Deathly Hallows, Chapter 23: Malfoy Manor
Jan. 2nd, 2014 07:11 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockBeethoven was right: It’s vastly harder to rewrite something you’ve finished than to write something entirely new. Especially when you have to revert to HTML because that’s the only way to enter tables on LJ. Aaaaagggggghhhhh!!!!!
I apologize if they look weird, but I followed the instructions, and that's how they turned out. However, the instructions were posted almost eight years ago, and LJ has changed its programming some since then. It's also possible I couldn't transfer my tables because I wrote this on iPages, not Word.
Are everybody’s barf bags at the ready? All right, then, let’s go!
Hermione hits Harry in the face with a spell that makes his face swell up as if he’s just been stung by an entire hive of bees. The Trio lies about their names, and Harry’s pseudonym is particularly dumb: Vernon Dudley. I know I’m probably being entirely too logical, but if I were in charge of the DEs and their allies, I would give them a list naming not just the people I was looking for, but also their quarries’ friends and relatives. If that had been done, the Snatchers would immediately have said, “Vernon Dudley? Oh, yeah, Harry Potter grew up with an uncle named Vernon and a cousin named Dudley. Given how dumb Potter is, this is probably him using a phony name.” Of course, calling Harry “dumb” would prick his Gryffindor pride, making him indignant, and he would reveal himself by that alone.
Fenrir Greyback says Voldemort’s name has been tabooed because his enemies weren’t showing him the proper respect, so he wanted to be able to punish them when they acted rude. At last the business of referring to him by pseudonyms makes sense. In the previous books, it just makes everybody look too wimpy to call him by his alias. Come to think of it, they still look wimpy in the books when he was incorporeal.
I wonder whether Voldemort is the only name that’s tabooed? What about Tom Riddle? What if somebody calls him a satiric corruption of his name, like Moldyshorts, Oldywart, or even Noisyfart? Those epithets are much more disrespectful than calling him by his assumed name. And if he were really as mean and nasty as he’s cracked up to be, he’d also taboo “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” and “You-Know-Who.” Think of the fun! He and the DEs could wipe out nearly all their enemies at once, just by waiting for them to slip up and use one of his silly pseudonyms.
Despite the efforts of Hermione the Genius, the Trio are found out and taken to Malfoy Manor, along with Dean Thomas and Griphook the goblin. When they arrive, Batty Bellatrix is in charge, and Draco is dragged over to see if he can ID any of the prisoners. He very reluctantly IDs Hermione, which means two of the others must be Ron and Harry. Fenrir Greyback makes some leering remarks about Hermione, but there’s no tension because we know JKR won’t allow her self-insert to be sexually abused.
However, she will allow her to be tortured. With true Gryffindor gallantry, Ron offers himself instead, but Bella wants to spill some muddy blood with her pretty silver knife. Technically, only the handle could be silver; the blade would have to be stainless steel, or a similarly hard metal. Silver is too soft to make an effective knife blade.
Ron, Harry, and the other prisoners are stashed in the cellar, where they find Luna and Ollivander already there. Meanwhile, Bella starts in on Hermione, demanding to know where she got the Sword of Gryffindor, which is supposed to be in Bella’s vault at Gringotts.
I didn’t start out creating tables for this chapter, but they worked so well in my sporking of chapter 35, part 1, that I made some for this chapter, also. First, take a look at how Rowling portrays the torture of Xeno Lovegood in chapter 21. Everyone’s actions and reactions are detailed, and separate assaults on a particular page are designated by number in the Descriptions and Reactions columns. Page numbers refer to the American Scholastic hardcover edition of DH.
Notice the way Xeno reacts to being tortured: He is described as screaming after the first attack. Then he squeals repeatedly, although the second mention of him squealing is dismissed with the phrase, “repeated squeals of agony.” Note that he is described as screaming only once; the rest of the time he squeals, which makes him sound more like a nonhuman animal (a traitorous pig, maybe?) than a human. Next he sobs, and finally, he gives “a wail of fear and despair,” maybe because he’s realized, as terri_testing has asserted, that he’s not going to get out of this encounter alive.
Rowling minimizes the terrible suffering of this old man in two ways: First, she compresses several vicious attacks into one short phrase: “...there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals.” The dictionary in my computer defines volley as “a number of bullets, arrows, or other projectiles discharged at one time.” The thesaurus lists the following as some of volley’s synonyms: barrage, bombardment, fusillade, hail, shower, deluge, torrent. In other words, Xeno was cursed at least several times in quick succession, and possibly dozens of times. Hundreds of times is unlikely, given the short time span, but it’s not out of the question. Anyone who doubts these assertions should consider how quickly it’s possible to get soaked in a shower, deluge, or torrent of water. Or watch the title characters’ death scene from the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde. That’s what a barrage, bombardment, fusillade, or hail of bullets looks like. Imagine Xeno being cursed even half that many times, half that quickly. It looks a whole lot worse than Rowling makes it sound, doesn’t it?
Notice also that, although he is referred to as being hurt seven times, he only reacts vocally five times. This makes it appear he was not seriously injured by two of those curses. It’s also possible he was briefly knocked unconscious from the assaults and then revived. This would mean he was hurt worse in those instances than in the others, but since the scene is told from the point of view of the Hs, who didn’t see what was happening (and didn’t care, either), we can’t be sure what occurred.
That’s disgusting enough, but it actually gets worse. Now look at the elaborate, loving detail Rowling lavishes on Hermione’s sufferings in this chapter.
So the multiple episodes of Xeno’s torturing are blown off with just a few brief mentions that contain no detailed descriptions of how he was injured or how badly, let alone what his screams sounded like. The DEs hurt him at least as many times as Bella hurts Hermione, and over a shorter period, but his torture is virtually shrugged off by the narrator, being dismissed by only a few brief mentions over just one-and-a-half pages. By contrast, Bella’s torture of Hermione goes on for six pages, with each assault and each scream described in detail, and is briefly described on three other pages. There are nine attacks altogether, judging by the number of screams.
Look also at how Rowling structures these scenes. First, take Hermione and Bella: (1) Bella yells her questions. (2) She cuts Hermione. (3) Hermione screams. In other words, there is a loud sound, then silence, then another loud sound. Like rests in music, those silent pauses between the vocalizations put the focus on the sounds that come after the pauses, i.e., Hermione’s screams. Rowling increases the emphasis in two other ways: (1) Her histrionic descriptions of the screams, e. g., “Hermione’s screams echoed off the walls upstairs.”(2) Her equally histrionic descriptions of Harry and Ron's reactions, e.g., Ron repeatedly bellowing "HERMIONE!", and “The sound went through Harry like physical pain.” There are also several descriptions of their frantic efforts to escape the cellar and assist Hermione.
Contrast that with chapter 21, when the DEs attacked Xeno Lovegood: (1) A DE yells a question. (2) There is a loud “bang” as a curse is fired. (3) Xeno shrieks. By having a yelled question, then a “bang,” then a scream, the loud noises all run together, which implies they’re all equally important. This takes the focus off the torture of an innocent man and gives equal weight to his torturers’ interrogation of him--which is about the Trio. So even when a harmless old man is being tortured, what really matters is not the victim’s suffering, but the danger the interrogation poses to Rowling’s self-inserts (and sidekick)--two of whom are torturers themselves! (Remember Harry’s tormenting of Filch. Come to think of it, Rowling seems to have a thing for defenseless old men being tortured. I wonder if that’s another expression of her hostility towards her father?)
This was also not the first time Lovegood was attacked by the DEs. It was the third time in as many weeks. It isn’t stated outright that he was harmed on the other two occasions, but only a fool would believe the DEs didn’t torture him when he disappointed them on their previous visits. In addition, Xeno is an old man, not a healthy teenager. That alone makes it worse to torture him than Hermione.
Rowling’s own indifference to a minor character’s completely gratuitous pain is made explicit by the behavior of her “heroic” Hs: They have no reaction at all to any of the times Xeno is attacked, despite their not only being able to clearly hear his shrieks of agony, but also being close enough to render assistance to him. They don’t even talk about helping him. They just stand there listening, like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel (the “village idiot” character on The Simpsons) trying to make conversation with Stephen Hawking at a cocktail party. They couldn’t care less about saving, protecting, or even helping this pathetic old man who is being tortured right under their noses! (Just like Dumbledore’s attitude towards the suffering baby in “King’s Cross,” come to think of it. There’s an excellent reason for that, as we’ll see in part 2 of that chapter.) They don’t wake up and start responding to the danger of the situation until they hear Xeno leading the DEs up the stairs to get them. In other words, it isn’t until their own asses are on the line that they bestir themselves to action--and then they only exert enough effort to save themselves, not Xeno.
Now, I expect Harry and Ron to react far more strongly to the torture of their friend than to that of someone they don’t know, and whom they regard as having betrayed them. That’s only natural. What is not natural is for any of the Trio to have no reaction at all to someone screaming in agony just a few yards/meters away. For them to feel nothing--no shock, no horror, no revulsion, no desire to help--is at best catatonic, and at worst psychopathic. These characters are not just monumentally selfish; they also seem to be lacking the most basic of human instincts for the care and protection of members of their own species. They are, well, freaks.
They are also gutless. What was it Harry told himself while trying to work up the nerve to jump into the frozen pool? Oh, yeah: “Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart.” And what was it James boasted about Gryffindor on that first train ride to Hogwarts? “Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart.”
Coulda fooled me.
Returning to Bella’s interrogation of Hermione, I know I’m supposed to be all high-minded and aver, “Torture is always wrong,” but I just can’t get worked up in this case. I also know I’m supposed to see this as an innocent, noble young girl being horribly tormented by a sadistic fiend, but after cataloguing Hermione’s own crimes earlier, I see this as one violent, ruthless criminal abusing another. It reminds me of a book by Kathy Reichs called Deadly Decisions, about a conflict between biker gangs in Canada. The attitude of most of the respectable citizens in the story was, “So what? They’re cleaning up the country by killing each other.” That’s how I feel about Bella torturing Hermione. In fact, when I read this chapter, I thought, “IT’S KARMA, BABY! I’M JUST SORRY YOUR ROTTEN LITTLE FRIENDS DIDN’T GET THEIRS, TOO!”
Back to the story:
I love the way Ron and Hermione compete as loudmouths, with her screaming loudly enough for the sound to echo off the walls, and him bellowing her name each time she screams. I’m really surprised nobody bellowed back, “SHUT THE FUCK UP, RON! YOU’RE DEAFENING US!”
While Ron is uselessly screaming, Luna is making herself useful by using a rusty nail to cut through the ropes binding the prisoners. Ron stops yelling long enough to bring out his Deluminator, which has some lights from their tent stored in it. Harry gets out his magic mirror and, seeing the blue eye in it again, tells where they are and demands help.
Draco is ordered to bring Griphook upstairs to look at the sword and authenticate it. Little does Draco know that Harry has persuaded the goblin to proclaim sword a fake even if it’s not.
Dobby suddenly appears and Apparates Luna, Dean, and Ollivander to Shell Cottage. I thought one had to be familiar with one’s destination to Apparate there, and Dobby’s never been to Bill’s house. Either Rowling’s screwed up again, or this is another difference between elves and humans regarding the rules of Apparition.
Lucius hears the crack of Apparition and orders Pettigrew to investigate what’s going on in the cellar. Ron and Harry grab Peter, and Ron takes his wand. Peter’s first impulse is to strangle Harry with his awesome silver hand, his master’s wishes be damned, but Harry reminds Pettigrew he owes Harry a life debt for saving him back in PoA. Just as if this were a 1950s B-horror movie, the hand gets angry at Peter’s merciful act and turns on him, strangling him instead. All those fan theories about how the hand would be used against Remus, and that were much cooler than anything in the actual book, bite the dust along with Peter.
Although Ron and Harry try to save Pettigrew, they are unsuccessful. They drop his body and head upstairs to rescue Hermione. They see her collapsed on the floor at Bella’s feet, while Griphook examines the sword. He conveniently declares it a fake and gets slashed in the face and kicked by Bella for his trouble. She then calls Voldemort and offers Hermione to Fenrir.
Ron completely blows the element of surprise--stupid Gryffindor! he could use some Slytherin subtlety--by screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” and charging into the room, wand a-blazing. Bella loses her wand, which Harry grabs, but she gains Hermione and holds a knife to her throat, which she uses to force Ron and Harry to surrender.
Dobby exhibits both Gryffindor foolhardiness and Slytherin dramatics by making the crystal chandelier drop onto Bella, Hermione, and Griphook. Bella drops Hermione and leaps to the side, but the light fixture lands on the girl and the goblin.
As Ron rescues his girlfriend, Harry grabs the three wands Draco’s holding and Stupefies Greyback. Narcissa rescues Draco, who has cuts all over his face from the flying, broken crystals, and Bella screams at Dobby, calling him a traitor. Dobby Apparates out with the Trio, just as Bella throws her knife at him. They land at Shell Cottage, just in time for Dobby to die in front of Harry from Bella’s knife.
While all this was going on, Harry’s Voldie-vision allowed him to tune into the Dull Lord tracking down, questioning, and killing Gregorovitch. Although Harry manfully fought against the mental contact, he conveniently received just enough information to move the story forward.
Whew! That chapter was a long one--29 pages of histrionics and screaming. On the plus side, we are now fewer than 300 pages from the end of the book. Hang on, people! We can make it!
Happy New Year, everyone!
I apologize if they look weird, but I followed the instructions, and that's how they turned out. However, the instructions were posted almost eight years ago, and LJ has changed its programming some since then. It's also possible I couldn't transfer my tables because I wrote this on iPages, not Word.
Are everybody’s barf bags at the ready? All right, then, let’s go!
Hermione hits Harry in the face with a spell that makes his face swell up as if he’s just been stung by an entire hive of bees. The Trio lies about their names, and Harry’s pseudonym is particularly dumb: Vernon Dudley. I know I’m probably being entirely too logical, but if I were in charge of the DEs and their allies, I would give them a list naming not just the people I was looking for, but also their quarries’ friends and relatives. If that had been done, the Snatchers would immediately have said, “Vernon Dudley? Oh, yeah, Harry Potter grew up with an uncle named Vernon and a cousin named Dudley. Given how dumb Potter is, this is probably him using a phony name.” Of course, calling Harry “dumb” would prick his Gryffindor pride, making him indignant, and he would reveal himself by that alone.
Fenrir Greyback says Voldemort’s name has been tabooed because his enemies weren’t showing him the proper respect, so he wanted to be able to punish them when they acted rude. At last the business of referring to him by pseudonyms makes sense. In the previous books, it just makes everybody look too wimpy to call him by his alias. Come to think of it, they still look wimpy in the books when he was incorporeal.
I wonder whether Voldemort is the only name that’s tabooed? What about Tom Riddle? What if somebody calls him a satiric corruption of his name, like Moldyshorts, Oldywart, or even Noisyfart? Those epithets are much more disrespectful than calling him by his assumed name. And if he were really as mean and nasty as he’s cracked up to be, he’d also taboo “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” and “You-Know-Who.” Think of the fun! He and the DEs could wipe out nearly all their enemies at once, just by waiting for them to slip up and use one of his silly pseudonyms.
Despite the efforts of Hermione the Genius, the Trio are found out and taken to Malfoy Manor, along with Dean Thomas and Griphook the goblin. When they arrive, Batty Bellatrix is in charge, and Draco is dragged over to see if he can ID any of the prisoners. He very reluctantly IDs Hermione, which means two of the others must be Ron and Harry. Fenrir Greyback makes some leering remarks about Hermione, but there’s no tension because we know JKR won’t allow her self-insert to be sexually abused.
However, she will allow her to be tortured. With true Gryffindor gallantry, Ron offers himself instead, but Bella wants to spill some muddy blood with her pretty silver knife. Technically, only the handle could be silver; the blade would have to be stainless steel, or a similarly hard metal. Silver is too soft to make an effective knife blade.
Ron, Harry, and the other prisoners are stashed in the cellar, where they find Luna and Ollivander already there. Meanwhile, Bella starts in on Hermione, demanding to know where she got the Sword of Gryffindor, which is supposed to be in Bella’s vault at Gringotts.
I didn’t start out creating tables for this chapter, but they worked so well in my sporking of chapter 35, part 1, that I made some for this chapter, also. First, take a look at how Rowling portrays the torture of Xeno Lovegood in chapter 21. Everyone’s actions and reactions are detailed, and separate assaults on a particular page are designated by number in the Descriptions and Reactions columns. Page numbers refer to the American Scholastic hardcover edition of DH.
| Page Number | Times Xeno-Related Action Mentioned | Description of Words and Actions | Xeno's Reactions | Trio's Reactions |
| 420 | 4 | 1) “There was a bang and a scream of pain from Xenophilius.” 2) “another bang, another squeal” 3) bang 4) bang |
1) scream 2) squeal 3) none 4) none |
none mentioned |
| 421 | 3 | 1) “...there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of agony from Xenophilius” 2) Xeno sobs while speaking 3) “Xenophilius gave a wail of fear and despair.” |
1) repeated squeals of agony 2) sobbing 3) wailing |
none mentioned |
| 422 | 5 | 1) Xeno tries to climb the stairs. 2) Xeno draws nearer. 3) He’s feet away. 4) He tries to shift more debris. 5) His face appears before them. | none mentioned | 1) Harry says they have to leave. The Hs climb over debris. 2) Hermione frees Ron. 3) She tells Ron and Harry what to do. 4) She continues to give orders. 5) She Obliviates Xeno and makes the floor collapse under them all. |
Notice the way Xeno reacts to being tortured: He is described as screaming after the first attack. Then he squeals repeatedly, although the second mention of him squealing is dismissed with the phrase, “repeated squeals of agony.” Note that he is described as screaming only once; the rest of the time he squeals, which makes him sound more like a nonhuman animal (a traitorous pig, maybe?) than a human. Next he sobs, and finally, he gives “a wail of fear and despair,” maybe because he’s realized, as terri_testing has asserted, that he’s not going to get out of this encounter alive.
Rowling minimizes the terrible suffering of this old man in two ways: First, she compresses several vicious attacks into one short phrase: “...there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals.” The dictionary in my computer defines volley as “a number of bullets, arrows, or other projectiles discharged at one time.” The thesaurus lists the following as some of volley’s synonyms: barrage, bombardment, fusillade, hail, shower, deluge, torrent. In other words, Xeno was cursed at least several times in quick succession, and possibly dozens of times. Hundreds of times is unlikely, given the short time span, but it’s not out of the question. Anyone who doubts these assertions should consider how quickly it’s possible to get soaked in a shower, deluge, or torrent of water. Or watch the title characters’ death scene from the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde. That’s what a barrage, bombardment, fusillade, or hail of bullets looks like. Imagine Xeno being cursed even half that many times, half that quickly. It looks a whole lot worse than Rowling makes it sound, doesn’t it?
Notice also that, although he is referred to as being hurt seven times, he only reacts vocally five times. This makes it appear he was not seriously injured by two of those curses. It’s also possible he was briefly knocked unconscious from the assaults and then revived. This would mean he was hurt worse in those instances than in the others, but since the scene is told from the point of view of the Hs, who didn’t see what was happening (and didn’t care, either), we can’t be sure what occurred.
That’s disgusting enough, but it actually gets worse. Now look at the elaborate, loving detail Rowling lavishes on Hermione’s sufferings in this chapter.
| Page Number | Times Hermione-Related Action Mentioned | Description of Words and Actions | Hermione's Reactions | Ron and Harry's Reactions |
| 463 | 1 | “...there was a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above them.” | “terrible, drawn-out scream” | Ron bellows, “HERMIONE!” and starts to “writhe and struggle against the ropes” that tie him and Harry together. |
| 464 | 5 | 3) “Hermione screamed again....” | scream | 1) Ron yells, “HERMIONE!” three times in reaction to scream on 463 2) Harry tells Ron to be quiet so they can plan. 3) Ron bellows her name twice more when she screams again. 4) Bellatrix questions her again about the sword. |
| 465 | 4 | 1) Hermione says, “we found it--we found it--PLEASE!” and screams again. 2) Bella questions H further; “another terrible scream.” 3) Bella threatens to “run H through” with her knife. | 1) scream 2) “another terrible scream” 3) none listed | 1) Ron struggles some more. 2) Ron bellows her name again. 3) none listed |
| 466 | 7 | 1) H screams again. 2) Bella questions her more and Cruciates her. 3) H screams. | 1) screams again 2) “Hermione’s screams echoed off the walls upstairs.” 3) “Hermione was screaming worse than ever.” | 1) “The sound went through Harry like physical pain.” He runs around the cellar looking for a way out. 2) Ron half sobs and pounds the walls with his fists. Harry “in utter desperation” gropes in his neck pouch for the two-way mirror. 3) Ron bellows her name twice more. |
| 467 | 1 | Bella questions H again. | H sobs as she says the sword is fake. | Harry tells Griphook to lie and say the sword’s fake. |
| 468 | 1 | H screams as she’s “being tortured again.” | “An awful scream drowned out Harry’s words: Hermione was being tortured again.” | They continue to work with Dobby to escape. |
| 469 | 1 | H screams again. | “Hermione screamed again.” | Harry forces himself to come out of his Voldie-vision at her scream. |
| 471 | 2 | 1) H screams again. 2) She’s on the floor. | 1) “Hermione gave a dreadful scream...” 2) H is on the floor at Bella’s feet. “She was barely stirring.” | 1) none mentioned 2) They watch and wait for a good time to attack. |
| 472 | 4 | 1) Bella tells Fenrir to take “the Mudblood.” 2) Harry and Ron attack. 3) Bella tells them to stop or H dies. 4) Harry and Ron pause. | 1) none mentioned 2) none mentioned 3) none mentioned 4) Hermione seems to be unconscious. | 1) Ron bellows, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” 2) H and R attack. 3) They pause. |
So the multiple episodes of Xeno’s torturing are blown off with just a few brief mentions that contain no detailed descriptions of how he was injured or how badly, let alone what his screams sounded like. The DEs hurt him at least as many times as Bella hurts Hermione, and over a shorter period, but his torture is virtually shrugged off by the narrator, being dismissed by only a few brief mentions over just one-and-a-half pages. By contrast, Bella’s torture of Hermione goes on for six pages, with each assault and each scream described in detail, and is briefly described on three other pages. There are nine attacks altogether, judging by the number of screams.
Look also at how Rowling structures these scenes. First, take Hermione and Bella: (1) Bella yells her questions. (2) She cuts Hermione. (3) Hermione screams. In other words, there is a loud sound, then silence, then another loud sound. Like rests in music, those silent pauses between the vocalizations put the focus on the sounds that come after the pauses, i.e., Hermione’s screams. Rowling increases the emphasis in two other ways: (1) Her histrionic descriptions of the screams, e. g., “Hermione’s screams echoed off the walls upstairs.”(2) Her equally histrionic descriptions of Harry and Ron's reactions, e.g., Ron repeatedly bellowing "HERMIONE!", and “The sound went through Harry like physical pain.” There are also several descriptions of their frantic efforts to escape the cellar and assist Hermione.
Contrast that with chapter 21, when the DEs attacked Xeno Lovegood: (1) A DE yells a question. (2) There is a loud “bang” as a curse is fired. (3) Xeno shrieks. By having a yelled question, then a “bang,” then a scream, the loud noises all run together, which implies they’re all equally important. This takes the focus off the torture of an innocent man and gives equal weight to his torturers’ interrogation of him--which is about the Trio. So even when a harmless old man is being tortured, what really matters is not the victim’s suffering, but the danger the interrogation poses to Rowling’s self-inserts (and sidekick)--two of whom are torturers themselves! (Remember Harry’s tormenting of Filch. Come to think of it, Rowling seems to have a thing for defenseless old men being tortured. I wonder if that’s another expression of her hostility towards her father?)
This was also not the first time Lovegood was attacked by the DEs. It was the third time in as many weeks. It isn’t stated outright that he was harmed on the other two occasions, but only a fool would believe the DEs didn’t torture him when he disappointed them on their previous visits. In addition, Xeno is an old man, not a healthy teenager. That alone makes it worse to torture him than Hermione.
Rowling’s own indifference to a minor character’s completely gratuitous pain is made explicit by the behavior of her “heroic” Hs: They have no reaction at all to any of the times Xeno is attacked, despite their not only being able to clearly hear his shrieks of agony, but also being close enough to render assistance to him. They don’t even talk about helping him. They just stand there listening, like Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel (the “village idiot” character on The Simpsons) trying to make conversation with Stephen Hawking at a cocktail party. They couldn’t care less about saving, protecting, or even helping this pathetic old man who is being tortured right under their noses! (Just like Dumbledore’s attitude towards the suffering baby in “King’s Cross,” come to think of it. There’s an excellent reason for that, as we’ll see in part 2 of that chapter.) They don’t wake up and start responding to the danger of the situation until they hear Xeno leading the DEs up the stairs to get them. In other words, it isn’t until their own asses are on the line that they bestir themselves to action--and then they only exert enough effort to save themselves, not Xeno.
Now, I expect Harry and Ron to react far more strongly to the torture of their friend than to that of someone they don’t know, and whom they regard as having betrayed them. That’s only natural. What is not natural is for any of the Trio to have no reaction at all to someone screaming in agony just a few yards/meters away. For them to feel nothing--no shock, no horror, no revulsion, no desire to help--is at best catatonic, and at worst psychopathic. These characters are not just monumentally selfish; they also seem to be lacking the most basic of human instincts for the care and protection of members of their own species. They are, well, freaks.
They are also gutless. What was it Harry told himself while trying to work up the nerve to jump into the frozen pool? Oh, yeah: “Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart.” And what was it James boasted about Gryffindor on that first train ride to Hogwarts? “Gryffindor, where dwell the brave of heart.”
Coulda fooled me.
Returning to Bella’s interrogation of Hermione, I know I’m supposed to be all high-minded and aver, “Torture is always wrong,” but I just can’t get worked up in this case. I also know I’m supposed to see this as an innocent, noble young girl being horribly tormented by a sadistic fiend, but after cataloguing Hermione’s own crimes earlier, I see this as one violent, ruthless criminal abusing another. It reminds me of a book by Kathy Reichs called Deadly Decisions, about a conflict between biker gangs in Canada. The attitude of most of the respectable citizens in the story was, “So what? They’re cleaning up the country by killing each other.” That’s how I feel about Bella torturing Hermione. In fact, when I read this chapter, I thought, “IT’S KARMA, BABY! I’M JUST SORRY YOUR ROTTEN LITTLE FRIENDS DIDN’T GET THEIRS, TOO!”
Back to the story:
I love the way Ron and Hermione compete as loudmouths, with her screaming loudly enough for the sound to echo off the walls, and him bellowing her name each time she screams. I’m really surprised nobody bellowed back, “SHUT THE FUCK UP, RON! YOU’RE DEAFENING US!”
While Ron is uselessly screaming, Luna is making herself useful by using a rusty nail to cut through the ropes binding the prisoners. Ron stops yelling long enough to bring out his Deluminator, which has some lights from their tent stored in it. Harry gets out his magic mirror and, seeing the blue eye in it again, tells where they are and demands help.
Draco is ordered to bring Griphook upstairs to look at the sword and authenticate it. Little does Draco know that Harry has persuaded the goblin to proclaim sword a fake even if it’s not.
Dobby suddenly appears and Apparates Luna, Dean, and Ollivander to Shell Cottage. I thought one had to be familiar with one’s destination to Apparate there, and Dobby’s never been to Bill’s house. Either Rowling’s screwed up again, or this is another difference between elves and humans regarding the rules of Apparition.
Lucius hears the crack of Apparition and orders Pettigrew to investigate what’s going on in the cellar. Ron and Harry grab Peter, and Ron takes his wand. Peter’s first impulse is to strangle Harry with his awesome silver hand, his master’s wishes be damned, but Harry reminds Pettigrew he owes Harry a life debt for saving him back in PoA. Just as if this were a 1950s B-horror movie, the hand gets angry at Peter’s merciful act and turns on him, strangling him instead. All those fan theories about how the hand would be used against Remus, and that were much cooler than anything in the actual book, bite the dust along with Peter.
Although Ron and Harry try to save Pettigrew, they are unsuccessful. They drop his body and head upstairs to rescue Hermione. They see her collapsed on the floor at Bella’s feet, while Griphook examines the sword. He conveniently declares it a fake and gets slashed in the face and kicked by Bella for his trouble. She then calls Voldemort and offers Hermione to Fenrir.
Ron completely blows the element of surprise--stupid Gryffindor! he could use some Slytherin subtlety--by screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” and charging into the room, wand a-blazing. Bella loses her wand, which Harry grabs, but she gains Hermione and holds a knife to her throat, which she uses to force Ron and Harry to surrender.
Dobby exhibits both Gryffindor foolhardiness and Slytherin dramatics by making the crystal chandelier drop onto Bella, Hermione, and Griphook. Bella drops Hermione and leaps to the side, but the light fixture lands on the girl and the goblin.
As Ron rescues his girlfriend, Harry grabs the three wands Draco’s holding and Stupefies Greyback. Narcissa rescues Draco, who has cuts all over his face from the flying, broken crystals, and Bella screams at Dobby, calling him a traitor. Dobby Apparates out with the Trio, just as Bella throws her knife at him. They land at Shell Cottage, just in time for Dobby to die in front of Harry from Bella’s knife.
While all this was going on, Harry’s Voldie-vision allowed him to tune into the Dull Lord tracking down, questioning, and killing Gregorovitch. Although Harry manfully fought against the mental contact, he conveniently received just enough information to move the story forward.
Whew! That chapter was a long one--29 pages of histrionics and screaming. On the plus side, we are now fewer than 300 pages from the end of the book. Hang on, people! We can make it!
Happy New Year, everyone!
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no subject
Date: 2014-01-08 03:04 am (UTC)Kisses your hands, kisses your feet.
Oh, god, the table. That's what table are for: presendintg things side by side. So we can compare.
(Excuse me a moment--I think I need a tiuket.)
(All better now.)
Er, yes, it looks pretty awful when you put them side-sy-side, doesn't it?
However.
Bear im inind that this is writtien from Harry's POV.
It's Harry whose ears transmute "a bang--a scream of pain" into "another bang--another squeal" and then that volley of "bangs and squeals"
Bear in mind what else has just happened: an explositon that knowcked Xeno downstairs to face the Death Eaters, and left the Trio buried in rubble. Hermione silently shhes Harry before going to try to dig Ron (the worst bureied out). But she does this BEFORE the DEs come in and start on Xeno.
Ron is buried until Hermione finally unearths him. Hermione is busy trying to resuce her love-interest.
And Xeno, after all, is the tratior who'd tried to sell them for Luna.
If Hermione of Harry had been the one blasted doen the stias to face the Death Eaters, and Xeno the one buried immovably in rubble fromt he collapsed ceitiling, then this chapter would hav gone quite differently. But I cna't fault the kids for putting rescuing each other above fescuing Mr. Lovegood.
What is appalling, abysmal, psychopathic, is that they could listen to Xeno's troture uttterly unmoved.
But, see, we only know this of Harry. He's the PoV character--it's in his listening that screams of agony register as contemptible squeals.
We don't know that Hermione or Ton took Xeno's pain so lightly.
(We do, of couse, know that Jo meant US to....)
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 04:06 am (UTC)But, Terri ... Xeno's outbursts register as 'squeals', and not 'screams of agony' ... because they're weren't.
This is part of the problem with blindly accepting what oneandthetruth kicks off with as the very foundation of her critique - Xeno was tortured! And lo, we have all of these differences.
Start off instead with an honest assessment, using all of the evidence, and the fairest decision is that he *wasn't* 'tortured'.
They were squeals ... because they *weren't* 'screams of agony'.
Case closed. Yes, it's really that simple. :-)
no subject
Date: 2014-01-12 10:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-16 03:21 am (UTC)No, it's not, Brad. Xeon is tortured, and is held up as a contemptible coward. Hermione is tortured, and her pain is taken seriously. As I said before, I'm really uncomfortable with your minimizing the old man's suffering. Torture is torture; pain is pain. We shouldn't ever be encouraged to make light of it, as these books do.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-16 06:28 pm (UTC)First, your argument that Bellatrix must clearly be more sadistic than “the Snatchers” tormenting Xeno slips a bit when you remember that Xeno’s lead torturer was Selwyn. Umbridge’s favorite relative. Maybe that identification makes you think that Selwyn must be a nice person who’s soft on kittens and harmless old men; I don’t find his identity reassuring.
Secondly, maybe roughing Xeno up a bit was all Selwyn and Travers did. On their first two visits. But this time Selwyn didn’t just think Xeno had summoned them on another wild-Snorkack chase. He thought that that explosion just as they arrived was meant for the Death Eaters—that Xeno had lured them to his remote home to try to kill them, but had incompetently set off his trap a few seconds early.
Read the text: “And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!” roared the Death Eater, and there was a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of agony from Xenophilius….
“You lying piece of filth,” shouted the wizard named Selwyn. “You’ve never seen Potter in your life, have you? Thought you’d lure us here to kill us, did you? And you think you’ll get your girl back like this?”
“I swear… I swear… Potter’s upstairs!”
“Homenum revelio,” said the voice at the foot of the stairs….
“You can have your little girl, Lovegood,” said Selwyn, “if you get up those stairs and bring me down Harry Potter. But if this is a plot, if it’s a trick, if you’ve got an accomplice waiting up there to ambush us, we’ll see if we can spare a bit of your daughter for you to bury.”
Xenophilius gave a wail of fear and despair. There were scurryings …
So, your theory must be that Death Eaters become more merciful when they’re punishing someone for doublecrossing and trying to kill them, than when they’re merely trying to get information out of them?
no subject
Date: 2014-01-16 06:29 pm (UTC)Finally, again, read the text. Xeno’s cries are described dismissively as “squeals” and “sobs” after that first “scream of pain.” But we are told OUTRIGHT that those “squeals” are “of agony.”
It’s right there in the text. Xeno was enduring agonizing pain in this scene—it’s just that his repeated cries “of agony,” unlike Hermione’s, were being heard/described without sympathy from the Trio/the author. Exactly what oneandthetruth first argued—that objectively parallel scenes were not being treated comparably in Jo’s language or the Trio’s reactions, that Hermione’s suffering was treated as important while Xeno’s was dismissed.
So your saying, “but Jo CALLS Hermione’s treatment torture but not Xeno’s, therefore Xeno wasn’t tortured” is like saying to someone criticizing Jo for endorsing her pure hero’s use of the Cruciatus, “Oh, but the text says Harry was gallant to cast it, therefore he was.” Er, yes, that’s what we’re objecting to: that the text (in the person of the “strict but fair” McGonagall) called Harry gallant for torturing Amycus when he might more readily and productively have disarmed or stunned him. Similarly, here what we’re objecting to is that Jo wrote two scenes in which her heroes listen to Death Eaters mistreat someone offscreen. Both victims are described as repeatedly crying out in fear and extreme pain. “Squeals of agony,” Madderbrad. Agony. Thus saith the text. Selwyn was causing Xeno AGONY. That’s torture, not intimidation, by any rational standard. Yet Jo uses language that invites the reader to dismiss the old man’s agony (an invitation you’re apparently eager to accept), while Jo’s pure-hearted, chivalrous heroes listen to his screams of agony, apparently unmoved.
Whereas Granger’s pain is treated by both Jo and her heroes as worthy of attention and concern.
As to the concession that Xeno endured “lesser torture” than Granger—well, in the WW, we’re told that the Cruciatus is the ultimate torture, causing worse pain than anything else can. And yes, as oneandthetruth conceded, the text specifies that Bellatrix used that curse on Hermione, whereas the text does not state that Selwyn used it on Xeno. So yes, if we accept the WW’s argument that Cruciatus is indeed the ultimate torture, then Xeno was probably tortured “less,” or wasn’t “really” tortured, or something.
But then neither was Hermione, mostly.
After all, Bellatrix only cast the Cruciatus ONCE.
All those other times that that wimp Granger squealed in apparent pain, Bellatrix was “merely” running her through with that little silver knive or performing lesser (and apparently nonverbal) curses. Just like Selwyn did on Xeno.
So Hermione only endured one little itty bitty bout of REAL torture, less than Neville did in book 5, and all the rest of the time she was just kicking up an unconscionable fuss about, as you put it, “a little roughing up.”
Or, agree that hurting a helpless victim enough to cause repeated screams of agony counts as torture, whether it’s Selwyn doing it to Xeno or Bellatrix to Granger, and whether the torturer is using a audible Cruciatus or some other means of causing intense pain.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 01:45 am (UTC)Terri, no, I'm not "just stirring the pot". Otherwise known - when stirred on the internet - as 'trolling'. That's a no-no.
- we need not care about Xeno’s sufferings because he wasn’t “really” tortured like Hermione was, just maybe slapped around a bit.
That's not my point. I've never said that we shouldn't care about Xeno's situation. I've only said that it's not correct for Oneandthetruth to treat his situation - and *limited in that scene* - as equal to Hermione's.
Xeno is in a terrible place. I know this, you know this, and the Trio know this. As I've pointed out, multiple times they commiserate with Xeno's predicament.
It's simply that Oneandthetruth started off her tables from a completely incorrect assumption - that Xeno was tortured - in that one scene - as badly as was Hermione.
My argument is that they weren't.
Xeno’s lead torturer was Selwyn. Umbridge’s favorite relative.
I'm not sure if Umbridge says he's her 'favourite', but anyway, that's no evidence. Judge a man by his relatives? Tell that to Sirius Black.
So, your theory must be that Death Eaters become more merciful when they’re punishing someone for doublecrossing and trying to kill them, than when they’re merely trying to get information out of them?
Something like that. Xeno was being *punished*. Hermione was being *tortured*. It was incorrect for Oneandthetruth to call them both cases of 'torture' right out of the starting gate.
But we are told OUTRIGHT that those “squeals” are “of agony.” ... “Squeals of agony,” Madderbrad. Agony. Thus saith the text.
Yes.
It if wasn't for that ONE mention of the word 'agony' then I think my argument would be iron-clad. But you're right. The text mentions - once! - 'squeals of agony'.
So we're left to judge all of the evidence. And, again, it's not a case of saying "Xeno wasn't hurt" or "we shouldn't have compassion for Xeno". Rather, it's Oneandthetruth saying "XENO WAS TORTURED" and then trying to make some sort of case against the Trio for their not treating his situation on an exactly equal par with Hermione's. And my saying "well, they weren't exactly equal at all".
Xeno emitted "squeals of agony". Right there you have the word 'squeal' 'weakening' the impact of the word 'agony'. But then just do a (fair!) comparison between Xeno and Hermione - one tortured with the tortured curse; one not. One tortured to unconsciousness; one left physically capable of walking up a flight of stairs. One tortured by an acknowledged torturer who tortured the Longbottoms into insanity; the other punished by two thugs/DEs. And so on, with the differences that I've outlined before.
Agree with me that Xeno's predicament wasn't as severe as Hermione's and it's only that one mention of 'agony' which jars. Go along with Oneandthetruth and you've got a heap more evidence against that setting. It seems pretty clear which position is the more accurate.
Other people have (semi) agreed. One person - sorry I've forgotten the names - preferred to nominate Xeno's situation as 'torture', but 'lesser torture'. Another agreed that Xeno's *physical* punishment, in that one scene, was lesser than Hermione's, but his 'mental' torture was worse. Both positions are consistent with my own.
With regard to this point please note Oneandthetruth's argument was that the Trio were naughty because they didn't have compassion for Xeno in the three point five milliseconds they had to spare between almost being killed in an explosion and seeking their escape. This is also a completely unfair observation. The kids had just been blown up and their lives were on the line; they had to escape, pronto. At the manor they had nothing to do but listen to Hermione's screams. I've noted multiple quotes where, immediately after their escape, they sympathised with Xeno's predicament.
And, of course, we must note that Hermione Granger was caring enough to orchestrate their escape so as to leave Xeno off the hook, ensuring he wouldn't be punished further by the DEs. What a girl! Even in fighting for their lives she was thinking of him.
No, I just can't agree with Oneandthetruth's jaundiced view of the Trio at all.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 07:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-01-23 08:48 am (UTC)No, I'm not saying that.
From *all* of the words/facts presented, all the context, everything we're shown, as per my previous comments, I don't think Xeno's punishment was 'torture' akin to Hermione's.
The 'intent' of the DE's wasn't to torture Xeno - rather, to punish him, force him into line - and then - when they found out he wasn't lying about others being present - force him under duress to fetch them. But I didn't look at the intent directly in my analysis; rather, what we are shown of their actions (springing from their intent).
Harsh punishment can be torture.
But it's more of a stretch to term it thus; and I don't think Xeno's punishment matches Hermione's torture. Not in the treatment he received, not in the results that were obtained, not in the calibre of the bullies delivering the punishment.
I think some people here keep trying to make general statements, like your 'harsh punishment can be torture'.
Yes. I agree. Sometimes. Sure.
But I'm looking at the specific two cases that Oneandthetruth compared.
no subject
Date: 2014-01-27 03:00 am (UTC)I'm sorry, but read the text. What Jo told us directly Xeno experienced:
a curse of some sort (a bang) which made him "scream in pain." Jo's words.
"Another bang, another squeal." (I.e., another scream of pain, this time descrived dismissively.) (By this time in Hermione's torture, Ron was shouting.)
"A bolley of bangs, interspersed with squals of agaony." REPEATED cries of *AGONT*, Madderbrad. Not one, MANY. A "volley" of them. But not described individually and dwelt on lovingly with the auditors' horrified reactions, as Hermione's were. But note that the ante has been upped from mere pain (and I myself have never experenced pain bad enough to make me scream) to agony. And these "agony"-causing curses are being repeated, rapid-fire. (By this time in Hermione's torture, Ron was throwing himself against the walls.)
And on the two times after the torutre starts that the old man is described trying to talk, he is said to be SOBBING.
So we have a scene in which an old man being abused by two young men REPEATEDLY screams and sobs in what we are TOLD is agony, and yet an intellignet reader can come away with the impressioon, "oh, they prob'ly only roughed him up a bit--nothing really to worry about"
Sorry, 'brad, I was a favored target of schoolyard bullies when I was a kid. I know what being roughed up is like. This ain't that. And yet on my first (several dozen readings), I too glided over the scene as though it were not much worse than that.
no subject
Date: 2014-02-01 01:32 am (UTC)All of the words - save that one - one! - mention of 'agony' - supports an overall synopsis of an old man being roughed up, abused, punished, hurt, by two thugs.
The 'agony' is the only bit of text which gets into (bona fide) 'torture' territory on a par with Hermione's. That's all your case has in its support. I think you and Oneandthetruth and others are fixating on that one word and giving it unbalanced weight. You're drawing your conclusions from that one word and then shoehorning everything else around it to fit.
And - looking at DH in more detail - I think that bias is even more undeserved. Rowling uses 'agony' fairly liberally, and not at all in a manner consistent with the DeathToCapsLock standards of the word -
There was the sound of pattering fee, a blaze of shining copper, an echoing clang, and a shriek of agony; Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and hit him over the head with a saucepan.
Do you think being hit on the head with a saucepan is akin to the torture experienced from a torture curse by a practised torturer?The cold was agony: It attacked him like fire. His brain itself seemed to have frozen as he pushed through the dark water to the bottom and reached out, groping for the sword.
Is swimming in a cold lake similar to being tortured with a torture curse by an experienced torturer?I still hold that your case founders from an unreasonable empathis on just the one word. The examples above make that foundation even weaker.
... and by not showing the POV characters upset by listening to it -
I think that was a quite reasonable exercising of authorial discretion; I intend to speak a little more about this in reply to malic_ba's comment in a tick.