Raging Snape / Draco's Redemption / JKR's Plots (was:Re: seeds of betrayal)

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 149676

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Peg DiGrazia <pegdigrazia at ...> 
wrote:
>
> Betsy Hp:
> >I still see Draco's "redemption" story as being a bit dull.  He 
> >just hasn't done anything really, really bad.  In fact, I get the
> >sense that his dabbling in evil has quite turned him off the 
whole >Death Eater thing.
>    
>   Peg now:
>   I've never understood this argument.  While I agree that Draco 
has likely changed his mind about wanting to be a DE, I don't see at 
all that he hasn't done anything really, really bad.  The ONLY 
reason that Draco isn't a murderer is that his first two attempts at 
murder were somewhat inept.  Katie nearly died; Ron nearly died.  I 
don't think Draco would have felt any remorse if he'd been 
successful in committing one of these more antiseptic murders.  The 
fact that he was face-to-face with Dumbledore on the tower is, IMO, 
the thing that made him back down and begin to rethink his 
position.  (I imagine it's much more difficult to kill someone who's 
looking you in the eye and speaking to you than it is to kill from a 
distance.)

Magpie:
While I would agree that "hasn't done anything really bad" is not 
very accurate, I think Betsy's point is a good one.  Even DD says 
that "no real harm" has been done in the Tower--it's a bizarre 
statement in many ways (would Katie's family agree no real harm was 
done??) but in the context he means it it makes sense.  He means 
that there is nothing done that has not been undone--so far.  JKR is 
very careful about doling out murders and permanant effects.  CoS, 
for instance, is full of almost-murders.  Perhaps JKR didn't want 
murders that early in the series, but I think it was also important 
to keep Ginny murder-free.  Had any of the basilisk's victims died 
Ginny would obviously be innocent in that she was possessed, but as 
a human being she would no doubt still feel guilty and her character 
would be stained in some way.  JKR carefully kept her from that.

With Draco I think she was equally careful.  He *has* done things 
that are very bad--in fact, he himself responds to Dumbledore saying 
he's not a killer by saying DD "doesn't know what [he's] done."  I 
think that's a good sign, actually, because Draco is not denying his 
own part in what happened to Katie and Ron.  On the contrary, I 
think it's significant that both times Harry notices Malfoy looking 
physically unwell it's after one of these murder attempts (attempts 
that were subconciously meant to not kill their victim, as 
Dumbledore surmises--it's like pointing a gun but aiming badly) has 
harmed someone.  So I disagree that Draco would have felt no remorse 
if these two had been killed.  His physical disintegration is no, 
imo, due to just frustration at things going awry.  Iow, I agree 
with Dumbledore that these attempts are signs that he's not a 
killer, not that he's just a bad planner.  

It's true it is more difficult to kill when looking your victim in 
the eye, which is why Draco first tries to kill from a distance.  
But I don't at all think Draco was just going along and then got 
surprised by how hard things were on the Tower.  His whole arc, imo, 
is about murder and death becoming more real for him in different 
ways so that in the Tower he has far more than just Dumbledore's 
face to contend with.  He's already starting to crack.  Not only 
does he have Ron and Katie's near deaths on his hands, he's got his 
own near death in the bathroom.  He's been facing mortality all 
year, having to take it seriously in ways he hasn't before.  In 
every single book before this one there is some storyline or scene 
that highlights the fact that death is nothing to Draco.  

Peg:>    
>   I'm not saying I believe Draco can't or won't be redeemed -- I 
believe he probably will be -- but I don't understand how being a 
foiled murderer is any less of a moral offense than being a 
successful murderer.  The fact that he seems much more concerned 
about LV killing him (I think it's notable that he doesn't say 
anything about LV killing his family to Myrtle -- that point doesn't 
come up until the tower) than about the effect committing murder 
will have on his soul (not just the physical tearing of the soul, 
but the emotional and psychological effects) doesn't make me like 
him much more, either.

Magpie:
It's definitely not morally superior to be a non-murderer through 
sheer force of luck, which is all that's saved Draco.  I would just 
say that I don't think Draco would deny this either.  I don't mean 
to imply he's a great moral role model of course, but he's not Peter 
Pettigrew who 20 years after the murders still says it wasn't his 
fault, there was nothing else he could do.  Draco is trying to be 
completely unremorseful on the Tower.  I think him and his family's 
being threatened being the last thing we hear about is significant 
because after all his protestations we finally come to the real 
incentive.

So basically, I just see Rowling being very careful about exactly 
what's going on with Draco "Bad Faith" here, and part of that is 
having him come so very close to death in different ways before the 
moment of truth arrives.  The whole storyline, imo, is about Draco's 
gaining real knowledge through experience.  In the end there is one 
thing that Draco does himself that is lasting, which is to let 
Fenrir Greyback into the school where he mauls Bill Weasley.  Bill's 
scars are something that will not go away.  Yet even there Draco's 
cushioned a little--he explicitly states that he *didn't* intend to 
bring Fenrir to the school.  He's still got the responsibility, but 
it adds up to something else. 

It's like every step he takes forces him to confront the reality of 
Death more clearly.  Hermione theorizes that whoever poisoned Ron is 
dangerous because they are "ruthless," not caring who they hurt on 
their way to their intended victim.  Ironically, she's wrong.  It 
was Draco's not having the stomach (or the heart, as DD puts it) 
that are partially to blame for such crude attempts.  He didn't 
truly want the wine or the necklace to get to DD--and that's how it 
got to Katie and Ron.  So the "not-so-bad" intention there (from our 
view, in Draco's eyes his lack of heart is a bad thing) isn't 
enough; it just makes him more dangerous and more guilty.  He didn't 
intend for the werewolf to come into the school--but he's still 
responsible for him showing up.  He can't get away from it or keep 
himself really clean.

-m