a Lupin Rant

[pattiemgsybb]

No: HPFGUIDX 173495

> Sherry now:
> I was disgusted with Lupin in the scene of the argument
> with Harry. I am a disabled person, and Lupin is a metaphor
> for disabled people.  My parents would have been ashamed of
> me, if I'd come off with such a self-pitying attitude as
> Lupin in that moment.  My siblings and true friends would
> give me a figurative kick in the rear if I tried it today.
> Lupin had love, a baby, respect of people he respected.  He
> was doing something, fighting Voldemort.  Yes, I know what
> it's like to be unemployed because of a disability.  I know
> how I've had to prove I'm ten times better at a job than a
> sighted person, in order to get and keep a job.  Yet, I've
> been steadily employed for 20 years, due to my determination
> never to give up, never to give in to what the world thinks.
> I'm stubborn and was taught that the only thing that could
> stop me was me.  I was taught to believe in me, a lesson
> Lupin apparently never learned.  <snip>

Kit:
What troubled me about that scene was that I felt it was completely
out of character for Lupin. If we are really expected to believe that
a teenager's lecture could prompt Lupin to attack in that way
(blasting Harry against the wall), then what is the point of having
this man in the book -- I thought Lupin was there to show that
werewolves are dangerous during the full moon, but otherwise they are
just like the rest of us. Based upon that scene, Lupin, the
gentlest of men, cannot be trusted, may go mad any time someone angers
him, and probably should be locked in an armed camp with others of his
ilk. (It's noted in that scene that Harry sees the werewolf in Lupin
for the first time, strongly suggesting that it's the wolf in him that
spurred his violence.)

I get what you're saying about the way you've confronted your
disability and that's a very healthy approach. But in fairness to
Lupin, in legal terms (and I suppose medically this is correct) the
bite has made him only half-human, he is subject to viciously
discriminatory laws, and he is not merely discriminated against -- he
is feared and hated by most of wizard-kind. And, in fact, he must deal
with the fact that for a night every month he is incredibly dangerous.
He's coping with a lot more than an ordinary disability. He's also in
chronically poor health due to his condition, AND he has no money and
little chance of employment. I can't believe that
Tonks and their friends pressured him to marry when he was resisting
it for so many good reasons, and he clearly
bitterly regrets it. (Had he been madly in love, it might've been
something he'd want to risk; I know JKR's very big on love -- but the
pressure was exerted on Tonks' behalf, with the goal of making HER
happy and without considering whether it would add to Lupin's
happiness.) And I think it's purely nuts for JKR to have
written in a pregnancy. Do we really believe that Lupin would have
allowed that, considering his strong feelings about not reproducing?
Surely even Tonks must've had more sense. I do not understand JKR's
inclusion of this relationship at all. And on top of all of it, both
die ignobly off-camera -- and then we see Lupin in death, who doesn't
offer a word about his new young wife (though he and Harry discuss
Teddy), looking happier than he's ever been!

I also think JKR undercut the logic of Harry's tirade (which I found
too nasty to be in character for Harry, either) by the circumstances
in which it took place. I don't care how talented the Trio is at
dealing with danger; they're three KIDS who won't say what they're
trying to do. Nothing could be more natural than for an adult who
loves them to offer to help. I agree that Lupin was probably only too
happy to get away from Tonks (who, as written, seems utterly clueless
re. Lupin's misery -- an odd sort of love), but it's not unreasonable
to see his motives as complex, is it? And I believe Harry's reaction
says as much about his own abandonment issues as about his righteous
anger on the pregnant Tonks' behalf.

I read another's opinion that all the weirdness in Lupin was offered
as a red herring to suggest Lupin might be the insider who betrayed
Harry. I don't know if that's true, but if so...I don't think it
succeeded. I think he (and Tonks) just came off as unbelievable, and
that their relationship made no sense.

~Kit