Molly's "revenge" Re: Requiescat in Pace: Unforgivables

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 174773

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, juli17 at ... wrote:
>
>  
> 
> 
> Lizzyben:
> Molly gets full caps-lock revenge against Bellatrix,  and readers are
> supposed to cheer. 
>  
>  
> Julie:
> I've had problems with some of the actions by the Good Guys in
previous  
> books,
> and with Harry so easily casting the Crucio curse in DH. But I have  
> absolutely no
> issue with Molly's action here, and in fact I *did* cheer her ("You
GO,  
> Girl!!!").<snip>
And that she would kill Bellatrix IN THE MIDST OF A DEADLY BATTLE  is
> certainly also understandable, and necessary to preserve what lives
are  
> left. (She
> may have derived a sense of "revenge" by her act, but  it was a wholly 
> justified act,
> and what grieving mother--and friend to Tonks and Lupin--wouldn't
feel that  
> way?)
>

lizzyben:

There's nothing *wrong* with that moment, per se (though I rolled my
eyes at it), it's that it's part of a larger pattern & a larger
message. Revenge is not only tolerated, but admired. And the revenge
is even better if you can get in an action-movie quip while you do it.
Harry also has a well-timed quip after unleashing Cruciatus curse - "I
see what Bellatrix meant, you do have to mean it." I half-expected
Harry to say "make my day." Just as in an action movie, these are
cheer lines, one-liners that make the revenge even more satisfying for
the audience. 

If we look at things from the Rambo-esque revenge viewpoint, the
story starts to make a whole lot more sense. Harry's use of the
Cruciatus curse was totally justified, because he was taking revenge
on Carrow for using that same curse against students. That's why Harry
is never expected to question or regret his actions. The same message
is given in the various ironic deaths that the villains suffer. And,
in a larger sense, the same message is given in the punishments that
the good guys dish out to the bad guys throughout the series. We
really were supposed to cheer when DD took away the House cup, laugh
when Draco got stomped, gloat at the Dursleys' magical punishments,
smirk at traitor Marietta's scars. It's all about the revenge, and the
fact that Harry & co., as the unquestioned moral arbiters of the
Wizarding World, have the right to exact that revenge. "Revenge plots"
are one of the staple plots of literature, and IMO the Harry Potter
novels fit this model much closer than a "coming of age" plot. 

lizzyben