Let's Read Tales Of Beedle The Bard: Part Three: The Warlock's Hairy Heart.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Because I'm having horrible writer's block regarding a Matthew Stover poem, I've decided to update my Tales of Beedle The Bard recaps! :D

Kyoshi Warrior gear, don't fail me now...



Summary Of The Story: Guy doesn't want to fall in love -- because he kind of thinks that falling in love is for pussies. :P -- so he seals his heart away in a distant room. Fair maiden arrives to help him out. Guy's hairy heart (?!) causes him to start falling in lust or something (?!?!?!?!), so he kills the maiden and then himself. Reader is left to mop up the chunks of brain that have shot out her nose. :P

Dumbledore's Commentary: Nothing too offensive so far...mostly seems that Dumbledore's commenting on how disturbing the tale is, and an anecdote of Beatrix Bloxam being traumatized by the story as a kid, which pretty much started off her...crusade, so to speak (and even though I know I'm not supposed to like her, that story just makes me smile, because it's one of those rare instances real life seems to seep in. *Pets her and gives her warm milk* :) Which sums up most of Rowling's so-called "unlikeable" characters, IMHO). Preaching on about "the power of love", blah blah blah...look, Dumbles, if it weren't for the way the Power of Love was presented in the books, I'd probably find your interpretation pretty credible.

Ironically, it's one of those moments when I welcome the commentary, if only because the story was really, really confusing. Which absolutely kills me.


Dumbles Rage-O-Meter: 5. In tolerable range. And if *that's* normal range...yeah, be very afraid. :P








So yeah...this is probably the point THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD starts to go a little wacky. Be very afraid. :P

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

You know, since at the time probably even wizards hadn't figured out about germs yet, women dying in childbirth would still be common for them, and a wizard might rationally decide not to play Russian Roulette with someone's life like that. And figure the kids would die of plague even if they lived. So he would instead devote his life to study and close friendships, or at least romance with non-reproductive sex, and live happily ever after.

I think this story works very well as an old fairy tale, in that some of them do have horrible implications. It would make sense for an old story to be all, "Not marrying means there's something wrong with you! You must have cut out your heart!" (You still see plenty of that attitude even today...) A good commentary would point this out. Dumbledore not doing this is actually a very good way of revealing his issues, so if by some chance JKR actually meant it to show how screwed up some old fairy tale morals were, and how screwed up Dumbledore is, it actually works pretty well!

[danajsparks.livejournal.com]

It always comes back to this. Is JKR aware of how screwed up Dumbledore is?

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately no. And therein lies the problem. :/

[sunnyskywalker]

Does that make this a meta-horror story, where the commentary on the original horror story hints at another horror story concerning the commenter? I think we can read it that way, even if JKR didn't plan it.