Dumbledore & Dursleys Once More With Feeling

[va32h]

No: HPFGUIDX 164999

>From time to time we've discussed why Dumbledore had to leave Harry 
with the Dursleys - blood protection being the excuse for what is 
otherwise an act of cruelty and so on. 

I thought of that thread this evening as I was looking for some 
material for an essay I am working on about the literary tradition of 
close male friendships (working title: Guy Love: From the Epic of 
Gilgamesh to NBC's Scrubs, the Importance of the Male Bond in 
Literature.) 

I was looking for The Chosen - because of the friendship between 
Danny and Reuven. And I came across the part where Dannys' father 
explains why he raised his son in silence. 

Danny's father, Reb Saunders, fears his son's brilliant and 
analytical mind will render him soulless. He chooses to raise him in 
silence - he never speaks to the boy except during Talmud classes - 
as a way to force Danny into intropection, and develop a sense of his 
soul, and empathy for others. Reb Saunders wants Danny to "learn[s] 
of the pain of others by suffering one's own pain 
 by turning inside 
oneself. . . . It makes us aware of how frail and tiny we are and of 
how much we must depend upon the Master of the Universe."

The hope was that Danny would follow his father's footsteps, and be a 
Rabbi and a tzadik - a completely righteous individual -  to his 
congregation, but Danny wants to study psychology - and when Reb 
Saunders realizes this, he can instead be a tzadik for the world.

I can't believe I never saw the similarities before - is that not 
what Harry is - a completely righteous individual for the wizarding 
world? And Duh! Harry is called the Chosen One. I feel like an idiot 
for not seeing this sooner. 

Anyway - this raising a child in silence business is *not* given a 
free pass by anyone in the book. Danny suffers, Danny's friend Reuven 
considers it cruel as does Reuven's father. Repeatedly the characters 
are shown discussing whether the result of this method is worth its 
costs. Reb Saunders even acknowledges that he has given up a certain 
relationship with his son, in order to give him this compassion, this 
silence. 

It's certainly no endorsement of the practice...and yet by the end of 
the book you see why Saunders did it - and Danny does as well, and he 
is at peace with it and even appreciates it. 

I still understand the irritation readers feel with Dumbledore - but 
I'm so much more content in my own mind, now that I've made this 
connection. 

And even if you don't buy the connection -  read The Chosen, if you 
haven't. It's such a wonderful book!

va32h