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

[inkling108]

No: HPFGUIDX 126567


If I may barge in here --

I think that Dumbledore's apparent restraint in the face of Harry's 
suffering has its roots in the literary tradition that JKR is 
working within, which is the classic foundling/orphan who is 
mistreated or disregarded for most of his childhood only to discover 
that he has a unique and important destiny to fulfill, at which 
point he enters into a different world entirely and must meet the 
challenges of his destiny.  The Arthurian Legends and Dickens 
(especially Great Expectations) are just two examples of this 
tradition.  In fact you can trace it back to Christ, who was 
dismissed by his neighbors when he stood up to preach in the local 
synagogue. 

One of the reasons these stories are so powerful is the extreme 
contrast between who the protagonist is believed to be, and who he 
turns out to be.  In other words, had Harry been treated well as a 
child the story would lack one of the archetypal dramas that has 
made it so popular all over the world.  Same is true for the many 
challenges Harry has faced at Hogwarts.  The protagonist must rely 
upon himself to meet the trials, or else he will not discover the 
qualities he needs to fulfill his destiny.  Dumbledore must hang 
back or the story will not fulfill that archetype either.

The problem is that in Dumbledore JKR has created a character that 
she wants us to believe is wise and extremely powerful.  In fact 
Dumbledore himself is an archetype along the lines of Merlin and 
Gandalf, but he is also a literary creation of the modern age.  We 
expect our wise old men to be compassionate and believably human as 
well as archetypal, and so we expect them to intervene in the hero's 
sufferings.  (Merlin was not subject to these expectations and did 
all his shady arrangements around Arthur's birth apparently without 
a qualm).  

So her job as author is to make all this work together, and she 
hasn't quite succeeded.  But I'm not sure anyone could.  To me, the 
problem lies not with Dumbledore's character but with the role he 
has been assigned to play, which does not allow for helping Harry 
more than he has.  True, this role does not quite seem to square 
with his character, as presented by JKR.  It's a flaw in the story, 
but not, IMO, a reason to throw the story in the trash.

Inkling