Harry Potter and the Death Cult
Dec. 2nd, 2011 01:45 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockSo recently I was reading this (actually really excellent) Pokemon fanfic, which appears to have been an attempt to iron out a rather confusing Pokedex entry. Basically, the fanfic revolves around the idea that a certain species of Pokemon has a custom that all young male members of the community must kill their own mothers as a rite of passage. Anyone who can’t do it is disgraced and treated as vermin for the rest of his life- failure to kill your own mother is considered a sign of despicable cowardice. The more I thought about this fic, the more I realized that there’s a similar parallel in Harry Potter- except that instead of the message being, “If you’re truly a real man and worthy of belonging, you’ll kill your own family on instruction,” it’s “If you’re truly brave, a true Gryffindor, you’ll kill yourself on instruction.”
In Harry Potter we see characters committing ritual suicide on just about any pretext. We see people kill themselves to protect their family (Lily and James), to escape a bad boss (Regulus), as a strategic ploy (Dumbledore), and even to vanquish their enemies (Harry). Granted, it’s quite possible that these people were better off dead than otherwise, given the circumstances; but still, it does seem to be a pattern.
Consider the fate of Lily Potter nee Evans. She dies to protect her son, and in doing so, grants him special love protection. Now, it’s stressed again and again that Lily’s sacrifice was so noble and granted Harry the protection specifically because Voldemort offered her a choice about whether or not to live. And it was noble of her to die for her child- but it also established a pattern that the books’ attitudes towards death reinforce: if you’re in big enough trouble, trouble you can’t escape from any other way, die. Preferably as prettily and dramatically as you can manage.
Then there’s Regulus. There was another essay on here in which someone, I think it was Terri Testing, puts it out there that Regulus’s search for Slytherin’s locket was not to have the locket destroyed, but to, effectively, commit ritual suicide rather than serve Voldemort any longer. And for this the heroes emphatically reward him.
Now consider Peter Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew is easily one of the most confusing characters Harry Potter ever gave us. He’s pretty much the only Gryffindor who’s never presented in a remotely positive light (at least not once his identity becomes known). The main reason given for this (both by the author and her fans) is that he’s a coward who betrayed Lily and James rather than be killed by Voldemort (granted, we don’t actually know how much of this is true, since the evidence of his cowardice is rather conflicting and since we never get his side of the story- just the main characters’ assumptions). Tellingly, when Sirius confronts him, he specifically goes out of his ways to say that, had Sirius been in his situation, he would have willingly died rather than betray his friends (the fact that Peter easily would have been better off dead than with Voldemort is largely beside the point here, since it’s only DE’s, and never anyone who could be counted among the “good guys” who serve Voldemort out of fear).
And then there’s Phineas Nigellus, who makes the statement about Slytherins choosing to save their own necks. This in and of itself is taken as reason to regard Slytherins as contemptible cravens- they won’t kill themselves for any greater good they can come up with (and you could argue that one of the downsides of “ambition” is that you’re motivated to stay around and wait for things to turn in your favor, rather than the Gryffindorish “bravery” of permanently ending your problems through death).
To return to the fanfic I read earlier, like most pieces of media dealing with death cults from the inside, the fanfic mostly just illustrates how things are done- it doesn’t take a stance on the morality of the characters’ actions, and the narrator is genuinely conflicted about killing someone he loves so much- but not enough to stop himself from doing it. What makes Harry Potter’s death cult so freaky is that it really does seem as though suicide is treated, not merely as a cornerstone of wizarding culture but *objectively good and righteous.* Throughout the series we meet literally no suicide bombers among the villains (despite the fact that the DE’s are terrorists, and terrorists in the modern world are notorious for suicide bombing). No, the only suicide bomber we meet (so to speak) is Harry Potter- who’s supposed to be the hero we’re meant to admire!
So, yeah.
In Harry Potter we see characters committing ritual suicide on just about any pretext. We see people kill themselves to protect their family (Lily and James), to escape a bad boss (Regulus), as a strategic ploy (Dumbledore), and even to vanquish their enemies (Harry). Granted, it’s quite possible that these people were better off dead than otherwise, given the circumstances; but still, it does seem to be a pattern.
Consider the fate of Lily Potter nee Evans. She dies to protect her son, and in doing so, grants him special love protection. Now, it’s stressed again and again that Lily’s sacrifice was so noble and granted Harry the protection specifically because Voldemort offered her a choice about whether or not to live. And it was noble of her to die for her child- but it also established a pattern that the books’ attitudes towards death reinforce: if you’re in big enough trouble, trouble you can’t escape from any other way, die. Preferably as prettily and dramatically as you can manage.
Then there’s Regulus. There was another essay on here in which someone, I think it was Terri Testing, puts it out there that Regulus’s search for Slytherin’s locket was not to have the locket destroyed, but to, effectively, commit ritual suicide rather than serve Voldemort any longer. And for this the heroes emphatically reward him.
Now consider Peter Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew is easily one of the most confusing characters Harry Potter ever gave us. He’s pretty much the only Gryffindor who’s never presented in a remotely positive light (at least not once his identity becomes known). The main reason given for this (both by the author and her fans) is that he’s a coward who betrayed Lily and James rather than be killed by Voldemort (granted, we don’t actually know how much of this is true, since the evidence of his cowardice is rather conflicting and since we never get his side of the story- just the main characters’ assumptions). Tellingly, when Sirius confronts him, he specifically goes out of his ways to say that, had Sirius been in his situation, he would have willingly died rather than betray his friends (the fact that Peter easily would have been better off dead than with Voldemort is largely beside the point here, since it’s only DE’s, and never anyone who could be counted among the “good guys” who serve Voldemort out of fear).
And then there’s Phineas Nigellus, who makes the statement about Slytherins choosing to save their own necks. This in and of itself is taken as reason to regard Slytherins as contemptible cravens- they won’t kill themselves for any greater good they can come up with (and you could argue that one of the downsides of “ambition” is that you’re motivated to stay around and wait for things to turn in your favor, rather than the Gryffindorish “bravery” of permanently ending your problems through death).
To return to the fanfic I read earlier, like most pieces of media dealing with death cults from the inside, the fanfic mostly just illustrates how things are done- it doesn’t take a stance on the morality of the characters’ actions, and the narrator is genuinely conflicted about killing someone he loves so much- but not enough to stop himself from doing it. What makes Harry Potter’s death cult so freaky is that it really does seem as though suicide is treated, not merely as a cornerstone of wizarding culture but *objectively good and righteous.* Throughout the series we meet literally no suicide bombers among the villains (despite the fact that the DE’s are terrorists, and terrorists in the modern world are notorious for suicide bombing). No, the only suicide bomber we meet (so to speak) is Harry Potter- who’s supposed to be the hero we’re meant to admire!
So, yeah.
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no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 05:17 pm (UTC)We don't know what actually happened between them, is my point. Anything could have gone down. And assuming that because she was ugly she necessarily raped Riddle is a variant of a very old, very misogynistic trope. It makes me ragey when Dumbledore plays it, and I really hate to see it being taken up without question, especially given the suspicion of Dumbledore generally expressed here. I'm not trying to attack you, sorry if it comes across that way. I'm just trying to point out the problem of assuming Dumbledore's correct in his assumptions.
But word on the flip-flop regarding death as weakness.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 06:17 pm (UTC)You're right, I'd forgotten that. Dumbledore really is good at this half-truth/lies business, isn't he?
no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 06:43 pm (UTC)And in Merope's defense, even if she used a love potion, where in the wizarding world would she have gotten the idea that that was wrong? We know that in the 19990s Fred and George are selling them openly and legally, Lockhart can talk about them as romantic Valentine's Day fun in public and no one will contradict him even later in private, Molly Weasley made one and it's still something to giggle about, and Hermione thinks they aren't dark or dangerous - which probably means that none of the books she's read say they're dark or dangerous, and none of the Hogwarts professors have ever said anything against them either until Slughorn comes along in sixth year and says they're dangerous. And even he isn't too emphatic about it, given that none of his generations of previous students - basically all of the adults - seem at all worried about them. So, while we might wish that Merope could reason out what seems to us like a basic ethical principle for herself even if the world around her was saying differently, it doesn't actually show that she's much worse than, say, Romilda Vane. (And what do you suppose Romilda would have done to Harry if she succeeded in dosing him? And would she have gotten in any trouble at all for it?)
no subject
Date: 2011-12-03 08:30 pm (UTC)Since we never get her side of the story it's possible that Tom Rid Sr did agree to it of his own free will- but with no intention of it being a permanent thing. Hell, he might have thought she was a prostitute for all we know!
no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 12:50 am (UTC)If that's the case, then maybe it makes sense for Dumbledore to assume that Merope just did what many young witches would, like Romilda and Molly. Molly might even have succeeded, for all we know. Except Merope was ugly and inbred and her family was mean, so it isn't something for schoolgirls to giggle over when she does it, or a sign that she could be a great entrepreneur if she sold it in pretty bottles for others to do the same thing. That doesn't reflect well on wizarding culture.
And it still doesn't mean he's right. No way to know.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 12:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 03:57 pm (UTC)I think the problem here may be that you can't have sex in the Potterverse without being married first.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 05:59 pm (UTC)We can think of several scenarios where Tom Sr. might have had sex with Merope without the use of a love potion, but, as you say, it's very unlikely that he would have willingly married her.
However, unlike in the real world, it isn't an option for characters in the Potterverse to have sex outside of marriage. Thus, Rowling started with the premise that Merope and Tom Sr. were married before they had sex as she developed the story, hence Merope's need for a love potion.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 07:29 pm (UTC)Apparently in the potter universe for a woman the highest goal is to get married and spew out some rugrats.
Hell, look at McGonagall, I never thought she was ever married and low and behold JKR gives info on the Pottermore site about her being married.
Every character gotta get JKR's matchmaker makeovers. No way Tonks you can't be alone, here HAVE a werewolf to make your life miserable.
You can't be happy without a lovekins to wed and heaven forbid you fall in love and the person doesn't love you back; that calls for a blood letting on a dirty shack floor or death after popping out an evil overloard baby.
no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 09:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-05 07:50 pm (UTC)What. The hell.
Where the hell did this come from? Where the hell did it fit in? What the hell was it relevant to? Is this what JKR meant when she dodged the question about whether any teachers were married?
I don't know. On the one hand I'm glad that McGonagal's portrayed as a woman who moved on from the ending of a marriage* and wasn't defined by her man, on the other hand, why did she even need a marriage, and if JKR wants any credit for it, PUT IT IN THE BOOK! And even looked at charitably, it still comes across as yet another example of Rowling attempting to control interpretations of her characters. Unnecessary and stupid, but with a part of it that can be interpreted in a good way that is nonetheless contradicted by the rest of her work - sums up most of the series, doesn't it?
no subject
Date: 2011-12-07 02:42 am (UTC)JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-05 10:42 pm (UTC)Re: JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-05 10:51 pm (UTC)Could go either way with JKR...
Re: JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-06 03:12 am (UTC)At least, I can't see how else to take that, from an in-story perspective. From a Doylist perspective, probably JKR hadn't thought about it at all in GoF when she threw it in as a joke, and changed her mind by HBP. At least under some circumstances?
Re: JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-06 05:32 am (UTC)Re: JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-06 08:55 pm (UTC)Didn't JKR say something about how Romilda and Cormac were examples for bad Gryffindors? I guess they're still only mildly bad, being Gryffindor and all.
Pettigrew? Who cares about Peter? He was too pathetic to even be properly hated. Pettigrew was clearly sorted too soon.
Re: JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-07 02:45 am (UTC)Re: JKR's word
Date: 2011-12-07 02:44 am (UTC)So, it's only OK if her author avatar (Hermione) does it? Or Ginny the super speshul. Wow, you can tell who the favored characters are here.