Having reread this book for the first time in a few years, I’m struck by Harry’s statement about Dumbledore on page 302. Dumbledore, Harry says, “[is] a funny man...I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance...I don’t think it was an accident he let me find out how the mirror worked. It’s almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could” (302). When I first read these books I was around eight years old; therefore, I don’t think Harry’s age made as big an impact on me as it does now. The fact that Dumbledore allowed an eleven year old to face off against a wizard who’d gone “As bad as you could go….Worse than worse” is incredible to me (54).
I don’t think Rowling intended for Dumbledore to be read through this lense, or at least not on the first read through. Dumbledore’s role in this book fulfills the all-knowing old man archetype; Harry says tells us “[Dumbledore] knows more or less everything that goes on here,” Hermione mentions how she and Ron “met [Dumbledore] in the entrance hall — he already knew,” and even McGonagall refuses to believe the truth about Lily and James Potter “until Dumbledore [tells] her it was true” (302, 12). Rowling consistently characterizes Dumbledore as someone who knows what’s best for the other characters because he knows everything. It’s deeply unnerving to me how the rest of the characters go along with him even while acknowledging how much danger Harry was truly in. Hermione and Hagrid both mention how Harry could have been killed while fighting Voldemort — Hermione states if Dumbledore had meant Harry to pursue Quirrell that “that’s terrible” — which is a hopeful start, but neither continues the thought after Harry reassures them (302, 303). Harry's reassurance adds another layer of disgust for me as well, because he defends the man who purposefully put him in mortal danger.
Reading this now I’m shocked at how highly I thought of Dumbledore. Even not taking the later books into account, his flagrant manipulation of Harry — seen notably when he gave Harry his father’s cloak with the note “Use it well” and nothing else — is repulsive to me. It definitely adds to Dumbledore’s complexity, I suppose, but I have a difficult time defending characters who purposefully put children in danger for their own gain.
Did anyone else have a similar reaction to finishing the book, whether just reading or looking back through childhood nostalgia?
This was my reaction as well! It seems incredible that someone so well-respected and knowledgeable would put such a young child in danger. Not only is Harry only eleven years old when Dumbledore enables and even somewhat encourages him to face Lord Voldemort, but Harry is also “small and skinny for his age” (20). Also, because he is raised by a Muggle family who refuses to even tell Harry about his family history, he knows only as much about magic as he learns during his first year at Hogwarts. It is remarked several times throughout the novel that Harry is a “great wizard” (286), and people expect him to do great things because of his backstory. However, before Harry faces Professor Quirrell and Voldemort, the only truly exceptional thing we have seen Harry do is excel as a Seeker in Quidditch. There is nothing that should indicate to Dumbledore that Harry is in any way equipped to face the darkest wizard of the time. Additionally, because he failed to kill Harry once, Voldemort would likely particularly enjoy the opportunity to kill “the boy who lived” (17). Dumbledore allowed a physically and mentally unprepared student to face a wizard who killed many innocent people, including the boy’s own parents.
ReplyDeleteIt's so difficult to talk about this without talking about the later books, particularly Chapter 3: "Will and Won't" from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Chapter 2: "A Peck of Owls" from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as those address specifically Dumbledore's abilities to interfere with the Dursleys. However, even in this book alone, it's infuriating now to look at how a few owl-delivered letters were all it took to give tiny 11-year old Harry a real bedroom. The addresses themselves show that people in the Wizarding World had the ability to check in on this orphan– if you can send a whimsical letter addressed to the kid who lives under the stairs, you can send a whimsical social worker (or even Hagrid, just a few years earlier) to make sure this kid isn't being kept in a both physically and emotionally abusive home.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to argue that Dumbledore was just a plain bad guy (he was leading basically everyone against Voldemort), but he's definitely not a morally pure character.
When I read the books as a child, I definitely had similar feelings. I was in awe of Dumbledore as did fulfill the trope of the all-knowing, mystical, wizened old man. Dumbledore is the eccentric Uncle almost, who lets the children, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, get into trouble with his lack of supervision. Reading the books as a child, I was also in awe of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. They were so cool, interesting, and capable. That Dumbledore let them do all of these things also contributed to Dumbledore’s awesomeness. The trio is still all of these adjectives; however, the fact that they had to go through this points to a gross neglect on the part of the administration and Dumbledore is in charge of that administration. Even if we take Dumbledore’s reasoning for leaving Harry with the Dursleys at face value, there still could have been interventions to prevent child abuse. My reading of Dumbledore’s character has definitely soured with age. I now read his character as intentionally manipulative. We have already discussed how Harry coming from an abusive background makes him more susceptible to adults who seem nice. Dumbledore is an authority figure who on the surface seems to support Harry. This makes the Chosen One more malleable to Dumbledore’s causes.
ReplyDeleteLike most people, I regarded Dumbledore as a very important character in the series. While his importance in the story cannot be disregarded, the way he went about doing doing some things left much to be desired. His role in the novel is very controversial, but he did play an important role in the development of Harry. There were better ways he could have went about it, such as not letting an eleven year old face the person who killed his family, but he was the one who served as Harry’s mentor during these times. From the reading, it seems JK Rowling wrote the story in a way to make us look up to Dumbledore for this reason. Dumbledore’s mentoring is shown when he shows Harry the Mirror of Erised. After teaching Harry about the Mirror, he says “If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that” (214). This lesson comes back to help Harry when he encounters Quirrell. Dumbledore, while flawed, is still an important character and helps Harry the most.
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