "real life" I daresay my stance would 
be 
> a little different. 

This may be true, I suppose.  It is, in any case, similar to 
something Kneasy said some months ago.  <Shrug>  Like I say, for 
whatever reason, JKR needs to give us a lot better explanation and a 
look at this compassion/sympathy of Dumbledore before I can buy into 
her description of him.  Absent that, her characterization is 
unbelievable, and into the trash the books go.

Lupinlore