Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Harry Potter Blog #2 Dumbledore’s Imperfections



I believe that a major theme addressed by Rowling’s novel is that no one is or can be perfect, even the hero or mentor. This theme is displayed by the occasional failings of a variety of characters in the series. In the first five novels, this theme can be seen through the character development of Dumbledore.

In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Dumbledore is presented as a stereo-typically strong, dependable hero. Hagrid explains that Dumbledore is very powerful and the only wizard Voldemort fears. Dumbledore carefully teaches Harry how to use the mirror of Erised, thus aiding him against Voldemort. He then saves Harry at the end of book 1 from Voldemort with perfect timing. In book two, he prevents Harry from being expelled, therefore strengthening the bond between Harry and Dumbledore.  Then Dumbledore’s bird and the hat, he sends, rescue Harry from the Basilisk. Dumbledore seems unbeatable and without error at the end of book 2.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore is shown as not completely unbeatable  Sirius, a thought to be murderous criminal, manages to enter the castle and Harry’s bedroom under Dumbledore’s eye. This was the point in the novel when I came to the realization that Dumbledore could not prevent all danger. Still, he gave wonderful advice on using the Time Turner to help Buck Beak and Sirius at the end of the novel. His judgment still seemed perfect.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet to Fire, Dumbledore’s judgment is seriously shaken. He hires Professor Moody as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Throughout this entire year at Hogwarts, Professor Moody gives away several signs that indicate he is not who he says he is. This includes the tongue twitching, the stealing of Snape’s ingredients, and his constant need to drink out of the flask. Being one of the greatest wizards of all time, Dumbledore should have suspected something before it was almost too late. This does not make Dumbledore a bad person by any means. It simply indicates that his judgment not perfect.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore makes another serious mistake in judgment. He spends almost the entire novel ignoring Harry. His intentions were to help prevent Voldemort from reading Harry’s thoughts to get to Dumbledore. He also did not tell Harry the reason for him to take Occlumency lessons. These actions caused Harry to become more upset and vulnerable than he would have been with the support from Dumbledore. Dumbledore also admits that he made a mistake in not telling Harry about the prophecy sooner. Dumbledore is still a hero though, because he saves everyone at the Ministry of Magic and again fights off Voldemort.

Dumbledore is a wonderful man, but he has faults and makes misjudgments just like the rest of us. This developed faults, of his character, allow us to relate to Dumbledore in a way many author’s characters don’t allow. Dumbledore once seemed invincible, but no one in the real world is like that. Dumbledore still fought for good and did great things. His faults make him approachable to the readers, just like many other characters in Rowling’s novels. Dumbledore’s imperfections make him the perfect character to aspire to. 

1 comment:

  1. I’m glad to see someone talk about Dumbledore, not going to lie. I think so often many people just see Dumbledore as this completely perfect person you can always count on and always trust. But something we often forget is that he is human. Dumbledore is completely capable of making mistakes, as we’ve seen most recently in HPB with his cursed and blackened hand. I think it’s an important lesson to learn that you can’t just always implicitly trust someone or count on someone to be a certain way. It’s a lesson that Rowling definitely does a good job showing. But as we’ll see and question later on, were Dumbledore’s goals always good? Don’t forget Ollivander’s comment from Sorcerer’s Stone, “He-Who-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great.” You speak of Dumbledore’s mistakes as well. Often those in power will make mistakes that impact people on a very large scale. I mean Dumbledore did withhold a lot of important information from Harry. Had Harry known of the prophecy, the fight at the Ministry could have been avoided. Sirius wouldn’t have died. We know nothing of Dumbledore’s past except that he refused the post of Minister of Magic. To me this raises some questions of character. But I digress. Dumbledore’s faults, of which he will not deny, definitely make him more approachable and human. ~Katie Goland (Gryffindor House)

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