[HPforGrownups] Heroes in the Harry Potter Series

[Laura Lynn Walsh]

No: HPFGUIDX 176130


On 2007, Aug 23, , at 08:11, Bart Lidofsky wrote:

> And now, of course, we have Harry Potter. Harry Potter can't  
> possibly be a hero; he cast Unforgivable Curses; he even cast  
> Crucio just because he lost his temper. Dumbledore isn't a hero  
> either; after all, he manipulated people. And certainly not Snape;  
> Snape was a nasty, sarcastic, maybe even sadistic. He can't  
> POSSIBLY be a hero!

And I think of Gandhi and Martin Luther King.  Doing something that  
is against the law for reasons of conscience is acceptable in most  
situations, especially if no one is significantly damaged by the  
violation of the law.  AK is clearly a violation, as the person  
dies.  Imperio is more questionable to me.  If you require someone to  
do something for their own good, is that bad?  Crucio is probably  
less questionable as it HURTS.  But Harry is right in saying that, in  
some circumstances, a stunning spell is as bad as an AK.  If he had  
stunned Stan Shunpike and he had fallen off his broom and died, it  
WOULD have been equivalent to an AK.

I like flawed Harry.  Yes, he has a temper that sometimes get the  
better of him.  That makes it more powerful when he actually manages  
to control his temper.  If it were easy, it wouldn't be as heroic.

Laura
-- 
Laura Lynn Walsh    lwalsh at acsalaska.net
http://llwcontemplations.blogspot.com



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