Role of ESE in Hero's Quest (was:Re: Was HPB's ending BANG-y?...)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 147615

Betsy_HP
> I do think an element of discovery is essential to the Hero's 
> Journey.  A truth must be either learned or at least glimpsed at.  
> And I suppose that can take the form of a "surprise" villain.  But 
> that's not what I see the ESE as fulfilling.  And I don't think 
> that's the sort of journey JKR has set Harry on.  I mean, he's not a 
> knight or a warrior really, is he?  Dumbledore doesn't train him in 
> arcane magical fighting skills.  Instead, Dumbledore tries to show 
> Harry the lost humanity of Voldemort.  And he implies that only by 
> understanding Voldemort will Harry have a hope of finding the 
> missing horcruxes.  
> 
> And so, huh.  I seem to have talked myself out of book 7 needing an 
> ESE!character. (Though JKR really does like her mystery elements.)
>

Pippin:
The ESE has an important thematic purpose, IMO, besides being
part of a mystery or puzzle. The ESE's are by definition ones
whose behavior does not attract suspicion, ie they can  act like
normal innocent people. First of all that tells us that evil is
harder to spot than we think it is. 

It also bears on JKR's beliefs that no one is born evil and 
children, unless they are very damaged, are basically good. *
Obviously JKR doesn't hold that growing older automatically
means growing wickeder, since Dumbledore is among the
oldest characters and morally the example for everyone else.

Anyone who holds such beliefs has to account for how normal 
basically good people can be led into  the service of Voldemort
or his real world counterparts.  If normal people are basically
good, how do we explain witch hunts?

The ESE's have been, AFAWK, all normal and basically good to start with, 
though of course the longer they  remained in Voldemort's service 
the more damaged they became. Each had a different reason for
choosing Voldemort's side.

 Quirrell had a naive lust for power, Ginny was duped, but then 
became a collaborator, stealing the diary back  for fear of exposure, 
Peter wanted  protection, Crouch Jr sought the attention his father 
was never willing to give, Kreacher wanted to serve a master of his 
own choosing, and Draco  (not exactly an ESE but the only HBP 
villain who has confessed) thought that  being a dark wizard would 
be cool.

I don't think JKR has finished exploring this question. Certainly
Harry hasn't recognized that good people can go over to the dark side,
so I fully expect another ESE, even if it isn't who I think it is.

I'm no expert on these things, but I think the Hero going it alone is 
more related to the bildungsroman aspect of the books than the 
heroic quest. Our young heroes have to show that they have absorbed
the wisdom and knowledge their guardians and protectors tried
to instill, developed their potential, and can finally stand on their own
two feet. The fundamental anxiety being addressed is not whether
good can defeat evil, as in the heroic quest, but whether the young
can survive without the immediate guidance and protection of their 
elders (as we all must if we live long enough.)

Pippin
*
http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm 
http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/1999/1099-ap.html