Fathers (was: Re: A message?)

[or.phan_ann]

No: HPFGUIDX 178958

muscatel1988 wrote:
>
> Here's a new topic, though, and I don't think I've seen it discussed
> on the list before: the notion of father in the heptateuch. 
> 
> 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. 

Ann:
Yes, I'd say Muggles count, and let's add Crouch Sr. and Lupin to the
list as well. None of those families are exactly ideal, are they? The
Dursleys are spiritually myopic, the Malfoys have a "third parent"
interfering, Mrs Lovegood is dead and Xeno is a disturbing headcase
(but I do feel sorry for the poor bloke, unlike a lot of readers, I
think), the Riddles' marriage is the pure product of magical coercion,
Lupin hasn't dealt with his own issues, and the less said about the
Crouches the better. The "best" fathers are James, who's killed when
Harry's 15 months old, and Arthur, one of whose sons is estranged from
 the family for years. It looks to me as if three things are obvious:
that families are meant as reflections of the wider wizarding world,
not just literally; that the elder generations' response to Voldemort
is responsible for the broken families and the state of the WW; and
that JKR's acknowledging both how things are in the real world, and
how she'd like things to be. Nor do I think it's coincidental how many
families die out during the series (the Blacks, Crouches, Riddles,
Slytherin's line, and perhaps others.)

Both Harry and Hermione abandon their Muggle families for the
Weasleys, obviously so for Harry and to a lesser degree for Hermione,
although both end up joining the Wizarding World for good. Through
this, the Trio who eventually take down Voldemort emerge: Hermione's
family is no more really hers than the Dursleys are Harry's. They both
have to be themselves. The obvious parallel is Sirius' joining the
Potters after he left home. However, bearing in mind the notion of
close friendship equalling family, it's interesting that both Lupin
and Sirius are suspected of being the spy in the Order who causes
James' and Lily's deaths, and that it's actually Pettigrew who causes
it. Bad parents make bad families. The same dynamic occurs with the
Blacks and Malfoys and Voldemort interfering: he tempts people away
from their familial, nay, *filial* duties to further his own ends.
Victims of this include all three of the Malfoys in different ways,
Regulus, probably Bellatrix and her other family members, and most of
the rest of the family to a lesser degree - there don't seem to have
been any other Death Eaters Black. The Death Eater parent/child pairs
probably bear this out.

On the other hand... nobody's perfect. James is a berk, but there are
plenty of them, and given how little we know of him and how young he
died, calling him "unsatisfactory" is a little harsh. He only seems
that way because Harry thought he was perfect. (Calling him "absent",
however? No problem.) And I don't think it's Arthur's fault that Percy
leaves his family; I was just thinking of a family-related imperfection.

So it's significant that Percy rejoins his family before Voldemort
falls, and for a few moments post-PoA there's a whole Weasley family,
minus the ear. Whole families are good not just for their constituents
but also for the world, and Voldemort's fracturing of families is an
attack on society. Carol asked on OTC the other day whether Umbridge
might be Margaret Thatcher in disguise; I joked that Thatcher in
disguise would be Voldemort, and didn't think that in a few days I'd
be saying the same thing seriously. Meanwhile, note that the orphan
Teddy Lupin is not left with hideous Muggles but grandparents and
godfather, part of the WW full stop.

OK, I've thrown a bit of mud at the wall - is anyone going to get me? 

> muscatel: 
>
> You know, I haven't been quite able to get out of my head the fact
> that right through the series runs a cry of "DADA", the cursed
> position.  There's something a little chilling to my ear about that.

Ann:
Well, the series' main theme is DADA, especially Defending the ww
Against voldemort's Dark Arts; or did you have something else in mind? 

Ann