I can't help but like Dumbledore because he's kooky and he means well, and he seems to be saner than most other people with as much power (I mean, compare him with Riddle or Malfoy or Fudge or any of the others). It's like... any mistakes he makes aren't as bad as they could be, and there are necessary evils and small slides of corruption, but like, at least he's not running an evil dictatorship or something. He's kind whenever he can be, I think, and he does have a certain healthy amount of self-awareness. He's the most powerful wizard in the world, supposedly, and that can't possibly sit easy on his shoulders. He must be tempted to do more, holds himself back a lot, and realize that he's powerless in a lot of cases, and realize that he's especially fallible whenever his emotions get involved. He does -have- emotions, though, which is I think what makes him the contrast he is to Riddle, see. Like, okay, his care for Harry has led him down some pretty murky paths, maybe, but that's still so much better than not loving at all and only hating, like Riddle. Or something.
I think more than anything about Dumbledore, that's what's supposed to be reassuring about him-- that he's just an old man who's tired, who sometimes cares too much and who doesn't have many checks and balances on what he does, so he muddles along, really. He's not doing that bad, I don't think, and then there's Harry, who can step in if he really needs to.
I think the people who have the worst issues with Dumbledore just don't see him as realistic-- you know, the benevolent monarch-- but then, Riddle isn't realistic either. They're basically different sides of the same coin, since they're semi-equal in power. Anyway, the author is always going to have total power and almost total knowledge, and it's obviously not really related to good and evil-- it's just theoretical power, kind of pure. I was just comparing her to Dumbledore because of that degree of conscious awareness she has, the way she plans everything out. I dunno if Riddle thinks nearly as hard about the things he does. I mean, there's something he -wants- and he goes after it, he schemes for it, but he doesn't really run through scenarios wholesale. That would be my guess.
Your take on Harry & Draco's opposing relationships with their father figures I agree with completely, of course. I think you've mentioned before, how Harry's all about positive attention and rejecting negative reinforcement and being choosy, while Draco's already all set for a love/hate relationship 'cause he already has one with his father. Even similar rejection/attention issues. It's like, what they expect from relationships is diametrically opposed. Not to say it's incompatible, 'cause I don't know if Draco -wants- the whole mixed signals thing, he's probably just used to it. Though it's interesting, 'cause his parents' flaky attention hasn't resulted in him being off and on himself. Rather the opposite, isn't it?
So maybe in my little fantasy world, he can give Harry just the sort of predictable, steady stream of attention Harry would want/need/expect, and actually, I think Harry would be the flakier one, the one with the periods where he wants to be left alone, when he's distant. Ha. Not that he'd ever go away completely, and Draco's already used to the whole dynamic so maybe he could handle it. Man. I'm so totally going where no part of JKR's mind had gone before ^^;
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2004-03-23 04:21 pm (UTC)I think more than anything about Dumbledore, that's what's supposed to be reassuring about him-- that he's just an old man who's tired, who sometimes cares too much and who doesn't have many checks and balances on what he does, so he muddles along, really. He's not doing that bad, I don't think, and then there's Harry, who can step in if he really needs to.
I think the people who have the worst issues with Dumbledore just don't see him as realistic-- you know, the benevolent monarch-- but then, Riddle isn't realistic either. They're basically different sides of the same coin, since they're semi-equal in power. Anyway, the author is always going to have total power and almost total knowledge, and it's obviously not really related to good and evil-- it's just theoretical power, kind of pure. I was just comparing her to Dumbledore because of that degree of conscious awareness she has, the way she plans everything out. I dunno if Riddle thinks nearly as hard about the things he does. I mean, there's something he -wants- and he goes after it, he schemes for it, but he doesn't really run through scenarios wholesale. That would be my guess.
Your take on Harry & Draco's opposing relationships with their father figures I agree with completely, of course. I think you've mentioned before, how Harry's all about positive attention and rejecting negative reinforcement and being choosy, while Draco's already all set for a love/hate relationship 'cause he already has one with his father. Even similar rejection/attention issues. It's like, what they expect from relationships is diametrically opposed. Not to say it's incompatible, 'cause I don't know if Draco -wants- the whole mixed signals thing, he's probably just used to it. Though it's interesting, 'cause his parents' flaky attention hasn't resulted in him being off and on himself. Rather the opposite, isn't it?
So maybe in my little fantasy world, he can give Harry just the sort of predictable, steady stream of attention Harry would want/need/expect, and actually, I think Harry would be the flakier one, the one with the periods where he wants to be left alone, when he's distant. Ha. Not that he'd ever go away completely, and Draco's already used to the whole dynamic so maybe he could handle it. Man. I'm so totally going where no part of JKR's mind had gone before ^^;