Remus Lupin: Good man doing nothing (long!)

[juli17ptf]

No: HPFGUIDX 149230

<snipping Betsy's excellent and thought-provoking points about Lupin's
dichotomy of character>

Jen:
> > Jen here, finally,
> > You've done a fine job of fence-sitting but you seem to swing, 
> > unconciously maybe, towards a Pippinesque scenario. A good man 
who 
> > does nothing is not a good man. I began to feel Lupin was not 
what 
> I 
> > wanted him to be when he sat by and watched James and Sirius 
> torment 
> > Snape. His dismissal, when talking to Harry, of the use of 
> Levicorpus 
> > seemed in keeping with his unfortunate ability to gloss over the 
> > failings of others and himself. He even smiled, thinking of it. 
> > Never wanted to be too hard on James. Not much of a friend, what? 
> > Thanks for your hard work putting it all together. 
> > Jen D.
> > >
> >
>

Julie now:
I too have felt that Lupin is not what I want him to be, and what I 
think he *could* be if he would just shake himself out of his apathy. 
We've discussed the mental states of various characters, and Lupin 
seems to me a man perptually in the throes of depression, not so deep 
that he can't act at all, but everpresent in the sense that he can't 
bring himself to care enough about the things he should nor rouse 
himself to *do* something. It's easier for him to wallow in self-pity 
and self-hatred, rather than push himself into action. (I think Lupin 
and Snape are very much alike in their capacity for self-hatred, they 
simply express it differently, Snape outwardly on others and Lupin 
inwardly on himself.)

I don't buy the Pippinesque scenario though, because, again, it 
requires too much energy from Lupin to be ESE! And since I do believe 
Lupin is a good man inside (even while he's doing nothing), my hope 
for Book 7 is that he'll find a way to gather his inner strength and 
finally ACT on his convictions. 

Also, with Sirius and Dumbledore gone Lupin is the only adult 
mentor/father-figure left whom Harry can depend on, even if he's been 
undependable in that role so far. Yep, I really want to see Lupin 
pull it together, and I'm hoping he survives, so when Harry goes on 
with his post-Voldemort life, he'll still have one father-figure to 
advise him and guide him. After everyone he's lost, Harry deserves 
that much. So get your ass off that fence and support our boy the way 
he deserves, Lupin--or prove that Snape was right about you all 
along. Which will it be? ;-)

Julie