[HPforGrownups] Dumbledore's actions again. WAS: Re: Snape and the "Chosen One" /JKR listening

[rebecca]

No: HPFGUIDX 153814

>Lupinlore said:

>Well, if that's what JKR is trying to do she's done a spectacularly
>bad job of it.  Because there are MANY things DD could have done to
>prevent this particular "bad thing" from happening -- starting with
>making a wiser decision in the first place.  And having found out
>that he made a bad decision, or at least one that didn't come out as
>he hoped, there were many actions he could have taken to correct it.

>To return to a metaphor I used recently, when you come across a
>counterfeit bill you have no obligation to just shrug and say "well,
>these bad things happen in any economy."  When you run across a
>severe problem with character and action in the Potterverse, you are
>under no obligation to give JKR any sort of break because "the plot
>wouldn't work otherwise" or "she's trying to send a message."
>Merchants and banks should beware of counterfeit bills and authors
>should beware using inconsistency of character and gaping plot holes
>to move the story along or to send a message.

Rebecca:

I'm not sure it is inconsistency of character or a gaping plot hole, myself. 
Dumbledore, like great men our world history, makes mistakes and admits he 
does in both OoP and HBP. Whether the mistake is one that the reader can 
accept or not is purely a matter of the reader's personal preference, 
values, and morality. My perception is as the hero, Harry can't have a 
perfect life and somebody, right, wrong or different, is going to have to 
make those kinds of mistakes that allow him to build his character as he 
matures.

That's the beauty of these books compared to other fictional literature in 
the same genre:  JKR makes her characters human with human failings, not 
super-heros even if they are empowered by magic. If there's any message 
she's sending from a broader perspective,  it's that magic doesn't cure all 
and a society with magic can have the same convoluted events happen in it, 
just like our real world today. I can accept that, just as I can surely not 
condone "standing by" in a real life like-wise situation.

Rebecca









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