Etiquette WAS Re: polite Dumbledore?/ Vengeance against characters

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 142688

> Carol responds:
<snip>
> I'm perennially astounded by readers who see either the Dursleys' or
> Snape's treatment of Harry as worse than Bellatrix's Crucios or
> Umbridge's blood-drawing detentions. If we're wishing for vengeance,
> it should be against the truly evil characters, not against a
> magic-fearing family or a teacher who hasn't been taught that 
sarcasm
> is not a method approved by modern Muggle teacher colleges.

Alla:

To me they are all evil in a different ways. Voldemort and Bella - 
large scale evil , Snape  and Dursleys are everyday evil, but who can 
damage the person just as much or even more than large scale evil, 
because really IMO in RL we are much more likely encounter everyday 
evils than Voldemort like. I mean those happen too of course, but 
usually during the time of war, IMO. Oh, and I am talking on the 
assumption that Snape is not ESE of course, because if he is, he 
belongs right there with Voldemort.

As to Dursleys - erm...  the characters at the hands of whose Harry 
suffered nothing but neglect and cruelty per Dumbledore words. Yes, 
to me they are evil somewhere in between Snape and Voldemort.

There is a great quote in chapter 3, which Sherry brought up few days 
earlier :

"Harry ran down the stairs two at a time, coming to an abrupt halt 
several steps from the bottom, as long experience had taught him to 
remain out of arm's reach of his uncle whenever possible" - p.45.

If this is not a hint that Harry suffered physical abuse from Vernon 
as well, I don't know what is, personally.

I consider what they did to Harry  to be unforgiveable even without 
this quote, but surely if we add physical abuse to the package, they 
deserve all the punishment and much more, no?


Carol: 
> At any rate, surely your personal satisfaction or dissatisfaction 
with
> the fate of certain characters is not an index of her writing 
ability.

Alla:

Well, this I have to agree with.


Carol:
I, for one, will be disappointed if Harry or any other
> character takes revenge on Snape, and I don't want the Dursleys, for
> all their faults, to be killed or Crucio'd by Voldemort. What good 
did
> it do fat Dudley to grow a pig's tail or a "ton tongue"? None
> whatever? Nor did they learn the lesson in manners that DD tried to
> teach them. You can't squash the anti-Wizard prejudice out of them 
by
> punishing them any more than they could squash the magic out of 
Harry.

Alla:

Well, I don't want Dursleys to be killed. It will not be emotionally 
satisfying to me, but suffering some more humiliation - yes, I do 
want to see it. Something like DE attacking Privet Drive, Harry 
saving them and Petunia struggling with saying thank you. As to what 
good those incidents did to Dursleys - not much, I would guess, but 
it did a LOT of good to satisfy the readers like me, who wanted to 
see the unequivocal stand on JKR's behalf that she does not exactly 
approve what was done to Harry and we got that for which I am very 
grateful, besides I happen to find some of those scenes funny. :-)




Carol: 
<snip>
Any sarcasm or unfairness toward Harry is not only in the past but 
minor in the extreme compared with murder, mayhem, and war in the WW--
all of which,IMO, Snape has been trying throughout the books to 
prepare Harry to face. Perhaps he was mistaken in his methods, but 
it's his motivesthat matter.

Alla:

I can only reiterate - everyday evil can damage the person in its own 
right and I would LOVE to see Snape punished for that as well. As to 
Snape's motives - I am not sure we know them yet.


JMO,

Alla