Family and Other Loyalty

[mesmer44]

No: HPFGUIDX 177783

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lizzyben04" <lizzyben04 at ...>
wrote:
>
> Montavilla:
> ><snip>
> > 1. We can agree with Harry, and enjoy that Marietta
> > has been well and justly punished for her betrayal.
> > <snip>
> > As far as Option 1 goes, I find it weird, because the
> > punishment is so close to actual practice--I can't
> > help thinking of the women who are scarred with
> > acid, usually for committing adultery.  It's also
> > much like shaving the head, which was a common
> > punishment for women who sleep with enemy
> > soldiers (with the obvious difference that hair
> > grows back fairly quickly).
> >
> > Now, maybe I'm bringing in RL stuff that JKR never
> > intended to apply, but it beats me how someone
> > who worked for Amnesty, Int... an organization that
> > works to expose and stop these practices, would
> > not make that connection.
> ><snip>
>
> lizzyben:
>
> Just wanted to add that at the end of OOTP, Harry sees Cho &
> Marietta on the train - and the text makes sure to mention that
> Marietta is wearing a balaclava. A balaclava is a kind of ski mask
> that covers the entire face, leaving only the eyes visible.
> Marietta is so ashamed of her scars that she hides her face from
> the world.
>
> Attacks on the face are uniquely dehumanizing, because they remove
> our individual identity. If you picture a balaclava, it looks
> exactly like a burqa, hiding all individual features.
>
> In many countries women were specifically attacked & given facial
> scars as *punishment* for not wearing a burqa that hides their face.
> Here, a girl is given permanent facial scars as punishment for not
> following the rules, and made to cover & hide her face from shame -
> and that's a good thing.


Winterfell: Actually, Marietta is given what amounts to acne scars in
the long run not for following the rules per se, but for betraying
her schoolmates.  I agree that it's a good thing that she has to hide
her face from shame.  She's earned that shame, but not primarily for
not following rules, but for being a traitor.  Betraying her fellow
students had serious consequences that she should have considered
before turning them in to Umbridge.

>snip:
> lizzyben goes on to write:
>
> I think there's a large element of "revenge fantasy" to the novels,
> and that JKR has fun dishing out this revenge w/o always considering
> the consequences & implications of it.


Winterfell: While there are issues of revenge in the Harry Potter
novels, there is absolutely no proof that JKR has "fun" dishing out
this revenge w/o always considering the implications of such
revenge.  JKR has plot threads to further and I believe she fully
knew the consequences & implications of what she wrote w/ regard to
revenge.  What motivated JKR to write what she did is known only by
her unless she revealed her motivations in interviews. I just want to
know what proof is there that JKR is having irresponsible fun when
she is writing about revenge.

Winterfell who thinks that JKR knows best why she writes what she
does and not us readers.