Merope's Plight and Dumbledore's Analyses Revisited

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

So I was originally going to save this for my abridged series, but since I’m afraid I’ll forget if I leave it for that long, here it is now.

I know much has been made of the fact that Dumbledore essentially blames Merope for the whole Voldemort drama and says that she’s a coward just because she died. For her child. Uh-huh.

But anyway, Dumbledore most infamously declares Merope a coward because she happens to die in childbirth. As someone who abuses that trope (dying in childbirth, I mean) like a horribly addictive drug, especially in fanfic, I have a few thoughts on that.

What it really seems to boil down to is that Dumbledore thinks Merope should be blamed for even allowing Voldie to exist (whether this has any basis in Rowling’s head or if it’s entirely Dumbledore’s opinion is up for debate here). This actually kind-of reminds me of a headcanon I worked out for a particularly nasty villain I took a shine to awhile back. In my headcanon (which is neither confirmed nor denied by the original movie) this character has a mother who dies in childbirth much like Merope. The backstory is that her boyfriend/husband/whatever is dead and she wants to have a child to keep around in his memory. But she has a really difficult pregnancy and it kills her. If you were feeling philosophical, you could raise questions about whether she was in the right to go through with something which she had good reason to suspect would kill her, all for the sake of a child who ultimately grows up to be an evil jerk whom only a small proportion of the fandom even likes.

This of course assuming she could have known the last part (which she wouldn’t have, especially since in my stories I almost always shy away from determinism of any sort—psychology comes first in explaining a villain’s behavior).

So, where does Merope fit in with all this? Merope decides to have a child which ends up not only killing her, but growing up to be an evil jerk who kills a lot of people for no reason and loses his soul until his personality is that of a cardboard box. Here’s the thing, though: logically she could have had no idea what her child would go on to do. Assuming, that is, the determinism which the Harry Potter world just reeks of is something known only to Dumbledore and a few others.

What if determinism is common knowledge, though? What if, in reality, everyone has some inkling that things like moral virtue are inherited and your family really will determine what you act like for all eternity? If that’s the case then Merope might possibly have a clue that any children she had would be evil just because she was ugly, had a bad family, and was related to Salazar Slytherin. If, that is, she even had the intelligence to grasp the concept of determinism, fully believed in it and did not dismiss it as coincidence, and that she knew the scope of what Voldie would eventually do.

But whatever. Even assuming that all that is true and she clearly knew that her child, which she felt so compelled to die for, would do morally reprehensible things, then that might make her stupid, and it might make her selfish too (“my own heir is so much more important to me than the lives of all the innocent victims he’ll ultimately slaughter”) but it doesn’t make her cowardly. Not if she had any inkling that she might die (again, contrary to Rowling’s simplistic portrayal of things, bravery is not always good. It’s perfectly possible to be brave and evil).

This is one reason why TVTropes’ portrayal of Harry Potter makes me so furious. Voldemort is clearly who he is because of how evil his family supposedly was, yet they still insist that his behavior is traceable to nurture when it’s clearly meant to be nature!

Anyway, Dumbledore’s comments about Merope are not only mean-spirited; they just plain make no sense! But since he puts it out there that women who die in childbirth are cowardly, think about what that says about maternal mortality statistics worldwide.

Oh, and I apologize in advance if I offend anyone with anything below. It’s meant to be satire and I know very well that a high rate of dying in childbirth is a very bad thing.

Women in Afghanistan must be, in large part, Slytherins or otherwise cowardly, since they have the highest rate of maternal mortality in the sample.

Also, Africa is primarily comprised of Slytherins and cowards. Betcha didn’t know that (well there was a special magic snake Rowling makes mention of in “Fantastic Beasts,” which is originally from Burkina Faso; stay tuned, BTW)!

In addition, while American women are on the whole braver and more Gryffindorish than women in most developing nations, they still have an embarrassingly high rate of evil cowards and Slytherins compared to women in the majority of developed nations, including most of Europe, Japan, and South Korea.

But you wanna know some pure, brave, and true-hearted good countries? One such country is Greece! Women rarely die in childbirth there at all. I guess you’d have to be brave to live in Greece with all the Chimaeras and Manticores lurking around. Iceland is another one, so it looks like I’ll be well protected and looked after when I visit Iceland this summer, yes/yes?

Then again, I said I like Slytherins so maybe not. Fortunately I myself am extremely unlikely to die in childbirth since I don’t plan to ever have kids.

Note: most of this information is based on statistics that the CIA world factbook published in 2008, so I don’t know how reliable it is now. But it seemed to work well enough for my purposes.

Comments

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

I personally think Dumbledore has issues with women. :/ That or he's so used to seeing the Slytherins as evil monsters that he can't fathom the idea they may actually love their child/children (especially since Merope was trying to give Tom a better life). The latter's more likely, though.

[sunnyskywalker]

You could make a decent argument that Merope - if there were any chance at all for her to survive, which we don't know there was - had enough self-loathing to think Tom would be better off without her. Even if she had survived, maybe she would have left him in that orphanage because she thought random Muggles would make better caretakers than stupid, talentless Merope whom no one could ever love (as she may have considered herself - not too unlikely given her background). If she had any inkling that drugging Tom Sr. was wrong (if that's what she did), she may also have thought getting away from magic would give Tom a better chance of developing a moral compass. It's not like any of the magical people we know she had met would have given her the impression that wizards could teach kids to grow up decent people.

And if Harry letting himself die to save people is heroic, and Lily letting herself die to save her son is heroic, then why wouldn't Merope letting herself die to save her son be heroic? (Not that Lily or Merope probably had much choice in reality, but in Dumbledore's head they might have.)

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Well, obviously because Merope wasn't a Gryffindor -- nor beautiful and talented and feisty like Lily. At least in Dumbledore's eyes. *Sighs*

But on a lighter note (slightly), very interesting points about why Merope may have left Tom at the orphanage! Seriously.

[wolf-willow31.livejournal.com]

Voldemort is clearly who he is because of how evil his family supposedly was, yet they still insist that his behavior is traceable to nurture when it’s clearly meant to be nature!

So they want to think it's just a coincidence that he was the Heir of Slytherin, as well as an offspring of the evil, degenerate Gaunts and some stupid rich muggles? And he was just evil because his cowardly mother didn't bother to stick around to nurture him properly? Like Harry's mother didn't? Or was it that wonderful nurturing that Harry got from the Dursleys that made the difference for him. Or the nurturing that Harry got from Dumbles (but Tom didn't). *head spins*

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

Maybe they think that the “nurture” part either comes from the fact that Tom grew up in a dreary orphanage (even though Mrs. Cole told Dumbledore that Tom was a ‘funny baby’) or from the fact that at Hogwarts, he was “spoiled” because all of the teachers except Dumbledore liked him. Except that if it’s the latter, then the responsibility still falls on Dumbledore’s shoulders because he didn’t tell anybody about what he learned about Tom from the orphanage.

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

"Maybe they think that the “nurture” part either comes from the fact that Tom grew up in a dreary orphanage (even though Mrs. Cole told Dumbledore that Tom was a ‘funny baby’)"

The overwhelming opinion seems to be that if you think that Voldemort suffered in the orphanage you're a mindless Voldie fangirl who fails to appreciate how evil he really is--but we're still supposed to believe that something about Voldemort's past makes him evil. Granted, since this is a fully-editable Wiki, chances are there's multiple opinions going around, but even so....

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/But anyway, Dumbledore most infamously declares Merope a coward because she happens to die in childbirth./

You know, I’ve just thought of something. During the conversation, Harry asks why Merope couldn’t just conjure up food or something while she was starving in the streets. After Dumbledore replies that Harry should “not judge her too harshly,” he says that Merope was so depressed that she couldn’t even lift her wand to help herself and her child. So, was the cowardly act not dying in childbirth, but dying like a Muggle? Merope could have used her magic to save herself and her child, but she didn’t. Not when she was starving and not when she was giving birth. Merope “lacked courage” because she was too weak to even use magic, whereas Lily had courage because she…oh, wait, she didn’t use magic either. She didn’t have her wand with her and she didn’t even try to Apparate. She just screamed and begged and then threw herself in front of Harry, apparently without knowing what her sacrifice would do. Huh.

/What it really seems to boil down to is that Dumbledore thinks Merope should be blamed for even allowing Voldie to exist/

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was insinuating that. Considering that this is the same man who raises his eyebrows while asking Harry if he feels sorry for Voldemort, I wouldn’t put it past him.

/especially since in my stories I almost always shy away from determinism of any sort—psychology comes first in explaining a villain’s behavior/

Kudos to you. :)

/an evil jerk who kills a lot of people for no reason and loses his soul until his personality is that of a cardboard box./

Ha! A succinct description of Voldemort’s character. XD

/contrary to Rowling’s simplistic portrayal of things, bravery is not always good. It’s perfectly possible to be brave and evil./

Bellatrix Lestrange is one such example. Sure, some might dismiss her devotion to the Dark Lord’s cause as blind fanaticism, but she walked into Azkaban head held high, despite knowing the soul-crushing misery that awaited her there.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Harry asks why Merope couldn’t just conjure up food or something while she was starving in the streets. After Dumbledore replies that Harry should “not judge her too harshly,” he says that Merope was so depressed that she couldn’t even lift her wand to help herself and her child. So, was the cowardly act not dying in childbirth, but dying like a Muggle?

Food can't be conjured! (Or can, depends which book you read....). But even so, Merope could have Accioed food from elsewhere, or once she got even a small amount of food, multiplied it indefinitely. So she ended up starving like a Muggle. And you know who else ended up starving like Muggles (at least for a while)? The trio in DH. Why didn't it occur to them to lift their wands to save themselves and their mission? While we don't know what education Merope received we do know all 3 kids passed the Charms and Transfiguration OWLs, Hermione even got Os on both. And Ron was raised in a supposedly functional magical home (but he doesn't know any food related magic, apparently). So why should Merope, who was alone and pregnant, do any better than them?

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

"So, was the cowardly act not dying in childbirth, but dying like a Muggle? "

That actually makes sense. I mean, it's not really supported by the series as a whole, because like you said, Lily was no different; but it's the easiest way to make sense of all the mixed messages we get about the whole business. I mean, I remember years ago when I first discovered just how Merope had died, I pegged it not on childbirth but on a broken heart, if you will--because that seemed to be the gist of the information we were given. And doesn't young Tom say that his mother couldn't have been a witch or she wouldn't have died?

But essentially, it really does seem like Merope's entire fault is that she helped to create Voldemort, while Lily's greatness is entirely the result of her helping to create Harry (and not letting him die as a baby).

[oryx_leucoryx]

The series is full of sacrificing mothers:

Lily - died and accidentally saved her son's life (more than once!) - by not fighting her own death.

Mrs Crouch - hurried and worsened her own death thus allowing her son to live longer, though not to prosper (even with the 'best' intentions he would have been forced to remain hidden as long as he lived). Her husband made her sacrifice rather pointless by substituting one prison for another.

Alice Longbottom lost her mind in protection of a secret she didn't have. Her son lived, and after assorted hardships turned out one of the best people in Wizarding Britain.

Merope hurried her own death to ensure her son had a chance to survive.

Narcissa risked death to grant her son some protection.

Nameless Muggle woman died. Unfortunately, being Muggle meant said death did not protect her children.

Tonks left her son's cradle to give her aunt one more chance at her life. Bellatrix finally took the opportunity.

[oryx_leucoryx]

Hmm, I'm adding Kendra Dumbledore to my list - accidentally killed by the daughter she was trying to protect.

[granatapfelrot.livejournal.com]

Lily and her courage *sigh*
I will never ever understand how the begging, shrieking incompetent, who obviously learned shit all in her year as a full time order member, is supposed to be the same person as nine years old Lily, who flew (well, at least floated) and had perfect control over her magic without a wand or any education at all.
Just like young Tom Riddle(and only him, that we know about). How is that possible? Was it an unhappy marriage, the Hogwarts education or something else that sapped her talent away? Or did she simply lack the 'nerve and daring' Gryffindors are supposedly known for?
Lily and James died of rank stupidity, incompetence and arrogance, while Merope died of illness, exhaustion and starvation. Not because she was a coward. And a spoiled little idiot like Lily wouldn't even have gotten that far.
But how would Twinkles even know, what either Lily or Merope did? He wasn't there, nor did he see their memories about it. He had hearsay and conjecture. Not one real fact.
Riddle sen. complaining about being hoodwinked doesn't have to mean what some unworldly, gay old geezer thinks it means. Albus makes assumptions about what might or might not attract a straight guy of muggle gentry, when it's really not his area of expertise at all.
And since when is he an authority of gynecology? Was Merope supposed to banish the germs out of her body, or how did those two expect her to save herself?
Twinkles is just talking out of his ass to flatter Harry(telling him his parents were The Awesome always works. Even Sluggy got that fast. And he was too much of a bumbling fool to cure poisoned Ron after decades as a Potions Master) and to soften him up for the mission. It's also a clear example how something done by a Gryffindor gets glorified, while the same thing done by a Slytherin gets demonized. It's the same as Dumbles and Snape basically making the same mistake and being remorseful for the same reason, but Albus can walk away as the epitome of good. Even if his change of heart is more questionable than Severus', imo.
'What if determinism is common knowledge'
Interesting theory. But how do the muggleborns fit into that world view? Or would that be the exception? Do 'evil muggle-parents even count, if anyone would bother to find out their morals, or are they just too pathetic? Would Voldemort have turned out as he did, if Merope hadn't been a descendant of Salazar, but just some silly, lovelorn witch and Tom sen. had been really 'evil' instead of just arrogant and the wrong kind of rich?

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

Re: determinism

I feel like muggleborns might be exempt from that determinism to a point; however, once they get to Hogwarts it occurs in full swing, where those that get sorted into Gryffindor are good, those that get sorted into Slytherin are bad, and those who get sorted into anywhere else just don't matter. Once Lily got sorted into Gryffindor she became good for evermore. Ditto Hermione and Dean Thomas.

Incidentally, I remember reading something from the Pokemon fandom where a regular there was complaining about how first-time writers of Mary-Sue leads will often attempt to make their character look better by telling off other characters who mistreat their pokemon. Said regular went on to claim that that's a flawed way of doing things because oftentimes the character we're supposed to sympathize with has never had to make the same choices as the characters she criticizes, and so you can't use that as a basis for knowing how the Mary-Sue character would react if she did. So, yes, Rowling is making an amateur fanfic mistake--again!

[granatapfelrot.livejournal.com]

"got sorted into Gryffindor she became good for evermore"
Yeah, that hat really sorts the elect from the damned, doesn't it? But what about Peter Pettigrew? Is he the exception of the rule?
This Mary-Sue thing is something Rowling did all the time. Whenever Harry feels bad or guilty for anything it's almost always something completely ridiculous. Like his first scene with Fawkes.
But then, in the Potterverse people feel guilty for the weirdest of things, like Slughorn about that memory, and think themselves totally innocent for others, when they really did mess up or actually behaved spitefully.

[lynn-waterfall.livejournal.com]

If Tom Riddle Sr. was complaining about being "hoodwinked," perhaps Merope simply used magic to make herself look better?

[oneandthetruth.livejournal.com]

Lily and her courage *sigh*
I will never ever understand how the begging, shrieking incompetent, who obviously learned shit all in her year as a full time order member, is supposed to be the same person as nine years old Lily, who flew (well, at least floated) and had perfect control over her magic without a wand or any education at all.
Just like young Tom Riddle(and only him, that we know about). How is that possible? Was it an unhappy marriage, the Hogwarts education or something else that sapped her talent away? Or did she simply lack the 'nerve and daring' Gryffindors are supposedly known for?

See, that's why I suggested the Hogwarts dishes caused lead poisoning to the students and staff. It would explain how a smart, competent child like Lily could turn into a helpless, dimwitted adult.

She obviously didn't have an unhappy marriage; I mean, she was married to James, for heaven's sake! The superawesomehero who was her One True Love! And she certainly didn't lack nerve and daring. She was Harry Potter's mother! She just had to be awesome, or she wouldn't have been chosen by the universe to birth the WW's savior! Besides, she had the guts and self-respect to tell off that greasy Death Eater wannabe--in public, no less! Obviously, insulting someone who's lying helpless on the ground, with two people beating up on him, is perfect training for facing down the most powerful villain in 80 years.

But how would Twinkles even know, what either Lily or Merope did? He wasn't there, nor did he see their memories about it. He had hearsay and conjecture. Not one real fact.
Riddle sen. complaining about being hoodwinked doesn't have to mean what some unworldly, gay old geezer thinks it means. Albus makes assumptions about what might or might not attract a straight guy of muggle gentry, when it's really not his area of expertise at all.

Wouldn't it be hilarious to see Judge Judy tell him off about that?

"You're an idiot! What do you mean, she died in childbirth because she didn't have the courage to live? Do you have some mental problem? Are you on medication? What do you know about it anyway? How many children have you given birth to? I have five children, and let me tell you, nobody chooses to die in childbirth!

"Everything you say is completely irrelevant anyway because it's hearsay. You weren't there. You didn't talk to anyone who was there. You can't call any witnesses to support your statements. The only person who could testify to what she was thinking and feeling is long dead.

"It's insulting to women who die in childbirth to say they die because they want to, or because they're cowards. There's something wrong with you."

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/She obviously didn't have an unhappy marriage; I mean, she was married to James, for heaven's sake! The superawesomehero who was her One True Love! And she certainly didn't lack nerve and daring. She was Harry Potter's mother! She just had to be awesome, or she wouldn't have been chosen by the universe to birth the WW's savior! Besides, she had the guts and self-respect to tell off that greasy Death Eater wannabe--in public, no less! Obviously, insulting someone who's lying helpless on the ground, with two people beating up on him, is perfect training for facing down the most powerful villain in 80 years./

Ha, that’s funny. XD

Yes, Lily had to have been brave and special and awesome because she was destined to give birth to the story’s hero. Just like Merope had to have been distasteful, pathetic, and contemptible because she was destined to give birth to the story’s villain.

As for Lily’s shameful behavior during Snape’s Worst Memory, I think that someone here said in an earlier post while there’s a lot of fuss made about Gryffindors’ *physical* courage, many of them lack emotional courage. Many times they fail to stand by their friends, stand up to their friends, or be morally brave in the sense of making the difficult yet morally superior choice.

But as for Lily and James’ actions on Halloween…really, what can you say? What kind of courage can you say they had that night? Was it physically or morally courageous for James to just lunge at Voldemort without a wand, without even relying on his Animagus form to help him? Was it physically or morally courageous for Lily to conveniently lose her wand as well and beg Voldemort to spare her baby without having any plan to trap him or stop him in any way, other than hope that he’d somehow show mercy on her and Harry? Was it physically and morally courageous for James and Lily, both of whom were members of the Order, to be completely unprepared and taken off-guard when Voldemort showed up? I don’t know, either way you look at it, something doesn’t add up.

[wolf-willow31.livejournal.com]

Maybe Tom Sr simply got tired of Merope after the novelty of his "fling" with her wore off, so he decided to dump her and return to his rightful place in society.

But that's another point on the "nature" side of the argument: Maybe Tom was evil because he wasn't "conceived in love" like Harry presumably was. I suppose that would be Merope's fault, too.

[granatapfelrot.livejournal.com]

Merope simply cannot win. Whatever she did would have been wrong, or interpreted as wrong, because she was related to Slytherin, poor, ugly, downtrodden, not flashy and not feisty.
All things Albus simply can't stand. Hell, the poor thing comes off like a female version of Severus, without being as useful as him.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/Hell, the poor thing comes off like a female version of Severus/

Actually, Merope is sort of similar to Eileen Prince. Both were unattractive, both were purebloods, and both were Slytherins who married Muggles and had half-blood sons. However, we don't ever learn why Eileen married a Muggle or what her family was like before she got married and had Severus. I know that plenty of people have speculated that Voldemort used Severus' background to draw him into the Death Eaters, but I wonder if there was any point where he looked at Snape and thought, "That could have been me." If his mother hadn't died, if his parents had stayed together (albeit unwillingly on his father's part, if Merope kept giving him the Love Potion), if his father had been unattractive, causing Tom to be unattractive, and thus less popular than he was at Hogwarts. I wonder if he ever looked at Snape and thought that, while he still hated his father for leaving his mother, maybe it could have been worse.

[sweettalkeress.livejournal.com]

"Maybe Tom was evil because he wasn't "conceived in love" like Harry presumably was. I suppose that would be Merope's fault, too."

That's what people say and it just makes matters worse. Because the idea that children are born evil if they're not conceived in love can lead to absurdities like claiming that all children born of one-night stands or rape are automatically going to grow up to be evil jerks (an idea that I'm playing around with in at least one story of my own, actually), while the inverse states that nobody who was conceived in love could possibly be bad (which is shown to be basically bullshit because the Malfoys). And, worst of all for me, both of these ideas support the insultingly basic idea that some people are just evil, and some people just aren't.

[ladyhadhafang.livejournal.com]

Oh God, that trope just pisses me off so very much. (The born evil thing, and everything else you mentioned) Seriously.

[wolf-willow31.livejournal.com]

... claiming that all children born of one-night stands or rape are automatically going to grow up to be evil ...

Not to drag reality into this, but that "nature" argument can take you down an ugly slippery slope. There is an hypothesis that a tendency toward mass violence in human males is a product of a long evolutionary trend, in which males who engaged in warfare and rape produced more genetic descendants that males who did not have a propensity for such behavior (e.g., Science 326:232). It's a disturbing thought. (The authors proposed that this can be overcome by cultural and social means, including empowerment of women, if that makes anyone feel any better about it).

[terri-testing.livejournal.com]

In my fiction "Liberacorpus," I posited that James drugged Lily at Sirius's 1979 Halloween party and screwed his wife while she was temporarily incapable of protecting herself from impregnation. Because he, but not she, wanted her immediately pregnant.

(And, as a result, permanently tied to him.)

Does that make you feel better? In canon, Merope's pregnancy would be the WIFE'S fault, not Tom's.

Entirely different, yes?

It's the man's consent that counts.