Morality, Simplicity, and JKR's Intent (was Re: Academic dishonesty)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 139581

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, <lady.indigo at g...> wrote:
> 
> The Harry apologists are sounding suspiciously like the Snape 
apologists 
> again. Not that Snape has been through nearly as much, or that 
Harry's 
> crimes are anywhere near Snape's magnitude, but just what is the 
appropriate 
> ratio of personal trauma to completely unrelated moral error, 
exactly?
> Can we please call a spade a spade here? Harry did a bad thing and 
never 
> regretted it, trying to cover it up further and getting upset when 
he was 
> caught and punished for it. People, including Harry, make mistakes, 
but I'd 
> like to see the indication that these *are* mistakes be delivered 
out of a 
> mouth that isn't Snape's.
> 

First of all, they have been delivered out of a mouth that isn't 
Snape's.  Hermione certainly was upset over the HBP book.  However, 
much of the potential impact of her disapproval is mitigated in many 
(most?) people's minds by the strong suspicion that it is largely 
motivated by jealousy, and also by the fact that so much of it is 
obviously played for laughs.  So, in fairness, I don't think that 
really answers your objections.

Perhaps in the next book you will get your wish - if not on the 
specific issue of the potions book then with regard to other of 
Harry's actions and attitudes.  I wouldn't be shocked if that turns 
out to be the case -- although I also wouldn't bet on it.

I wonder what JKR would say about the issues of Harry's morality or 
lack thereof that so exercise us?  If we were able to directly 
approach her about her intent, what kind of answer would we get?  One 
can only guess, of course.  But judging by some of her interviews, if 
we were to approach her over, for instance, whether there is 
something questionable about Harry using the HBP book to get good 
grades, she MIGHT well say something to the effect, "Sure, but this 
is a heroic fantasy for kids, not a treatise on moral philosophy.  I 
want to write a story about a hero that people can identify with, and 
let's be honest, most of us would have a hard time doing anything 
differently than Harry in that situation.  I don't see Harry as a 
role-model for somebody who wants to be a good student -- Hermione 
sets a much better example.  But, if I had to depend on somebody to 
captain a sports team, rescue a hostage, or save the world, I would 
choose Harry over Hermione every time."

Now, I don't mean that as a defense per se of JKR, as for all her 
great skill as a writer she also has some major weaknesses.  I tend 
to agree that she is sometimes blind to the moral messages that she 
unintentionally sends.  I think that much of the reason so many 
themes and storylines from OOTP were dropped like a red-hot poker is 
that she was blindsided when people objected to certain messages that 
she did not intend to send.  I also think that Hermione is JKR's 
avatar in more ways than one.  Just as Hermione is slavishly devoted 
to the formulas in her potions book, JKR is sometimes slavishly 
devoted to certain fiction formulas -- for instance in her shipping 
themes and the fact that Sirius Black died for seemingly no other 
reason than to fulfill the tired and uninteresting trope that Harry 
meet his fate alone.

Nevertheless, I wonder if those of us who like to argue about this 
moral point or that one miss the boat on what JKR is up to.  As 
nrenka likes to remind us, many of the themes and issues we see in 
the books may be illusions -- and certainly we have evidence of that 
already.  It may well be that JKR's intent is only to write an 
interesting story and get across one or two BIG moral points.  The 
idea that JKR is writing a multi-leveled, subtle epic that is meant 
to address a range of moral and ethical issues could, in the end, 
turn out to have been barking up an empty tree.

The final form of the saga is yet to be determined.  It could very 
well end up being a complex and multi-leveled saga.  I wouldn't be 
surprised if it did.  I also would not be surprised, however, if 
things turned out to be much more simple and direct than we imagine.

What do I mean by that?  Well, it may be that characters don't end up 
being as grey as we imagine, for one thing.  For all our talk of 
greyness, the fact is that already most of the characters fit pretty 
obviously on one side or the other of the great moral divide.  
Dumbledore, the Trio, most of the Hogwarts faculty, the Order, most 
of the Weasley family -- clearly good.  Voldemort has turned out, 
disappointingly, to be a cardboard villain with all the complexity of 
a sledgehammer, and almost all the DEs fit quite comfortably with him 
in the "obviously and utterly evil" category.  Umbridge, the 
Dursleys, the MOM as an institution, and Fudge and Scrimgeour as 
individuals, are clearly on the bad side of the line as well.

Candidates for greyness remaining include Snape (obviously), Draco, 
Percy, and perhaps Narcissa.  We will have to see whether they will 
remain grey or not.  My suspicion is that most, if not all, of them 
will end up filed on one side or the other either by change or by 
revelation.

On that subject, to play with fire, I was reading JKR's three-part-
interview and wishing we had her tone of voice.  We are assuming that 
when she said, in response to the question whether Snape was 
evil, "Well, you've read the book, what do you think?" that she was 
teasing.  She may, perhaps, have been giving a straightforward answer 
(I don't think so, but it's possible).  Let's not forget that this is 
the woman whose anvil-sized hints landed with a notable lack of 
noise.  

With regard to secondary moral issues, such as Harry breaking rules, 
Hermione hexing Marietta and McLaggen, and Ron abusing his prefect 
privileges -- well, it may be that in the end that JKR really doesn't 
think they are very important.  We are talking about saving the world 
here, after all.  Compared to that, who cares about a marked up 
potions textbook?


Lupinlore