dumbledore in the fans' eyes
read some of the 'fan-fic' stuff out there this weekend. wow. like a whole world of people writing stories about characters they didn't create. a bit hard to get my head around really. some of them were quite delightful. some ho hum. some ridiculous. lol.
i was struck though with how many of them when written in a 'post OotP' or 'post HBP' fashion are quite scathing in their portrayal of Dumbledore, or rather in the attitudes they give some of the characters towards him.
it does spotlight the frustration with how guarded he was in sharing information with harry, and the rather oblique way he was guiding him. but i was still rather taken aback at this simmering resentment ....
there aren't many (fan fics that i have read - understanding that is a small number of the whole) that take into account the overwhelming affection and devotion he also expresses for harry, the graciousness and faith in what 'lies beneath', and the slightly dotty sense of humour (reminds me SO much of my granny....)
i was just breathless with sadness when i read of his demise in hbp. it was forshadowed a lot (as i refer to in my notes to self post), but still came as a bit of a shock. (if the stoppered death thing comes true in book 7 i will enjoy that immensely i think).
the only other time i remember being so aghast at 'losing' a fictional character was robinton in the pern books, and that was more expected, but still heartbreaking.
so anyway, is this how many hp fans see dumbledore? as a controlling and manipulative person who severely underestimated harry?
jo
i was struck though with how many of them when written in a 'post OotP' or 'post HBP' fashion are quite scathing in their portrayal of Dumbledore, or rather in the attitudes they give some of the characters towards him.
it does spotlight the frustration with how guarded he was in sharing information with harry, and the rather oblique way he was guiding him. but i was still rather taken aback at this simmering resentment ....
there aren't many (fan fics that i have read - understanding that is a small number of the whole) that take into account the overwhelming affection and devotion he also expresses for harry, the graciousness and faith in what 'lies beneath', and the slightly dotty sense of humour (reminds me SO much of my granny....)
i was just breathless with sadness when i read of his demise in hbp. it was forshadowed a lot (as i refer to in my notes to self post), but still came as a bit of a shock. (if the stoppered death thing comes true in book 7 i will enjoy that immensely i think).
the only other time i remember being so aghast at 'losing' a fictional character was robinton in the pern books, and that was more expected, but still heartbreaking.
so anyway, is this how many hp fans see dumbledore? as a controlling and manipulative person who severely underestimated harry?
jo
posted by jkr2 | 9:51 pm
6 Comments:
My guess is that, when Snape is torn down, Dumbledore is because HIS faith in Snape is what so many of us are depending on for our faith in Snape (and this goes in the series as well)
I am biding my time waiting. But I have already realized if it turns out that Snape was NOT worthy of the faith Dumbledore put in him, it IS going to effect my feeling for Dumbledore when I reread the book. Instead of a wise, kind old man, I'll see him more as a stubborn fool unwilling to see the opinions of those around him as of as much value as his own when it came to a Big Shining Out Problem like Snape.
i dunno. love is always a risk. and i think dumbledore is really open about that. he is always open to the fact that he could be making mistakes.
but i can see what you mean about retrospectively changing how you view him with the new information.
jo
I agree with Jo, I think that even if Snape is a total baddie that DD was not so much "duped" as that he took a risk, a risk he had to take. IF Snape is a baddie he had to take the risk because the stakes were so high, if Snape is a baddie then the stakes are exactly the eternal destiny of one human soul. And also think that the portrait hole to eternal destiny is not open till the fat lady says (my adaptation of "it aint over till the fat lady sings") ... the game is not over yet, even if Snape did genuinely murder DD out of hatred, I think that the fact that DD willingly made himself vulnerable to Snape will not be lost on Snape by the end, it will affect him.
In other words, my opinions on whether or not Snape was bad when he appeared to kill Dumbledore are not as strong as my feeling that Snape will be good by the end of the series, whether he was taht way in book 6 or not. I really think this is "existentialist" literature, a story of "becoming" and transformation. The converse of what I have said above about Snape as a baddie is true as well ... even if he is committedly working for the side of the good - he's no angel (in fact, that really is one of the core things about human beings - we're neither complete saint nor complete sinner until we die because we are not angelic beings, we are human ones. Angels make one singular choice that encompasses their entire existence ... we make many choices stretched throughout our time-bound lives) ... Snape has a definite bad attitude toward Harry, and vice-versa ... both with have to undergo some purgation and reformation in regards to their attitude towards the other by the end of it all.
Of course, using a term like "eternal destiny" brings into the discussion an element that has not been there formally, at least in a fully concrete way. Rowling does get into it somehwat though in the book 5 conversation between Harry and Nick about Sirius coming back as a ghost, and the fact that it's pretty obvious that Sirius did go somehwere, even if the concepts of heaven and hell are not discussed formally in the series. And being as the manner of one's life and death makes a difference as to whether, after death, one stays at the same level (becomes a ghost like Nick) or "goes up" (Sirius' going "someplace else") it stands to reason that it is likely, by extension, that there is more than one "someplace else" to go and that the manner in which you lived your life plays into which "someplace else" you go to, "up" or "down."
here's an interesting set of images from book 5 that just hit me, regarding "up" and "down" destinations ... when Harry is trying to distract Moody from asking about his dream of the snake attack, on the way to ST Mungos, he asks where the place is etc ... Moody notes a REALLY interesting fact "we couldn't build it underground like the Ministry ... not healthy" ... now, in the ministry though, the windows are bewithced to appear like outdoors above ground, so why the problem? There is a sort of limitation to magic, there are some affects of reality that magic cannot trump, if you are REALLY underground, then you are really undergound ... magic can change the appearacne but not the reality and in some cases like real maladies (not just workplace lighting and doldrums) you need real reality
love your portrait hole and fat lady references. (snigger)
i am of your mind, merlin, re dumbledore's choices and the risks etc.
there are times when you gotta play the big odds. with high stakes, but high returns possible.
(marriage comes to mind despite myself. you are taking a risk, committing to someone who may or may not rise to meet the hopes/expectations that choice puts on them.
i guess the unique thing there is that the other person is doing the same for you.)
i am also thinking a similar thing, that even if snape is intending evil, it *can* still be worked for good. the same comes to mind for draco. there is still a chance for him to lose his dragon skin and become a new boy!
re the limitations of magic - that is one of the charming things about discovering how someone creates a world. what are the parameters of the powers? etc (did i spell that correctly???)
i enjoyed reading an interview with jkr where she spoke about that.
someone was asking about why harry still needs glasses - why can't that just be healed. why does mad eye have to look so bizarre.
but instead of taking away from the reality, that adds a poignancy to it i think.
just as harry has to come to that realization that coming into the magical world doesn't just mean it's a *better* world, it's just a different one.
i still love dumbledore.
jo
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