Dumbledore's love (was Re:)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 157296

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, juli17 at ... wrote:
>
<SNIP>
>  
> But let's get to the true heart of the matter. DD's love, for  
Harry,
> for Severus, for Hogwarts, for whoever and for whatever, is quite
> inrelevant. DD has always done exactly what he felt he had to
> do the ensure Voldemort will be defeated. He has allowed both
> Snape and Harry to make great personal sacrifices, even when it
> must have hurt him to see them suffer. Because, like any general
> in a war, DD must distance himself, close off his emotions, and 
> act purely objectively based only on what will most likely ensure 
> victory. The objective is to save the entirety of the WW. The 
lives 
> of the many trump the lives of the few, even if the lives of the 
few
> may be the ones he most cherishes. 
>  

Ahh, the cold, manipulative Dumbledore again.  <Shrug>  Maybe.  I 
suppose we will see.  Or maybe not.  I really don't know how much 
JKR wants to reveal.

The question, I guess, is whether this is the behavior and attitude 
of an "epitome of goodness."  Frankly, I don't think it is.  I think 
it's rather contemptible, actually.  Especially when it involves 
standing aside and agreeing to the abuse of a child by both Snape 
and the Dursleys -- and even Umbridge if DD has indeed been watching 
Harry so closely and indeed does know "pretty much everything that 
goes on at Hogwarts."  Or not offering said child the information 
and emotional support he needs.  Which is why DD comes off to me so 
often as an incompetent ignoble moron.  Sorry, but the needs of the 
many DON'T trump the needs of the few or the one, at least not 
always.  Life and morality are not a utilitarian game.  Which is 
also why, I think, if JKR comes up with the excuse for DD's behavior 
that it was a "learning experience" for Harry to suffer and be 
abused, that she will have failed reprehensibly.

But we are back again to the type of things that arose in the wake 
of OOTP.  What did DD's speech at the end of that book mean?  Is 
DD's prime goal to defeat Voldemort?  Or is his goal to keep Harry 
alive?  Is there really any difference?  More importantly, does DD 
think there is any difference? Why did DD leave Harry to be abused 
at the Dursleys?  Was it primarily for his plan to defeat 
Voldemort?  Or was it simply that he honestly felt it was the only 
way to save Harry's life? How does the DD of the end of OOTP square 
with the DD at the beginning of HBP?  

A lot of this, I think, comes from the fact that DD is not always an 
actual character.  Very often he is merely a plot device.  The 
behavior and attitudes of DD the plot device are not always very 
consistent with those of DD the character, and neither really 
approach the standard of an "epitome of goodness."  

To make matters even more complicated, I do think that JKR realized 
that she had made some mistakes with OOTP.  The image of DD the 
character that came off there wasn't what she wanted to sell -- the 
plot device was messing things up pretty badly.  Thus the beginning 
of HBP (and other scenes therein, but especially the scenes at the 
Dursleys) where she tried to rescue the character she wanted from 
the clutches of the plot device she needed.  I think she succeeded 
only partially, at least so far.

But, we will see.  Or not.


Lupinlore