Does JKR want us to hate Draco? (was: Re: Admonishing Snape)

nrenka nrenka at yahoo.com
Sun May 29 15:15:51 UTC 2005


No: HPFGUIDX 129677

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "horridporrid03" 
<horridporrid03 at y...> wrote:

> Betsy:
> Okay, so this is the "JKR wants us to hate Draco but is such a bad 
> author she can't get it across in the text and is forced to give 
> readers a heads up in interviews and on her website," point of 
> view.  In other words, readers *aren't* able to pick up that Draco 
> is evil to the bone.  Only fans devoted enough to visit the website 
> and listen to interviews are able to realize how JKR feels about 
> Draco.  You'll excuse me if I find such arguments as less than 
> satisfying. 

Eh, you asked "How do we know that JKR doesn't like Draco."  If you 
want to ignore the cold hard external evidence, that's your problem, 
not mine. :)  I take those sorts of things as a useful heuristic, to 
be ignored at my own risk of wild disappointment that I should have 
known better about.

Lots of fans pick up on not liking Draco just from the text; JKR is 
instead really rather confused/amused by those who *don't* get it 
(who are, in the wide scheme of Potter fans, certainly a minority--
just a more vocal one on parts of the Internet as like-minded fans 
group together), which relates to a point below.

<snip>

> A casual search around the internet calls up quite a few thinking 
> folks who *do* hope for something better.  Are *all* of them 
> fooling themselves?  Or is there something *in the text* that gives 
> folks hope?

It's all in the subjunctive mood.  "I hope that", "I wish 
that", "Maybe in the future", etc.  Except for those few who I did 
mention who think that Draco is fine and dandy as he is and it's 
Dumbledore and Harry who are the evil idiots.  (I'm not really 
exaggerating here, either.)

> Betsy:
> When an author writes a book, doesn't she have ultimate control 
> over how much charisma or attractiveness a character will have?  
> And if that's the case, why has JKR loaded Draco up with so much 
> that book fans seem to like?

I pause to snicker, although not in a malicious way.

One of the most common critiques of JKR out in Slytherin-sympathetic 
land is precisely HOW strong her authorial voice is.  She makes it 
very clear who she likes and who she doesn't.  You have to (as has 
been demonstrated on this thread in ample evidence) rely a lot upon 
subversive readings of the text (X doesn't mean what we think it 
does), hypothetics (Draco will wake up and not follow his father!), 
or disagree with the moral vision of the books (I don't think that 
Draco's actions are bad at all) to get around the "Draco is a nasty 
person".  Mind you, he's not out-and-out evil--but neither is he a 
positive.

Readers read often as they want to read.  You want to see Draco 
redeem himself from a downward path, so you accentuate aspects which 
can be read as maybe just being positive.  If JKR were to spell 
everything out in complete black and white terms, it would be 
incredibly heavy-handed.  Makes for good morality plays, but poor 
literature.  And so an inch is made into a yard.

There are those who argue that the DEs have some real points in their 
arguments and are possibly sympathetic characters.  Are they picking 
up on what's in the text, or are they reading in for what they want 
to read?  Much the same with those who want to apply 
ceremonial 'magick' to the books--is it possibly there, or is it only 
there if you want it to be?

> If the only place to find out how a character should come across is 
> *outside* the text, has the author failed?  (Or, more subversively, 
> could JKR be yanking our chain with her out of the books 
> commentary?)

It's not the *only* place, as the preponderance of evidence and the 
more straightforward readings at present (that do not hinge upon 
future revelations or mitigations) point towards Draco being a nasty 
character.

I don't think she's yanking our chain, although I could be wrong.  
There are several *excellent* possible test cases this book.  Draco 
is one; Snape is another; ESE!Lupin is yet another.  So I ask you all 
again to submit your betting pools to me, and I'll tally things up 
and see who's right and who's not, even if it takes until book 7.

-Nora loves how some things in literature and in music really do come 
out objectively






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