Does JKR want us to hate Draco?/ Snape v Draco

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 129759

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "dumbledore11214"
<dumbledore11214 at y...> wrote:
> Geoff:
> Perhaps I need to reiterate from my comments in recent posts that I 
> am /not/ suggesting that Draco is going to come over to the good 
> side; what I am saying to those who have written him off as evil is 
> that the jury is still out. ...
>  
> ...edited... 
> 
> Geoff: 
> What has prompted my thoughts on this is the fact that I believe
> many contributors to this group are guilty of holding a double
> standard. We are told that Snape is on the side of good; Dumbledore
> himself has vouched for his reliability. However, Snape has behaved
> equally or more nastily towards pupils than Draco. ...
>  
> However, because the good professor is a supporter of the cause of
> good, we are expected to see this as being acceptable behaviour from
> him, although perhaps we do so reluctantly. Because Draco is linked
> to the Dark side, ..., his attitudes are pilloried as being
> unacceptable, evil and dangerous.
> 
> 
> Alla: 
> 
> Ummm, I hope you don't include me in this group of "holding a double 
> standard" Geoff. :-)
> 
> If I were to grade Draco and Snape's behaviour towards other 
> students, then absolutely no doubt about it, Snape will take the 
> first place as much more dangerous, abusive, etc. ...
> 
> BUT when we move from the area of personal relationships into the 
> area of Dark v Light, then  the fact that Snape is on Dumbledore's 
> side ... starts playing its role.
> 
> ...edited... 
> 
> Just my opinion,
> 
> Alla.

bboyminn:

This ties in with what I said earlier about Draco being at a turning
point. It's one thing to sit in your mansion sipping tea and eating
cucumber sandwiches with the crust cut off, saying 'pureblood this'
and 'pureblood that'. But it's quite another to actually have to face
what it means to support and serve Voldemort.

So far Draco is all words, he echoes his father rhetoric, he is filled
with a sense of self-superiority, he bullies people, and is generally
a nasty piece of work. But he has yet to truly join the Dark Side. He
is naive enough to still think this is all about Purebloods vs
Mixed-Bloods. He has yet to discover that blood means nothing; power
and wealth are the controlling factors and blood be damned. 

Because of this, as Geof said, the jury is still out on Draco. Because
the jury is still out, the door is open for redemption. We must agree
that it can occur, but we are free to individually decide if it will
occur.

For a moment, let's discuss the difference between Snape and Draco in
metaphorical terms. Snape has traveled down the road to the gates of
hell. He has felt the fiery flames lick his face, and he turned away
and walked back up the road to join the good side. 

Draco on the other hand is still on the early stretch of this road,
he's not even remotely close to the gates of hell, but he is picking
up speed fast. At some point in the future Draco is going to stand at
those gates, he is going to be able to see what walking through them
means. At that point, he stands on the threshold of Damnation and
Redemption, and will have to make a choice. 

Certainly, as he travels the road, he will face temptations and will
commit actions that will speed him on his way. But as I've already
said earlier in this thread, Draco has yet to cross the line.

I can envision a scenario in which Draco must finally face what it
truly means to serve Voldemort, and what being a Death Eater truly
entails. I can see him, at that point, bulking and stepping away. In
the metaphorical sense, that will be Draco's redemption, but not
necessarily in the literal sense. Just because Draco is too big a
coward to face the realities of being a Death Eater, doesn't mean he
instantly becomes a saint, and stepping away from the Dark Side
doesn't necessarily mean joining the good side. Not working /for/
Voldemort doesn't automatically mean working /against/ him and by
extension, working for the good side. 

So, there is plenty of middle ground for Draco. He can be redeemed
without becoming either good or nice. Again, the question of Draco's
redemption is not whether he joins the good side, or whether he
becomes a saint, it's whether, in that last critical dark and
dangerous moment, he turns away from the Dark Side.

Snape, it seems, has both turned away from the dark side and joined
the good side, but Draco doesn't necessarily have to follow that same
path.

Well, there are my thought, not sure if the help at all.

Steve/bboyminn