Philosophy of Dumbledore (was:Moody's death...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 179536

> >>Betsy Hp:
> <snip>
> I don't, however, think JKR illustrated this *on purpose*. I'm not
> even sure she really thought about what sort of "philosophy" she was
> putting forward.
> <snip>

> >>Sharon:
> I agree that JKR really didn't think about what philosophy         
> underlies her books.  Most people don't even think about what their 
> own personal view are, let alone what philosophy underlies them.    
> That doesn't make the books any the worse for me though. Life is    
> complicated and people - -even really brilliant ones like          
> Dumbledore--don't always think straight, or even rationally. It's   
> difficult to be consistent in one's personal morality. In fact, I  
> would say someone who is always consistent is a bit of a            
> fanatic :-)  The books are more real to me becuase they characters 
> get morally confused, they make mistakes and they pay the          
> consequences.

Betsy Hp:
As an author though, building a world where good and evil are going 
to battle for ultimate victory, it's probably a good idea to have 
some sense of what differentiates your good guys from your bad guys.  
And I don't think JKR bothered with that.  I don't see where our good 
guys faced any consequences for "moral confusion".  Hermione brands a 
girl and she's cool.  Harry refuses to think things through, someone 
dies because of it, and he's grand.  The twins...  well, one of them 
died but it was played as a tragedy, not the outcome of their own 
mistakes or a consequence.

That's actually the big falling down with this entire story for me.  
Our heroes are perfect.  If they do "bad things" it's because they're 
so darn cool and don't we all just love them for it?  And gosh, but 
they shouldn't lose any sleep over it, because they're good!  I was 
hoping and hoping for some consequences for our heroes in DH.  They 
never came.

SO, IMO, this series is a moral mockery.  If you're a Gryffindor you 
don't really have to think about good or evil actions.  It's already 
been determined you're good and therefore all of your actions are 
good.  If you're a Slytherin...  well, the Gryffindors need a group 
to smugly compare themselves to, right?  To judge for using dark 
magic, etc.  (Though of course when a *Gryffindor* uses dark magic, 
it's a good action, because they're Gryffindors.)

I think it would have behooved JKR to put some thought into her 
personal philosophy before sitting down to write an epic struggle 
between good and evil.  It would have made for living, breathing 
characters in the end.  Instead, as far as I'm concerned, no one got 
out of DH alive. <g>

Betsy Hp (not sure if this will post or not -- darn internet)