deathtocapslock | Marietta's Real Crime

mary-j-59.livejournal.com posting in

In the discussion about "The Centaur and the Sneak", Dracasdiablo made a very interesting point. She stated that Marietta was a bad friend to Cho. After thinking about this for a while, I have to admit that I actually agree. The quotes that follow will, I hope, make clear why I think this.

Those of us who know and love the Narnia books will remember this scene. Lucy, a young girl on the cusp of adolescence, has been given a dangerous task. She must go into a magician’s study and find a spell to make the invisible visible. The book she must read has a mind of its own, and some of the spells it shows her are very tempting to her. Having struggled bravely against one temptation, she gives in to another. She uses the book to listen to what two of her friends are saying about her:

"Shall I see anything of you this term?” said Anne, “or are you going to be all taken up with Lucy Pevensie?”

“Don’t know what you mean by ‘taken up’,” said Marjorie.

“Oh, yes you do,” said Anne. “You were crazy about her last term.”

“No, I wasn’t,” said Marjorie. “I’ve got more sense than that. Not a bad little kid in her way. But I was getting pretty tired of her before the end of term.”
(Dawn Treader, page 129)

Lucy is, of course, furious, and begins shouting at the book, forgetting for the moment that her friends can’t hear her. Shortly thereafter, she finds the spell she was searching for and reads it. Then Aslan comes to her.

“Child,” he said, “I think you have been eavesdropping.”

“Eavesdropping?”

“You listened to what your two schoolfellows were saying about you.”

“Oh that? I never thought it was eavesdropping, Aslan. Wasn’t it magic?”

“Spying on people by magic is the same as spying on them in any other way. And
you have misjudged your friend. She is weak, but she loves you. She was afraid of the older girl and said what she does not mean.” (Dawn Treader, page 132)

What has this to do with Marietta and Hermione? I think it lays out exactly what Marietta’s sin is. Like Marjorie, she is weak and gives in to peer pressure, against her own conscience. This is what puts her in a position where she will be forced to betray someone no matter what she does.

It’s very clear in OOTP that Marietta doesn’t want to come even to the first DA meeting. She’s there because her friend, Cho Chang, dragged her there. Like Marjorie with Anne, Marietta doesn’t stand up to Cho and tell her she isn’t coming. Like Marjorie, she gives in. Marietta signs a parchment even though it’s clear she has doubts. Like Marjorie, she is weak, and rather cowardly. Had she stood up to Cho and stayed away, or had she not signed the paper, she would have betrayed no one.

And Dracasdiablo is right. In giving in and not speaking her mind, Marietta is a poor friend to Cho. Basically, she succumbs to peer pressure, but makes her resentment clear. I can emphathize with her, but also with Cho. It isn’t Cho’s fault that Marietta fails to express her doubts. It’s Marietta’s. She really does do wrong; there’s no doubt about that.

But here’s the thing: succumbing to a friend’s pressure is all too human, and all too typical of young teens –whether they are 11or 12, like Marjorie, or 16, like Marietta. It’s a failing. But is it the sort of fault that merits being scarred for life? I don’t think so.

If you think about it, the whole Marietta episode shows us two contradictory messages about teen peer groups. On the one hand, Marietta is weak, like Marjorie, and should really have followed her conscience from the outset, rather than following her friend. On the other, she sides with adults against her peers – in schoolboy/schoolgirl parlance, she’s a tattletale. Which of these apparently contradictory crimes is she actually being punished for? The book makes it all too clear. She’s not punished for her real crime – being weak. She’s punished for the secondary act, which is, apparently, unforgivable. It’s unforgivable, in the Potterverse, for a teen to side with adults against other teens.

But the peer group is not sacred. As I said before, I cannot think it automatically wrong to “betray” a group of peers rather than one’s mother. And we need to judge the characters based on what they know in the story. We know, as readers, that Harry is telling the truth and that Voldemort has risen again. Characters in the book can’t be sure of this. They have to judge based on what they know of Harry. What does Marietta know? That her friend likes him. That’s really all we can state definitely. The second thing we can state is that the club was legal when Marietta joined. It wasn’t legal any more when she betrayed it. Circumstances had changed, and, in the real world, that is often enough to void a contract.

Summing up, I can see Dracasdiablo’s point. Marietta is indeed weak. But, if I were forced to choose between her and Hermione, based on their actions regarding the DA – well, I honestly have more sympathy for Marietta.

The quotes from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader are taken from the MacMillan Hardcover edition, 6th printing, 1965

Current Mood: thoughtful

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sunnyskywalker

They're reluctant even to tell about things the authority figures they don't like are doing wrong (unless it's Snape), which is weird. What if Harry had told another teacher - McGonagall or Flitwick, say - about Umbridge's blood quill instead of trying to hide it even from his friends? I mean, I think it's probably an accurate dynamic for a troubled, abused kid who's now run into a new abuser, but then, he isn't the only victim of the blood quill, and none of the other kids seem to tell either. What's up with that? Is the school culture so bad that kids expect to be physically injured by teachers as a matter of course, and that complaining will not get them any help and might get them in trouble? And more importantly, why doesn't the book ever address the issue in any way? Even Harry realized he could have called Sirius with the mirror, so why didn't anyone go, "Gee, maybe if we'd tried talking to McGonagall, Umbridge might have been publicly disgraced ages ago and we would have had a lot fewer problems, oops"?

Yeah, I think we just don't have enough information on what Marietta did, said, and thought for the last few months and when she turned in the DA to make any definitive judgments. And if she isn't proven guilty of being a horrible person, I can't consider her one.

From:

the-bitter-word.livejournal.com

Is the school culture so bad that kids expect to be physically injured by teachers as a matter of course, and that complaining will not get them any help and might get them in trouble?

Actually, I wonder if teachers at Hogwarts encourage students to come to them with complaints no matter how devastating the subject matter. When Harry brings his dire concerns about about Snape to Hagrid and Dumbledore, he's brushed off as talking nonsense (which he is). Does he confide in other adults? He tells the Marauders some things, but their interest in having Harry like them makes them poor guides. He sees an ally in Fake Moody, so there's an unreliable adult there. He tries to tell Snape one thing, then loses confidence in him. Of course, Harry's not hated for his failed attempts to try to tell/get information from adults.

It goes to the whole lesser status of minors in general, and the staple of youth literature, the plucky kids who have to make it on their own in the face of adult indifference or incompetence. But even if teachers don't have a chance to prevent harm, teachers will use recent examples to get their students to think about issues. After the fact, do we hear of any teacher condemning either Hermione or Marietta? Well, that's probably just poor writing -- the story line was over, except for the mirth at the continued scars, and most teachers were largely irrelevant. Just look at Charity Burbage.

I think MJ59 is right, it's the viewpoint of never tell an adult anything, whatsa matta can't take it, never betray your gang. So you get this polarized and violent secret society with a triumphalist mentality, where Hermione prevailed so she was right all along, and never mind the damaged or dead. Winner!

Compare this to Draco, who apparently tells his parents when he gets injured and is roundly sneered-at for it, then goes to an even bigger adult authority and gets a killer gang initiation. Loser.

I sometimes wonder what kind of messages these books send to young readers about right and wrong, might and cooperation. I've heard some not-so-good things from teachers, actually.

From:

oryx_leucoryx

I sometimes wonder what kind of messages these books send to young readers about right and wrong, might and cooperation. I've heard some not-so-good things from teachers, actually.

You have actual examples of students inspired by the HP books to questionable behavior? I'm interested to read about that.

From:

sunnyskywalker

So am I. There's been actual instances of kids internalizing bad messages? I would have hoped they'd just ignore it and focus on the trolls and dragons.

Harry I can understand - he's grown up in an environment where no adult will help him, and might actively harm him. But the other kids, especially the Muggleborn kids? When we know there are dangerous bullies and criminal teachers pretty much every year causing all kinds of damage, yet still no one ever seems to ask for help? Something is very wrong.

The Muggleborn kids probably learn quickly, though. In third year, Hermione told the teachers about Harry's broom which it seemed quite reasonable to assume was of shady origins, but by fifth year, she's setting up disfiguring jinxes for telling on something which (at the time she arranged the jinx) wouldn't have even gotten them in much trouble, if any, because as she pointed out it was perfectly within the rules.

From:

the-bitter-word.livejournal.com

You have actual examples of students inspired by the HP books to questionable behavior? I'm interested to read about that.

There were two teachers at Azkatraz in 2009 who said they had students who were rowdy and belligerent, and justified their behavior through HP characters. The teachers had a lot to say on the subject, but some listeners shouted down their experiences. The teachers made their comments as part of the People vs. JKR event, which was high-spirited all around.

I actually work with educators. I should probably ask around my workplace.

From:

sunnyskywalker

Yikes. I'd be very interested to hear what your coworkers say.

Of course kids will come up with any excuse, but it sure is interesting that they picked that...

From:

mary-j-59.livejournal.com

That's fascinating - and a bit disturbing. In my experience, the "Gryffindor" types are naive readers who truly seem to think that Harry, Hermione, the Marauders, etc., are "good". The horribly mixed (even toxic) messages about prejudice, ethics, relationships, etc, just seem to pass them by. It's really pretty disturbing that some children ARE picking them up and acting on them.

Thanks for the info! If you do have more specifics, that would be very interesting.

From:

charlottehywd.livejournal.com

I seem to hear this sort of thing a lot, and weirdly, mainly from people who ought to know better. Recently I had a conversation with a classmate who was standing up for the rights of marginalized peoples only a moment before, but was quick to defend HP from the charges of prejudice, paternalism and bad ethics. I don't get it.