Cosmic justice, prepaid debt and debt payable
This crazy little thread in HPFGU, on top of confirming my suspicion that folks there don't necessarily debate any more sensibly than those in any other forum (I mean, Dudley's "fat, ugly face"??? Come on!!!), also got me thinking about the way 'comeupance' seems to work in Rowling's universe
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I know! What a delightful bunch.
why do we have to even hear that Marietta is still hexed? Couldn't that have just been dropped?
The Marietta bit reminded me of Montague & the VC, as in, if Rowling expects me to laugh here then I must say we have very different sorts of sense of humor. So I am assuming that no, she really isn't just begging us to give Marietta's already half-dead dignity one more kick there!
Not in terms of liking the character or not, but in getting what he's doing and what he's about.
Exactly. When Dumbledore said he appreciated the difficulty of Draco's situation, I really felt he said it for a lot of Draco fans. We have never argued for people to find Draco likeable, for that's purely subjective, we have merely tried to put forward our view on how the text seemed to present him. I thought HBP has made it pretty clear whose view the author would agree with more, but I shall not go down the slippery slope of 'you just ( ... )
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It's especially disappointing because I made the mistake of assuming that a group with the name Grownups in it would actually be mature and rational. The little I have visited there has proved just the opposite.
In a way, Draco was prepaying for his later crimes both in the first five books (when he got ferret-bounced, when he got turned into a slug... etc), and in Rowling's interviews,
This truly bugs me as it allows for people to say his mistreatment is justified (giving absolution for every questionable act of the "heroes") and I am just like...no. Prepayment for a crime you have not yet perpetrated. What an ethical quagmire that is.
Would Sirius's twelve years of imprisonment be enough of an indirect punishment for his supposed unintended almost-murder of Snape, and his error of judgement that caused his best friends' death?I personally think it was more than enough punishment. Having a prison like Azkaban, especially with dementors, is ( ... )
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his mistreatment is justified (giving absolution for
every questionable act of the "heroes") and I am just
like...no. Prepayment for a crime you have not yet
perpetrated. What an ethical quagmire that is.
Yeah... That's why I am not agreeing with this system,
I am merely saying I think it exists in her books.
Also, some of the heroes' morally questionable
behaviors backfired on them (Hermione polyjuiced
herself into a cat, Harry got banned from playing
Quidditch, etc), and I am hoping that their
other such acts (for example Hermione's marking
Marietta) would come back and bite them on their
righteous little arses ;-P
So what I am saying is, as long as everyone who
does serious bad pays for said crime, I won't have too
huge a problem with this method.
I am wary of wanting to punish someone for how they
think with imprisonment and/or death.Oh sorry I didn't mean that Sirius deserved to die or anything because he didn't feel sorry for what he did to Snape and Lupin... That would be ( ... )
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I am merely saying I think it exists in her books
Heh...I didn't mean to imply that you did. It's just the possibility of this being the case for the books making me crazy.
some of the heroes' morally questionable
behaviors backfired on them
But have they learned anything from those instances? If they haven't (and it hasn't been demonstrated to me that they have), how are they any different from Sirius?
they were also the main causes of the very death.
*nods*
I'd say the victims' behaviors would have to change first
before these "good" kids realize what they'd done
I can't say this isn't what might happen, but I hate the very concept. Are these supposed to be our heroes? People who merely feel smug about disfiguring a fellow student. Do they not ever reconsider their actions from the standpoint of being humane beings?
I'd rather see the good kids finally owning up to their many errors, but I just don't see how Maybe I am doomed to disappointment, but I think one of these "good" ( ... )
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True! I am also of the opinion that it's more important that a wrong is recognized is a wrong, than getting characters punished but never learning from the experience... Maybe the 7th book will work differently, in that at least the more central kid characters actually grow up and become mature beings that very few adults in Potterverse have demonstrated to be?
Do they not ever reconsider their actions from the standpoint of being humane beings?
I shudder to think the Marietta incident would not be delt with in a much, much different light in book 7. It just has to! Cho's reactions then (compassion toward her friend, horror toward Hermione's actions) was reassurance enough- at least somebody was sane!
Maybe I am doomed to disappointment, but I think one of these "good" kids needs to do something which is indicted by the text.I hope so! After all there is just this ( ... )
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You really should come back, HBP has made the Draco corner of the fandom a much better place to dwell in!
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I am actually keeping an eye on Nott Jr. to turn out a very villainous villain, perhaps even endangering my precious Draco!
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