Back to Slytherin House - Choosing

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 176169

---  "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at ...> wrote:
>
> > lizzyben:
> > Because he's doing what might be called evil things,
> > and not even recognizing it as such. (Crucios, 
> > double-crosses, etc.) The novel doesn't even 
> > recognize it as such. Instead, there's an assumption
> > that anything Harry does is intrinsically good & 
> > right. ...
> 
> Jen:  
> This is a false construct if the story wasn't 
> primarily about Harry's struggle within himself to 
> choose to go down the path of good or the path of 
> evil.  

bboyminn:

I'm going to stray off on a tangent here. I think what
I have to say is related, but doesn't quite follow
the existing flow of conversation.

Is this a story about Good and Evil?

I say yes, indeed Harry represents Good and Voldemort
represents Evil.

More importantly, is this story about Harry's internal
struggle with Good and Evil?

I say no. It is a story about struggle between Good 
and Complacency.

Once again, I ask, where were all the other Gryffindors
when Harry/Ron/Hermione were off on their adventures?
They were tucked nice and toasty warm in their beds.
Completely willing, and perfectly content, to leave 
the struggle of good and evil, right and wrong, to the
grown ups and to the authorities. 

And once again, I say, All that must be done for evil
to flourish is for good people to do nothing.

All that must be done for Evil to flourish is for 
people to choose what is easy over what is right.

Harry is a man of action. He is not willing to let the
world work itself out. He is going to jump in and do
what is right regardless of the consequences. He simply
can not stand by, while evil flourishes. 

Yet, do we condemn all those students who didn't know
or care about the Philosopher's Stone, and who quietly
did nothing? Do we condemn all those students who were
toasty warm in their beds instead of actively trying 
to stop a great evil (The Basilisk) that was threatening
their school? 

No, I don't think we do, because they are just everyday
ordinary citizens, who get by because they mind their 
own business. But at some point, 'Evil Business' becomes
everyone business. At some point you can't simply 
remain passive. You can't simply sit by and leave it
to others. At some point, someone has to step forward
and take an active stance against Evil and corruption,
and even against complacency.

Who steps forward? Who opposes Evil from the very 
beginning? Who flatly refuses to take the easy path,
when the path of Right is so clear? The Hero, that's
who. 

Once Harry is willing to lead the way, and once the
circumstances become so dire that the Path of Easy
is clearly failing, then others step forward to help.
But if the Hero doesn't step forward first and lead,
others are unlikely to follow. 

Now certainly, we DO condemn the people who are clearly
evil and corrupt. But for the ordinary citizen, every
single day is a struggle between good and evil. Good
is action for what is right but with potential 
damaging consequences, and evil is passive acceptance 
of what is easy, usually, in the long run, with much
worse consequences.

Harry does make a choice, a VERY HARD choice. In the 
face of evil, large and small, he choses hard action
over easy passivity. Because that is the only way to
hold evil at bay. That is the only way to live with
a clear conscience.

Is this the easy default choice for our fated 
Calvinistic Hero? No, I don't think so. Clearly Harry's
choice bring him misery, a misery he dearly wants to
escape, but always the call of Right overrides his
desire to escape the misery and stress he constantly
faces.

I think this is at the core of the story. I think all
of the moral sub-lessons spring from this one greater
lesson. At some point, in issues large and small,
we must choose between what is Right and what is Easy.
If that is not a strong and positive moral lesson, then
I don't know what is. And I find it impossible to 
believe that anyone, real or fictional, doesn't struggle
against immense easy safe inertia in order to bring 
themselves to action in the name of Right. 

I think that is the great moral dilemma of the day. Do
we sit back and leave the salvation of earth, on every
front, to others, or do we, figuratively, pick up the 
sword and allows ourselves to be moved to action?

Harry... who isn't always right, but who is always a
man of Right Action.

For what it's worth.

Steve/bboyminn