Whose side are we on?? :was: Arthur right or not?

[Kathryn Lambert]

No: HPFGUIDX 156088

Alla:
> What I find amusing is that while **good guys** are held to the 
>highest ethical standards of behavior, Snape and Draco's behavior
>gets excused pretty much for everything IMO.

>So, Ron is very bad when he says Get away from me werewolf, for 
>example, but Draco just does not know any better than to call 
>Hermione "mudblood" for example, he could not help himself when he 
>was so excited to start serving Voldemort. He just does not know any 
>better.

Ceridwen:
>I hold the Good Guys to a higher standard because, in these >fictional 
>books, the Good Guys are the ones kids who read the books should be 
>looking toward as role models. <BIG SNIP>
>But, heroes getting away with breaking rules and not learning from 
>their mistakes? 
  <BIG SNIP> The 
>books 'prove' that dire consequences do not follow even mildly bad 
>behavior.

>I don't particularly like 'for the children' arguments, so I feel 
>very compromised posting this. But as a parent and grandparent, I am >worried about the message that these things send to kids. Show the >Bad Guys in all their horrible glory! Show the kids that they don't 
>want to be like them, see the comeuppance the bad guys get! But 
>don't show the Good Guys, the guys who should be the role models for >juvenile readers, *getting away with* questionable behavior.


  Katie replies(being the mother of two young children herself):
  I personally do not want to show my sons that you have to be perfect all the time to be a good person. Good people make mistakes, have poor behavior, feel vengeful, and are still good people. I absolutely cannot stand it when people act like being perfectly behaved and never having a vice or a bad thought is the only way to be a good person. I have absolutely no problem with a little well-deserved vengeance now and then...maybe not in the RW, but definately in literature...
  I'm sorry, but I think the twins' behavior is perfectly ok. I disagree with Arthur. I would probably be angry at my kids if they did that to someone in the RW, but maybe not, if they were doing it to a complete prat like Dudley Dursley. 
  I don't buy it that heroes are held to some unattainable moral standard...by default, they are better people because they are deemed heroes. Someone else in this thread wrote about "Why?" are we on this side? Why?? Because people like Voldemort, who intimidate, threaten, murder, and manipulate in order to increase their own power and prestige are the reason the RW is so effed up. People like Harry and the gang, who accept differences, try and overcome their own personal prejudices, work for change, are kind to the less fortunate, and believe in equality and freedom, are the people who are currently being marginalized in this society. I see a big (probably slightly unintentional) allegory between the fight in the WW and the struggles in the RW. 
  But getting to peace and equality is not always a pretty process. It's frustrating, exhausting, and miserable sometimes, as we have seen through Harry's struggles. So, if one of these good guys goes off and does something a little rotten once in a while, I'm willing to forgive them. Are they not human? Are they not allowed to have foibles? Wouldn't we all be pretty frickin bored by a bunch of characters who never did ANYTHING wrong? Who doesn't get excited by Harry and the gang sneaking out of the Common Room at midnight, by Fred and George yelling "Give her hell, peeves!" as they steal back their own brooms and leave scool, by Dumbledore stunning a few Aurors and escaping on the tail of Fawkes...these are some of the best moments in the series! 

  Katie, who occasionally drinks, smokes, and gives somebody the finger in traffic, and STILL thinks of herself as a good person