Compassionate hero & karmic justice (WAS Re: Appeal of the story to the reader)

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 175742


> Nita:
> <snip re: Harry saving Draco>
Again, I wasn't trying to say anything about Harry with that, but
> rather about the way the story is built. I wonder if JKR thinks that
> perhaps Draco wouldn't "deserve" being saved if he hadn't played that
> part earlier.

lizzyben:

Yeah, Draco earned that salvation. If he hadn't wavered in his support
for the Death Eaters, he'd have shared Crabbe's fate. Narcissa also
deserved to survive because she put her child above her cause. I keep
having the sneaking suspicion that Tonks "deserved" to die because she
did not do the same. 

Nita:

> Well, I don't know what you think about interviews, but JKR did say
> "Griphook was wrong - Gryffindor did not 'steal' the sword, not unless
> you are a goblin fanatic and believe that all goblin-made objects
> really belong to the maker." (
> http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2007/0730-bloomsbury-chat.html )

lizzyben:

I can't believe she said that! God forbid we might think good
Gryffindor could ever do something wrong. So, someone from culture A
buys an object from culture B, w/the understanding that under Culture
B's laws, that object reverts back to the maker upon the buyer's
death. Mr. A then decides to bequeath that object to someone else
instead, keeping the object away from Culture B forever. He uses magic
to create a hat that will always take the object back from whoever has
it at the time - so, even if Culture B manages gets it back, Culture A
can always use their magic to steal it right back. Magic makes might &
might makes right. If you think that might not be quite fair, you're
obviously a fanatic. Way to show that cultural sensitivity, there.
Jeez, no wonder the goblins are always rebelling. 

Regarding the Marietta controversy:

Louie: Did Marietta's pimply formation ever fade?
J.K. Rowling: Eventually, but it left a few scars. I loathe a traitor!

Ouch, that's harsh. JKR did consider that a just revenge. And this
seems to reinforce that she does dispense a kind of "karmic justice"
to various characters throughout the series. It's a revenge narrative,
y'all. 


> Nita:
> 
> I agree with your 4-year-old, she's a delightful little old lady! And,
> while we're on the subject of rooting for the "wrong" side, I think
> I've found another way to explain my viewpoint :) Let's take a look at
> "Tom & Jerry". There's a big bad cat who wants to catch and eat the
> cute little mouse. The mouse is booth good and the underdog, right?
> Only, after you've watched a few episodes, you know that Tom usually
> doesn't have a chance. He's doomed to a lot of violent (but, luckily,
> cartoony) payback.
> 
> On a certain level, the HP series turned out similar, and that was a
> surprise to me. I had expected all human characters except Voldemort
> to be fully human, in the sense that Harry should be able to relate to
> them. I'm not interested in heavy-handed moralizing, but I do think
> it's important to understand how minds, including your own, work, in
> order to make good decisions. I believe it's an essential part of
> growing up. Apparently, JKR didn't agree, leaving me a little confused
> after all the build-up.

lizzyben:

Basically a "me-too" here. It's odd, because the books do deal
w/weighty themes like death, corruption, bigotry, etc. but in the end
it sort of became a Dudley Do-Right beats Snidely Whiplash cartoon.
And IMO the books do send some "heavy-handed moralizing" - we can tell
which actions JKR approves of & disapproves of by their consequences.
She approves of the Marietta hex, so Hermione doesn't have
consequences for that. She disapproves of Marietta's tattle-tailing,
so Marietta does suffer consequences/payback. The fact that
Gryffindors seem to be the ones who are always allowed to dish out
this payback to other people is entirely a coincidence. 

IMO, one of the reasons that there isn't a great deal of empathy or
compassion is because empathizing too much w/these characters would
lessen the satisfaction of the various paybacks/revenges they receive.
Like, could we really laugh at Umbridge & the centaurs if we knew all
about her strict, intolerant mother who would make her use the quill
as a child any time she acted "disorderly"? Or saw how traumatic &
terrifying the centaur experience really was for her? Could we laugh
at Marietta's pustules if we knew how her Ministry mother had
pressured her into giving information on the DA? Maybe, but it'd be
harder to do. That's why it does seem like empathy might be a "bad
thing" within the context of the series.


lizzyben