Marietta's Real Crime
In the discussion about "The Centaur and the Sneak", Dracasdiablo made a very interesting point. She stated that Marietta was a bad friend to Cho. After thinking about this for a while, I have to admit that I actually agree. The quotes that follow will, I hope, make clear why I think this.
Those of us who know and love the Narnia books will remember this scene. Lucy, a young girl on the cusp of adolescence, has been given a dangerous task. She must go into a magician’s study and find a spell to make the invisible visible. The book she must read has a mind of its own, and some of the spells it shows her are very tempting to her. Having struggled bravely against one temptation, she gives in to another. She uses the book to listen to what two of her friends are saying about her:
"Shall I see anything of you this term?” said Anne, “or are you going to be all taken up with Lucy Pevensie?”
“Don’t know what you mean by ‘taken up’,” said Marjorie.
“Oh, yes you do,” said Anne. “You were crazy about her last term.”
“No, I wasn’t,” said Marjorie. “I’ve got more sense than that. Not a bad little kid in her way. But I was getting pretty tired of her before the end of term.”
(Dawn Treader, page 129)
Lucy is, of course, furious, and begins shouting at the book, forgetting for the moment that her friends can’t hear her. Shortly thereafter, she finds the spell she was searching for and reads it. Then Aslan comes to her.
“Child,” he said, “I think you have been eavesdropping.”
“Eavesdropping?”
“You listened to what your two schoolfellows were saying about you.”
“Oh that? I never thought it was eavesdropping, Aslan. Wasn’t it magic?”
“Spying on people by magic is the same as spying on them in any other way. And
you have misjudged your friend. She is weak, but she loves you. She was afraid of the older girl and said what she does not mean.” (Dawn Treader, page 132)
What has this to do with Marietta and Hermione? I think it lays out exactly what Marietta’s sin is. Like Marjorie, she is weak and gives in to peer pressure, against her own conscience. This is what puts her in a position where she will be forced to betray someone no matter what she does.
It’s very clear in OOTP that Marietta doesn’t want to come even to the first DA meeting. She’s there because her friend, Cho Chang, dragged her there. Like Marjorie with Anne, Marietta doesn’t stand up to Cho and tell her she isn’t coming. Like Marjorie, she gives in. Marietta signs a parchment even though it’s clear she has doubts. Like Marjorie, she is weak, and rather cowardly. Had she stood up to Cho and stayed away, or had she not signed the paper, she would have betrayed no one.
And Dracasdiablo is right. In giving in and not speaking her mind, Marietta is a poor friend to Cho. Basically, she succumbs to peer pressure, but makes her resentment clear. I can emphathize with her, but also with Cho. It isn’t Cho’s fault that Marietta fails to express her doubts. It’s Marietta’s. She really does do wrong; there’s no doubt about that.
But here’s the thing: succumbing to a friend’s pressure is all too human, and all too typical of young teens -whether they are 11or 12, like Marjorie, or 16, like Marietta. It’s a failing. But is it the sort of fault that merits being scarred for life? I don’t think so.
If you think about it, the whole Marietta episode shows us two contradictory messages about teen peer groups. On the one hand, Marietta is weak, like Marjorie, and should really have followed her conscience from the outset, rather than following her friend. On the other, she sides with adults against her peers - in schoolboy/schoolgirl parlance, she’s a tattletale. Which of these apparently contradictory crimes is she actually being punished for? The book makes it all too clear. She’s not punished for her real crime - being weak. She’s punished for the secondary act, which is, apparently, unforgivable. It’s unforgivable, in the Potterverse, for a teen to side with adults against other teens.
But the peer group is not sacred. As I said before, I cannot think it automatically wrong to “betray” a group of peers rather than one’s mother. And we need to judge the characters based on what they know in the story. We know, as readers, that Harry is telling the truth and that Voldemort has risen again. Characters in the book can’t be sure of this. They have to judge based on what they know of Harry. What does Marietta know? That her friend likes him. That’s really all we can state definitely. The second thing we can state is that the club was legal when Marietta joined. It wasn’t legal any more when she betrayed it. Circumstances had changed, and, in the real world, that is often enough to void a contract.
Summing up, I can see Dracasdiablo’s point. Marietta is indeed weak. But, if I were forced to choose between her and Hermione, based on their actions regarding the DA - well, I honestly have more sympathy for Marietta.
The quotes from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader are taken from the MacMillan Hardcover edition, 6th printing, 1965
Those of us who know and love the Narnia books will remember this scene. Lucy, a young girl on the cusp of adolescence, has been given a dangerous task. She must go into a magician’s study and find a spell to make the invisible visible. The book she must read has a mind of its own, and some of the spells it shows her are very tempting to her. Having struggled bravely against one temptation, she gives in to another. She uses the book to listen to what two of her friends are saying about her:
"Shall I see anything of you this term?” said Anne, “or are you going to be all taken up with Lucy Pevensie?”
“Don’t know what you mean by ‘taken up’,” said Marjorie.
“Oh, yes you do,” said Anne. “You were crazy about her last term.”
“No, I wasn’t,” said Marjorie. “I’ve got more sense than that. Not a bad little kid in her way. But I was getting pretty tired of her before the end of term.”
(Dawn Treader, page 129)
Lucy is, of course, furious, and begins shouting at the book, forgetting for the moment that her friends can’t hear her. Shortly thereafter, she finds the spell she was searching for and reads it. Then Aslan comes to her.
“Child,” he said, “I think you have been eavesdropping.”
“Eavesdropping?”
“You listened to what your two schoolfellows were saying about you.”
“Oh that? I never thought it was eavesdropping, Aslan. Wasn’t it magic?”
“Spying on people by magic is the same as spying on them in any other way. And
you have misjudged your friend. She is weak, but she loves you. She was afraid of the older girl and said what she does not mean.” (Dawn Treader, page 132)
What has this to do with Marietta and Hermione? I think it lays out exactly what Marietta’s sin is. Like Marjorie, she is weak and gives in to peer pressure, against her own conscience. This is what puts her in a position where she will be forced to betray someone no matter what she does.
It’s very clear in OOTP that Marietta doesn’t want to come even to the first DA meeting. She’s there because her friend, Cho Chang, dragged her there. Like Marjorie with Anne, Marietta doesn’t stand up to Cho and tell her she isn’t coming. Like Marjorie, she gives in. Marietta signs a parchment even though it’s clear she has doubts. Like Marjorie, she is weak, and rather cowardly. Had she stood up to Cho and stayed away, or had she not signed the paper, she would have betrayed no one.
And Dracasdiablo is right. In giving in and not speaking her mind, Marietta is a poor friend to Cho. Basically, she succumbs to peer pressure, but makes her resentment clear. I can emphathize with her, but also with Cho. It isn’t Cho’s fault that Marietta fails to express her doubts. It’s Marietta’s. She really does do wrong; there’s no doubt about that.
But here’s the thing: succumbing to a friend’s pressure is all too human, and all too typical of young teens -whether they are 11or 12, like Marjorie, or 16, like Marietta. It’s a failing. But is it the sort of fault that merits being scarred for life? I don’t think so.
If you think about it, the whole Marietta episode shows us two contradictory messages about teen peer groups. On the one hand, Marietta is weak, like Marjorie, and should really have followed her conscience from the outset, rather than following her friend. On the other, she sides with adults against her peers - in schoolboy/schoolgirl parlance, she’s a tattletale. Which of these apparently contradictory crimes is she actually being punished for? The book makes it all too clear. She’s not punished for her real crime - being weak. She’s punished for the secondary act, which is, apparently, unforgivable. It’s unforgivable, in the Potterverse, for a teen to side with adults against other teens.
But the peer group is not sacred. As I said before, I cannot think it automatically wrong to “betray” a group of peers rather than one’s mother. And we need to judge the characters based on what they know in the story. We know, as readers, that Harry is telling the truth and that Voldemort has risen again. Characters in the book can’t be sure of this. They have to judge based on what they know of Harry. What does Marietta know? That her friend likes him. That’s really all we can state definitely. The second thing we can state is that the club was legal when Marietta joined. It wasn’t legal any more when she betrayed it. Circumstances had changed, and, in the real world, that is often enough to void a contract.
Summing up, I can see Dracasdiablo’s point. Marietta is indeed weak. But, if I were forced to choose between her and Hermione, based on their actions regarding the DA - well, I honestly have more sympathy for Marietta.
The quotes from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader are taken from the MacMillan Hardcover edition, 6th printing, 1965