Changed character perceptions (long)

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 185027

Geoff:
The following comments may possibly move in the same direction 
as some posts written a while ago by Alla about how our view of 
some characters in the books has shifted as the story has progressed 
through all its stages. I have wanted to start this as a thread for two 
or three weeks but unexpected family developments have made it 
difficult to even keep up with the posts on Main until now. I have 
wanted to try to voice my thoughts on how our personal perception 
of characters has been moulded or re-moulded by the events of 
succeeding books in the series.

Let me start by saying that I am not the world's greatest critical 
analyst because I have a tendency to read books at face value; I 
have said in the past that I like to fall into "the willing suspension 
of disbelief" without seeking a deeper agenda. For example, I 
interpreted the end of HBP as it superficially appeared and it wasn't 
until the long threads on whether Snape was following Dumbledore's 
instructions began to surface that my critical faculties kicked into 
gear and I began to view the action a little more suspiciously. So I 
offer a few of my changed perceptions as a possible catalyst to 
threads written using a broader brush.

To begin with, Dumbledore. Daring to diverge into the Medium-
which-dare-not-speak-its-name, who has been nearer to embodying 
him – Richard Harris or Michael Gambon? Or neither? The first books 
did present a Richard Harris-esque person. Other-worldly, eccentric 
and yet with an apparent wish to steer Harry safely through the difficult 
waters entering the Wizarding World. And Harry sees him in that way; 
a kindly mentor who gives him back his father's cloak and who quietly 
steers him when necessary as with the Mirror of Erised. We are told that 
he is thought to be omniscient and also all-powerful. And yet, when I 
look over the books, I begin to see that the proponents of 
Manipulative!Dumbledore might have found some truth in the 
conspiracy theories which abounded. I have read some very convincing 
fan fiction in the past based some of these ideas. In DH he is revealed 
as a leader with feet of clay, with a record of disastrous actions in his 
teens and early years which affected his family and him long afterwards. 
I have begun to see him as much like ourselves, with skeletons in the 
cupboard and, with JKR's avowed Christian basis behind her writing, 
representative of any of us on our life's way trying to pick up the pieces 
from failed actions. He has learned from the early failures but I have 
become very wary of taking his actions as being altruistic and could 
draw parallels with a point I made very recently in another thread about 
the way in which young men were drawn into the armed services in the 
First World War especially by leaders such as Kitchener who proclaimed 
the glory of a just war and were prepared to treat troops as dispensable 
numbers on a muster list. Hence my perception of him now is a good 
deal more suspicious than when we first met in PS.

And Draco Malfoy? Now there's a name with which to conjure! Here in 
some ways we have a mirror opposite to my perception of Dumbledore. 
When he first appears, we are made to see him as an arrogant, self-
opinionated brat with an over-inflated view of his place in things. He 
has firm opinions about half-bloods and Muggleborns and apparently 
despises folk who do not have the financial or society clout of the 
Malfoy family. 

But as the books go on, I begin to see someone who is possibly covering 
loneliness and a lack of love with this veneer of disdain. Does he have 
any real friends? Crabbe and Goyle appear to just act as heavy men and 
bouncers for him and, although the Slytherins unite in their attitudes to 
the other houses, I never see any real friendship amongst them, more 
jockeying for position and watching their own backs or utilising each 
other for their own ends. 

Despite this, I have always and a sneaking liking for Draco. Brought up 
as an only child, there are occasional suggestions that although 
prepared to display his affluence through his son, Lucius is not always 
the kindest of parents; there is evidence that he can be very critical 
when Draco does not come up to his expectations. There is a sort of 
bond between Harry and himself in that they both maintain the level 
of dislike throughout the story and yet both seem to take an intense 
interest in what the other is doing. I felt that, at the end of HBP, where 
we find him desperate in Myrtle's bathroom, his lashing out at Harry 
is more out of humiliation than hatred and, in the famous confrontation 
with Dumbledore, his hesitancy to carry out his task proclaims that he 
has, or is developing, serious reservations about the surroundings in 
which he finds himself.

We see more of this division in his thinking in DH. In the first chapter, 
he is obviously terrified and discomforted. Later in the book, there is 
the interesting moment where he apparently fails to recognise Harry 
at Malfoy Manor; his expression is described as "full of reluctance, 
even fear" (DH, "Malfoy Manor", p.372 UK edition). And, of course, 
any link between him and Harry is strengthened when Harry saves 
him in the Room of Requirement.

I had hoped that JKR would have produced a visible thawing of the 
relationship – even a rapprochement – after the events of DH. I like 
to think that the "curt nod" that Harry received from him at the 
railway station in 2015 indicated some sort of contact; fan fiction 
writers have certainly investigated this.

What of Voldemort. Has your perception of him changed? At the 
beginning of the books, he is this brooding, evil shadow who has 
so terrified the Wizarding World that the very mention of his real 
name makes hearers shake in their shoes. We know that he, or his 
agents, make several attempts to deal with Harry but, to me, as time 
goes on, he diminishes in stature. Yes, he is a violent, demanding 
and mass murderer but he shows a very odd grasp of events, possibly 
due to his increasing megalomania. There are places where he could 
have killed Harry and finished the matter off for good but either failed 
to try or was so wrapped up in the dramatics of the situation that he 
lost the plot. The most obvious case is in GOF where, instead of killing 
Harry immediately, he decides to play with him as a cat would with a 
mouse:
"
And I am now going to prove my power by killing him, here and now, 
in front of you all when there is no Dumbledore to help him and no 
mother to die for him. I will give him his chance. He will be allowed to 
fight and you will be left in no doubt which of us is the stronger


Now untie him, Wormtail, and give him back his wand.:
(GOF "The Death Eaters", p.571 UK edition)

How full of his own importance. How convinced of his power. How 
forgetful – not of Lily's sacrifice – but of the way in which Harry 
avoided death at the hands of Quirrell in PS. Did he, in the quiet of 
his own musings away from the Death Eaters, regret his brashness 
and hubris in wanting to show that he could overpower and kill an 
opponent who seemed to be far below him in ability and control? 
I seriously doubt it. Look at his reaction in the final face-off with 
Harry:
'"Accident, was it, when my mother dies to save me?" asked Harry...
..."Accident, when I decided to fight in that graveyard? Accident, 
that I didn't defend myself tonight and still survived and returned 
to fight again?"
"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort...
..."Accidents and chance and the fact that you crouched and 
snivelled behind the skirts of greater men and women and permitted 
me to kill them for you?"

What was he doing during OOTP? We see very little action on his 
part to directly get to Harry while his minions messed around trying 
to undermine the Ministry. Could he not have found some opportunity 
for a further attempt on Harry's life or was he still wanting to 
orchestrate a highly public Wagnerian Götterdämmerung end for 
Harry? I am reminded of Hitler's vacillations during World War Two, 
particularly the moment when he cancelled the planned  invasion of 
Britain and thus probably removed the possibility of overrunning the 
whole of Europe and chose to attack Russia. I am also reminded of 
Saruman in LOTR whose overweening pride led him to lose everything, 
including his life in his attempts to show himself as a great leader.

So, there are three characters in the books for whom I have revised 
my initial perceptions. I have others but I have said enough for the 
present; I wonder whether other members of the group will share my 
changes of opinion or feel that there are other points of view – and, 
like myself, have other characters whom they would like to bring into 
the spotlight?