Why I didn't find Lupin OOC in Deathly Hallows
Haven't written about HP lately, so here we go. And it's not a gripe, either! I know, shocking after DH, but there you are. It wasn't all bad.
It's funny. I have plenty of things to complain about in DH (hello, disappearing Justice for Magical Races subplot!), but Remus Lupin's behavior isn't one of them. In fact, this was one of the things I found entirely believable and consistent with the entire backstory going back to the Marauders era. Since I find I'm in the minority in this opinion, I thought I'd do a write-up of my reaction, for my own increased understanding if nothing else.
First, while trying to run off and leave his pregnant wife during a war isn't a nice thing to do, it's something I can believe he would do. He always pulls away when he fears he's endangering people: for instance, he resigns without protest in PoA and understood why parents would think he was too dangerous for students to be around. He tends to keep people at a distance. I read Lupin as being depressed and having a low sense of self-worth, exacerbated by his unemployment and the social stigma of being a werewolf; keeping people at arm's length and bailing when things get rough are consistent with this as well as with his past behavior.
Second--and I hate to say this because I do like him--he has a point. He and Tonks didn't jump over the Weasleys' hedge when Scrimgeour came just for kicks; they did it because they're in that much danger. The Ministry is rounding up people right and left, and living with a werewolf would probably make Tonks and the baby bigger targets than if they pretended she left him and moved in with her pureblood mother. It might at least give her a little more time to plan her escape if they came after the "half-breed" baby. Furthermore, suppose some full moon he forgets to take his medicine, breaks out of wherever he is, and hurts Tonks and the baby? Of course there are plenty of good parents out there with chronic medical conditions and a black mark in the authorities' books, but given that Lupin knows his fears are legitimate, I can see why he'd regret putting someone he cared about in danger. It's not nice to try to take the decision out of Tonks's hands. But he thinks he's older and wiser than optimistic Tonks, and moreover has a lower opinion of himself than Tonks does of him, so it does make sense to me that he'd do that. For her own good, he thinks.
Third, I think Lupin's functional depression spiraled down into despair and self-loathing during HBP while he was living with Fenrir Greyback's pack. In OotP, he needles Tonks about her name and reminisces about his schooldays with Sirius, which is downright cheerful for him. In HBP, he stares moodily into the fire and talks bitterly about his "peers... fellows... equals." He says his "reasoned argument" isn't making headway at all, which has got to be disappointing, especially over a period of months (or over a year, for all we know - where were his mysterious errands taking him in OotP?). And he would realize that werewolves siding with Fenrir meant innocent people getting mauled or turned, so he's probably feeling responsible for that. And we don't know what he does during full moon exactly - maybe he has to run with them to keep up appearances, and maybe there were some close calls like those during his schooldays which he feels more keenly than he did when he was younger and more carefree. He wouldn't have his friends to calm him, though, but a ravening pack led by a guy who likes to bite children, so maybe things went beyond close calls. Even if none of that happened, he's living with the guy who made him a werewolf. That can't be fun. That comment about his "equals" sounds to me like Lupin feels worse than ever about his condition - either hating himself for having a beast within, or hating that he's stuck being a pariah forever because of that, or both.
So when he tells Tonks he's "too old, too poor, too dangerous" for her, I believe he really feels that way. He could also just not be that into her, be gay, or whatever, but I think it flies with a bi or straight Lupin who cares about Tonks and doesn't want to burden her with his outcast status and his depressed, unworthy self. Marrying her wouldn't be an instant cure for this. It might give him a temporary boost (see: cheery public hand-holding), but seeing the danger Tonks really is in by being with him would send Lupin right back down, to the point where he might think it's for the best if he leaves. It's not necessarily logical, and it doesn't take into account Tonks's free will, but it's believable. Especially when he wants to leave to help destroy the evil overlord who's making life so much worse for him and his family. I mean, that's not so hard to rationalize as the best way to protect his family, is it?
Finally... it makes so much sense when you take into account the Marauders era. And I don't just mean that knowing what trouble he almost got himself and his friends into back then makes him more sensitive to such issues now, or that losing his old friends one by one makes him less willing to get close to anyone (though I'm sure that's true too). I mean that while I was reading DH, I thought Lupin was awfully on edge, and wondered if Lupin had entirely different reasons for his behavior, since JKR has been known to give perfectly believable behavior unexpected motivation ("no, I'm not stuttering because I'm nervous--it's because I'M HARBORING VOLDEMORT MWAHAHA!"). To be specific, I wondered if Lupin's year with the werewolves had convinced him that wizards would never accept him, and that his best bet to have a decent life (and to protect his family) was to overthrow the wizarding government. Maybe he thought he could help dispose of Voldemort, but still use the situation to his advantage--or even use Voldemort to bring down the Ministry and then help get rid of him. Maybe history was repeating itself, and we had a spy for the other side (or the third, werewolf side) in our midst!
And then it smacked me over the head. I remembered PoA: "Unless you thought I was the spy?" "Forgive me, old friend."
Unless you thought I was the spy. Why did Sirius and the Potters suspect Lupin in the first place, anyway? We never did find out. Pettigrew must have contributed, but they wouldn't believe it unless it seemed plausible. They knew it was someone in the Order, but why Lupin? Well. This would have been another period of high prejudice against werewolves, right? Lupin's condition wasn't public at the time, but surely it was in constant danger of being revealed. Suppose he thought it best to keep a little distant from his friends, for their own good? And suppose he kept volunteering for Order missions that kept him as far away from his friends (or anyone else) as possible? And suppose he kept passing up the opportunity to visit Baby Harry, claiming it was too dangerous this close to the full moon when they pressed him for a reason? And what if the Red Hen is right and Lupin was Dumbledore's emissary to the werewolves then, too? I think they'd all find this very suspicious, that's what I think. Maybe Lupin wants to be alone so we don't know what he's up to, and he's trying to distance himself from us so he won't feel as bad when he betrays us. And maybe he's been taken in by the other werewolves' arguments...
So yeah, of all the things in DH, this is one of the ones I'm okay with. (Lupin and Tonks's deaths, on the other hand... are for another day.)
It's funny. I have plenty of things to complain about in DH (hello, disappearing Justice for Magical Races subplot!), but Remus Lupin's behavior isn't one of them. In fact, this was one of the things I found entirely believable and consistent with the entire backstory going back to the Marauders era. Since I find I'm in the minority in this opinion, I thought I'd do a write-up of my reaction, for my own increased understanding if nothing else.
First, while trying to run off and leave his pregnant wife during a war isn't a nice thing to do, it's something I can believe he would do. He always pulls away when he fears he's endangering people: for instance, he resigns without protest in PoA and understood why parents would think he was too dangerous for students to be around. He tends to keep people at a distance. I read Lupin as being depressed and having a low sense of self-worth, exacerbated by his unemployment and the social stigma of being a werewolf; keeping people at arm's length and bailing when things get rough are consistent with this as well as with his past behavior.
Second--and I hate to say this because I do like him--he has a point. He and Tonks didn't jump over the Weasleys' hedge when Scrimgeour came just for kicks; they did it because they're in that much danger. The Ministry is rounding up people right and left, and living with a werewolf would probably make Tonks and the baby bigger targets than if they pretended she left him and moved in with her pureblood mother. It might at least give her a little more time to plan her escape if they came after the "half-breed" baby. Furthermore, suppose some full moon he forgets to take his medicine, breaks out of wherever he is, and hurts Tonks and the baby? Of course there are plenty of good parents out there with chronic medical conditions and a black mark in the authorities' books, but given that Lupin knows his fears are legitimate, I can see why he'd regret putting someone he cared about in danger. It's not nice to try to take the decision out of Tonks's hands. But he thinks he's older and wiser than optimistic Tonks, and moreover has a lower opinion of himself than Tonks does of him, so it does make sense to me that he'd do that. For her own good, he thinks.
Third, I think Lupin's functional depression spiraled down into despair and self-loathing during HBP while he was living with Fenrir Greyback's pack. In OotP, he needles Tonks about her name and reminisces about his schooldays with Sirius, which is downright cheerful for him. In HBP, he stares moodily into the fire and talks bitterly about his "peers... fellows... equals." He says his "reasoned argument" isn't making headway at all, which has got to be disappointing, especially over a period of months (or over a year, for all we know - where were his mysterious errands taking him in OotP?). And he would realize that werewolves siding with Fenrir meant innocent people getting mauled or turned, so he's probably feeling responsible for that. And we don't know what he does during full moon exactly - maybe he has to run with them to keep up appearances, and maybe there were some close calls like those during his schooldays which he feels more keenly than he did when he was younger and more carefree. He wouldn't have his friends to calm him, though, but a ravening pack led by a guy who likes to bite children, so maybe things went beyond close calls. Even if none of that happened, he's living with the guy who made him a werewolf. That can't be fun. That comment about his "equals" sounds to me like Lupin feels worse than ever about his condition - either hating himself for having a beast within, or hating that he's stuck being a pariah forever because of that, or both.
So when he tells Tonks he's "too old, too poor, too dangerous" for her, I believe he really feels that way. He could also just not be that into her, be gay, or whatever, but I think it flies with a bi or straight Lupin who cares about Tonks and doesn't want to burden her with his outcast status and his depressed, unworthy self. Marrying her wouldn't be an instant cure for this. It might give him a temporary boost (see: cheery public hand-holding), but seeing the danger Tonks really is in by being with him would send Lupin right back down, to the point where he might think it's for the best if he leaves. It's not necessarily logical, and it doesn't take into account Tonks's free will, but it's believable. Especially when he wants to leave to help destroy the evil overlord who's making life so much worse for him and his family. I mean, that's not so hard to rationalize as the best way to protect his family, is it?
Finally... it makes so much sense when you take into account the Marauders era. And I don't just mean that knowing what trouble he almost got himself and his friends into back then makes him more sensitive to such issues now, or that losing his old friends one by one makes him less willing to get close to anyone (though I'm sure that's true too). I mean that while I was reading DH, I thought Lupin was awfully on edge, and wondered if Lupin had entirely different reasons for his behavior, since JKR has been known to give perfectly believable behavior unexpected motivation ("no, I'm not stuttering because I'm nervous--it's because I'M HARBORING VOLDEMORT MWAHAHA!"). To be specific, I wondered if Lupin's year with the werewolves had convinced him that wizards would never accept him, and that his best bet to have a decent life (and to protect his family) was to overthrow the wizarding government. Maybe he thought he could help dispose of Voldemort, but still use the situation to his advantage--or even use Voldemort to bring down the Ministry and then help get rid of him. Maybe history was repeating itself, and we had a spy for the other side (or the third, werewolf side) in our midst!
And then it smacked me over the head. I remembered PoA: "Unless you thought I was the spy?" "Forgive me, old friend."
Unless you thought I was the spy. Why did Sirius and the Potters suspect Lupin in the first place, anyway? We never did find out. Pettigrew must have contributed, but they wouldn't believe it unless it seemed plausible. They knew it was someone in the Order, but why Lupin? Well. This would have been another period of high prejudice against werewolves, right? Lupin's condition wasn't public at the time, but surely it was in constant danger of being revealed. Suppose he thought it best to keep a little distant from his friends, for their own good? And suppose he kept volunteering for Order missions that kept him as far away from his friends (or anyone else) as possible? And suppose he kept passing up the opportunity to visit Baby Harry, claiming it was too dangerous this close to the full moon when they pressed him for a reason? And what if the Red Hen is right and Lupin was Dumbledore's emissary to the werewolves then, too? I think they'd all find this very suspicious, that's what I think. Maybe Lupin wants to be alone so we don't know what he's up to, and he's trying to distance himself from us so he won't feel as bad when he betrays us. And maybe he's been taken in by the other werewolves' arguments...
So yeah, of all the things in DH, this is one of the ones I'm okay with. (Lupin and Tonks's deaths, on the other hand... are for another day.)