Fearthainn and I Are Bored.
fearthainn: [Draco] finally got to meet Voldie and realized that he was crass and horrible, and that his dad was afraid of him, and didnt' see the point of kowtowing to this half-mudblood who was just a jerk and a bully...a bigger bully than Draco. Aand Draco didn't want to be a part of that, and be forced to bow to some orphaned mudblood with pretentions, and felt like there was nothing he could do about it...hence the suicidal bit
emilytwin: Draco's not into the master thing. He's his own draco
fearthainn: yeah!
BinLoonies: he's the anti hero
fearthainn: yeah!
BinLoonies: er like a Byronic hero or something
fearthainn: he's Draco, and he roxxors!
BinLoonies: lol
BinLoonies: that sums it up
BinLoonies: We're doing Byron in Romantic and Victorian now and all I can think of is Draco
fearthainn: that whole dark, brooding thing
BinLoonies: I relate Draco to just about everything
fearthainn: I do sometimes
fearthainn: things always relate back to HP
BinLoonies: "A Byronic hero exhibits several characteristic traits, and in many ways he can be considered a rebel. The Byronic hero does not possess "heroic virtue" in the usual sense; instead, he has many dark qualities. With regard to his intellectual capacity, self-respect, and hypersensitivity, the Byronic hero is "larger than life," and "with the loss of his titanic passions, his pride, and his certainty of self-identity, he loses also his status as [a traditional] hero"
fearthainn: oooooh
BinLoonies: "He is usually isolated from society as a wanderer or is in exile of some kind. It does not matter whether this social separation is imposed upon him by some external force or is self-imposed." ---Draco in Canad and Draco after Cassie "died" ---
fearthainn: that's pretty much Draco
BinLoonies: "Often the Byronic hero is moody by nature or passionate about a particular issue. He also has emotional and intellectual capacities, which are superior to the average man. These heightened abilities force the Byronic hero to be arrogant, confident, abnormally sensitive, and extremely conscious of himself. Sometimes, this is to the point of nihilism resulting in his rebellion against life itself (Thorslev 197). In one form or another, he rejects the values and moral codes of society and because of this he is often unrepentant by society's standards. Often the Byronic hero is characterized by a guilty memory of some unnamed sexual crime. Due to these characteristics, the Byronic hero is often a figure of repulsion, as well as fascination."
fearthainn: that's like, Draco to a T
BinLoonies: I know!
BinLoonies: And he's usually upper class too
BinLoonies: they didn't say it on this webpage but he's usually a noble
fearthainn: tho I dunno about the sex crime bit
[boring discussion of Romantic Literature. Jane Eyre. Wuthering Heights. Don Juan]
BinLoonies: lol. My teacher said the Byronic hero has been called "Satan sexualized" and I thought of all the Draco in leather pants stuff
fearthainn: except most fo the time, he's not really Satan, he's just a disaffected teen
All angst-ridden and melodramatic
BinLoonies: in leather pants for some god awful reason
fearthainn: I always hate the stories that give him an abusive childhood
BinLoonies: Me too
BinLoonies: Why would he look up to his father so if he was abused?
fearthainn: Well, it's supposed to be a fairly typical reaction, but you don't have to be beaten up in order to have been abused... or neglected, or whatever
BinLoonies: Yeah, I don't think they cuddled a lot... but I don't think he smacked Draco around.
fearthainn: Neither do I
fearthainn: Personally, I'd think that emotional abuse would be just as traumatic
fearthainn: I think he was demanding and ruthless and mean, but I don't think he hit Draco. Spoilt him totally, and then turned around and tore him down whenever he didn't live up to Lucius' expectations
BinLoonies: Put a lot of pressure on him to be the best
fearthainn: Yeah, and then took it out on him when he didn't perform as well as his son should
BinLoonies: His ideal "mini Lucius" vision of a son
fearthainn: Yeah, a little cardboard cutout of himself --
BinLoonies: -- to follow in his footsteps
BinLoonies: I doubt either of his parents was very affectionate either. Or he wouldn't be so cold
fearthainn: yeah
BinLoonies: It's all about the money. I doubt he even understands what real love is like or else he wouldn't be so judgment of the Weasleys. Like they couldn't be happy without a lot of money
fearthainn: Exactly. And having money makes him somehow superior
BinLoonies: Whereas, Harry would give his left arm for the affection the Weasleys all have.
fearthainn: And all his money
BinLoonies: But wouldn't want to be a Malfoy
BinLoonies: yeah
fearthainn: Even though he's prolly at least as well off as Malfoy
fearthainn: well, maybe not quite. But he's not poor
BinLoonies: Well Harry knows in his heart that his parents loved him even if they're not around and he always seemed to because even before he knew he was a wizard he'd try to remember what they were like
[boring discussion of how rich Draco is]
BinLoonies: Have I told you that I find Harry completely unrealistic as a character?
fearthainn: er, no?
BinLoonies: Because he's so normal and he went through all of that
fearthainn: lol
fearthainn: yeah...he's pretty well adjusted
BinLoonies: I'm like, "where are the emotional scars!?"
fearthainn: lol
BinLoonies: He didn't end up thinking the Durselys were the way to be like he had outside influence
fearthainn: yeah
BinLoonies: But he didn't because he never had friends either!
fearthainn: Unless he just decided he didn't want to be like them
fearthainn: and it was all while he was a kid...when you're influenced most
BinLoonies: Well obviously they didn't want him to be part of their family so I guess you could rationalize why he wasn't like the Dursleys
fearthainn: yeah
BinLoonies: But then I would think he would have some worthlessness issues to get over
fearthainn: It does seem rather weird. He doesn't seem to have any doubts as to his own abilities
BinLoonies: He's just really Everykid.
BinLoonies: I mean I know if my guardians were telling me I was worthless and shutting me up in a cupboard I'd have rage or self loathing. One or the other
fearthainn: yeah
BinLoonies: But you never see Harry pic up an uzi and off the Durselys
fearthainn2: lol
BinLoonies: maybe in book five...
fearthainn: lol, we can hope
BinLoonies: Harry Potter and the Blood-bath at Privet Drive