Cosmic justice, prepaid debt and debt payable
This crazy little thread in HPFGU, on top of confirming my suspicion that folks there don't necessarily debate any more sensibly than those in any other forum (I mean, Dudley's "fat, ugly face"??? Come on!!!), also got me thinking about the way 'comeupance' seems to work in Rowling's universe
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his mistreatment is justified (giving absolution for
every questionable act of the "heroes") and I am just
like...no. Prepayment for a crime you have not yet
perpetrated. What an ethical quagmire that is.
Yeah... That's why I am not agreeing with this system,
I am merely saying I think it exists in her books.
Also, some of the heroes' morally questionable
behaviors backfired on them (Hermione polyjuiced
herself into a cat, Harry got banned from playing
Quidditch, etc), and I am hoping that their
other such acts (for example Hermione's marking
Marietta) would come back and bite them on their
righteous little arses ;-P
So what I am saying is, as long as everyone who
does serious bad pays for said crime, I won't have too
huge a problem with this method.
I am wary of wanting to punish someone for how they
think with imprisonment and/or death.
Oh sorry I didn't mean that Sirius deserved to die or anything because he didn't feel sorry for what he did to Snape and Lupin... That would be just be unthinkably cruel! Like I said, I suspect Sirius and Snape function outside of the simple cosmic justice system described above, and thus all his suffering were not enough to "redeem" him because he hasn't learnt, and his personality faults not only kept him unhappy the short period between his prison escape and his death, they were also the main causes of the very death.
I would prefer that the "good" kids' attitudes are adjusted because their own flaws are finally owned up to...
Judging by the trio's cold-blooded reactions toward Marietta's still visible scars, I'd say the victims' behaviors would have to change first before these "good" kids realize what they'd done. I mean if Marietta does something good, maybe the trio would feel ashamed and undeserving (okay, so call me naiive); and if she does something really bad (I doubt it!), it would make her another Draco, which means she wouldn't be too badly punished because she has "prepaid" for some of her "debt".
Of course I'd rather see the good kids finally owning up to their many errors, but I just don't see how without Zach and Marietta getting involved in future plots, could they make amends to either? I mean, I can't picture a new & improved Hermione for no reason running along to Marietta and tell her, "Oh by the way that jinx I put on you? That was a really nasty one!"
She seems cold-blooded to me.
In a 'if I say he needs to die, he needs to die' way, yeah.
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I am merely saying I think it exists in her books
Heh...I didn't mean to imply that you did. It's just the possibility of this being the case for the books making me crazy.
some of the heroes' morally questionable
behaviors backfired on them
But have they learned anything from those instances? If they haven't (and it hasn't been demonstrated to me that they have), how are they any different from Sirius?
they were also the main causes of the very death.
*nods*
I'd say the victims' behaviors would have to change first
before these "good" kids realize what they'd done
I can't say this isn't what might happen, but I hate the very concept. Are these supposed to be our heroes? People who merely feel smug about disfiguring a fellow student. Do they not ever reconsider their actions from the standpoint of being humane beings?
I'd rather see the good kids finally owning up to their many errors, but I just don't see how
Maybe I am doomed to disappointment, but I think one of these "good" kids needs to do something which is indicted by the text.
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True! I am also of the opinion that it's more important that a wrong is recognized is a wrong, than getting characters punished but never learning from the experience... Maybe the 7th book will work differently, in that at least the more central kid characters actually grow up and become mature beings that very few adults in Potterverse have demonstrated to be?
Do they not ever reconsider their actions from the standpoint of being humane beings?
I shudder to think the Marietta incident would not be delt with in a much, much different light in book 7. It just has to! Cho's reactions then (compassion toward her friend, horror toward Hermione's actions) was reassurance enough- at least somebody was sane!
Maybe I am doomed to disappointment, but I think one of these "good" kids needs to do something which is indicted by the text.
I hope so! After all there is just this one last book left, characters like the Dursleys Rowling might've decided to leave "unredeemed" (except for maybe Petunia, who is SuperLily's sister afer all), but some of the "good" kids- Hermione and the twins especially, IMO- would really have to atone for at least their worst actions in order to justify their positions in the series as light characters.
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