Dark Book - Blood and Cruelty

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No: HPFGUIDX 177223

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "nitalynx" <nitalynx at ...> wrote:

> Nita:
> 
> 1) Verbal retaliation has already been mentioned, I believe. <snip>


Amy:

I know that it's probably the physical retaliation that sticks most 
heavily in most people's minds, but the Trio actually DO verbally 
retaliate against Draco. The QWC scene comes to mind, when they're in 
the forest; Harry's remark about Warrington to Pansy in OotP; and of 
course, Harry's slur against Narcissa in GoF, which then caused Draco 
to fire the first hex (and get turned into a ferret). Verbal 
retaliation did NOT help the problem, imo.

Nita:

> "TELL SOMEONE, whether it is your Mum, Dad, Aunt, Uncle, a teacher, 
a
> brother, a sister, an adult friend – just tell someone. If the first
> person you tell doesn't seem to understand how bad the problem is,
> tell somebody else. I know that it is very hard to admit that you 
are
> being bullied, but it is absolutely crucial if you are to end the
> misery. Life in school can be very tough and any adult who has
> forgotten that is an idiot, so don't be ashamed... just tell."
> 
> http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=78
> 
> That's not a bad bit of advice, IMO. Even if others can't do 
anything
> to end the harassment, I believe having someone to talk to is
> beneficial in itself (again - support network, safe space). At the
> very least, it helps lessen the crazy-making effects of emotional 
abuse.
> 
> Unfortunately, Ms Rowling doesn't believe in this solution enough to
> even try it in any of her books. Or perhaps she's simply more
> interested in dramatic wish-fulfilment than the boring realistic 
stuff
> us mortals have to do, which isn't even all that effective... <snip>

Amy:

I don't know if I'd say that JKR doesn't use this solution in her 
books ... no, none of the "bullied" people ever actually run to tell 
a teacher, but there have been times when teachers got involved: 
McGonagall in PS, just after Draco almost stole Neville's Remembrall -
- she sent him back to his table; Remus's presence in the train 
compartment in PoA sent DCG away, as it did later on when Draco was 
mocking Harry about having fainted. Again, Draco keeps coming back.

This is what's interesting to me about the bullying themes in JKR's 
books -- because like you said, at times she does seem to actually 
get it (with Neville, Luna, and Snape). And at others, she doesn't 
really quite get it, but she does present all facets of it. The Trio 
deals with Draco in every way possible (for kids, anyway) -- again, 
the physical attacks tend to stick the most in people's minds, but it 
tends to be forgotten that they have also tried ignoring Draco, 
they've verbally lashed out at him, and other people have (to a much 
lesser extent, admittedly) gotten involved to send him away. And it 
doesn't send him away. And I realize that it's weird to everyone that 
Draco just keeps coming back. Maybe it is JKR's set-up to make us 
cheer for the good guys (although I don't like the implication I have 
to be manipulated into what to cheer for, and when; it's not like 
there's an Imperius curse on the books, readers can choose for 
themselves what they like about the heroes and what they don't.). If 
it is, though, a lot more goes into it than just making sure Draco is 
there at the right moment to be beaten up; because even a six-year-
old wouldn't cheer for Draco et al being beaten up if Draco 
hadn't...for lack of better words, been getting on everyone's nerves 
and going unchecked for it for a fairly long time (read: almost the 
entire book). *That* is something that some readers CAN relate to, 
which, I assume, is why there are so many people cheering in the 
first place. 

It's not just that Draco starts the particular confrontations in 
which he gets beaten up; if it were, it'd be impossible to see why 
Draco would keep coming back. But most of the time, Draco *does* make 
fun of the Trio with little-to-no retaliation before they actually 
strike, which is what I think most of the cheering squad responds to. 
I'd say the amount of times Draco verbally goes after the Trio, and 
the number of times they retaliate physically, is about a 3:1 ratio. 
You can't see why Draco would keep coming back for that? They're not 
the best odds in the world, and yes, it still seems like wish 
fulfilment, but there are realistic aspects there, too.