A message?

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 178931

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "muscatel1988" <cottell at ...> wrote:
>
Mus:
> There are a number of fathers in canon: Vernon (if Muggles count),
> Arthur, Lucius, Xenophilous, Riddle Snr, Marvolo Gaunt, Amos Diggory,
> and James, of course.  But fathers in the main seem either curiously
> absent, or, when present, unsatisfactory in various ways.  

Montavilla47:
You didn't mention one father at least: Remus Lupin.  Since he tries
to run off from his marriage before his son is even born, he comes off
little better than Riddle, Sr.

I suppose that we're supposed to see Harry at the end as becoming
the Good Father, as he takes his children to the station and calms
little Al's fears.  Although--I don't think that Ron or Draco suffers
in comparison at that point (as far as fathering goes).  They are both
present to see their children off and both engaged with their children.

But, yes, there's a strong Bad Daddy thread running through the 
series.  While I may be reaching here, the Slytherinian trait of 
"Ambition" is a key quality of Bad Daddies.  Ambition leads 
fathers to neglect the emotional needs of their wives and children,
and so, while it helps the family financially and socially, it seems
hollow to the people who never get to see Dad.  (Think about how
many movies end with the Dad apologizing for his neglect...)

Arthur is the lone living Good Father.  He cheerfully gives up
his prospects at the Ministry in order to spend more time with
his family and his own eccentric hobbies.  Lucius is the social-
climbing father, projecting his own desire for status onto 
Draco (pushing him to get the "best" grades, pushing him onto
the Quidditch team, trying to manuveur out Dumbledore in
order to move in a more pro-Draco Headmaster...)

I got the feeling in the book that Amos Diggory was sort of
a minor Lucius--not evil, obviously, but too pushy about his
son. It was almost like Cedric's death was Amos's punishment 
for his pride.  Then, his grief was a bit overmuch, contrasted
with the dignity of the mother.  Along with the story of  the
ambitious, cold Crouch, Sr. (contrasted with the sacrificing
Mrs. Crouch), I found GoF to be the strongest Good Mommy/
Bad Daddy book.

Of course, PoA was the most pro-Father book.  In that, we 
got James as Harry's inspiration and model.  And, we got
Sirius as the James substitute, performing superhuman
feats in order to protect his godson.

I was intrigued about the changes when the books were
adapted into movies.  The inclusion of Lupin's line about 
Lily took away from the strong James theme in PoA.  In GoF,
the Mommy theme went away completely--Narcissa didn't 
even appear.  Instead, the father angle was played up.  
For example, in the book, Draco took a shot at Harry after
a classic Yo Momma exchange.  In the film, it was an
insult about Lucius that caused Draco to pull his wand.
Instead of Molly showing up to cheer Harry in the final task,
it was Arthur--giving us that memorable image of Amos
wailing over his son while Arthur comforts him.

Montavilla47