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Malfoy's Misgivings
By Nadia M

Biography:
Nadia M is a high school student from the United States with a love for reading, writing, and of course, Harry Potter. She has been a Harry Potter fan since 2000 and a Harry Potter fanatic since 2006. She prides herself on knowing all of the Harry Potter character's birthdays by heart and finding the typos on her first read of Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

Abstract:
A discussion of why Draco Malfoy was expected to help the Order in Deathly Hallows, and why he did not. He had plenty of reasons which should have motivated him to leave the Death Eaters, but he stays with them because he does not have the courage to go against them.


This essay can be read here

This post has been edited by Aislinn: 07 December 2008 - 09:55 PM

I really like this, Nadia M, exceptionally well done!

Your essay made me think more about the motives of Draco Malfoy and what made him different than the others that he was brought up listening and associating with. It almost seems to me that Draco was possibly one of the only thinking Death Eaters, in that he actually considered the consequences of his actions. It is difficult for anyone to break the mold of what they were brought up being spoon fed to believe from the time they were infants, to actually stand alone and stand up for what you know to be true. In Draco's case, it seemed he realized very early into his initiation as a Death Eater that he and his family were being played for pawns, and that there was really nothing he could do about that to change it. He also seemed to realize that by eating Death, parts of yourself die a little bit more with it, and he was looking to preserve his humanity by emphasizing his childlike uncertainty when confronted to verify the identities of those whose lives hinged upon his judgement and damnation to a certain death.

Like you, Nadia, I find Draco a very interesting character. Your essay contains many useful insights. I would like to add these thoughts:

1) Draco Malfoy, like Sirius Black, was born into a rich, stuck-up, pureblood family, but he didn't have Sirius' rebellious streak. Draco deeply admired his father and tried hard to meet his family's expectations.

2) I think Draco is smarter than his dad (who, given the blunders he makes throughout the series, doesn't seem to be all that bright), but much like him in other respects.

3) You note that Draco "does not share the cruel attitude of the Death Eaters and resents being surrounded by Death Eaters. He just wants himself and his family to stay alive and well." By the opening chapter of Deathly Hallows, I sense that Lucius and Narcissa are feeling the same way. All three Malfoys are terrified, demoralized, aware that they're in way over their heads, and more interested in protecting each other than in furthering Voldemort's cause.

I think if we follow the themes in Harry Potter we can end up with Draco having a large dose of self-loathing. As he is confronted with all the brutality and terror during both the HBP and DH, he begins to see that he is flawed, weak and scared. As posited in this essay, Draco had many opportunities to help the "good" side. I do not agree that he sees Harry and the trio AS the GOOD (good for him and his family) side. They are fighting Voldemort and Draco now hates and fears Voldemort. But, the GOOD side, other than trying to kill Voldemort, offers none of the other things his family has raised him to believe in. If he helps the GOOD to win, there will be a world in which he and his family do not belong, will have no honor or position. He does begin to realize that Voldemort's world would not be wonderful either, but not as fully as he believes Potter's side is not a good choice.

The thematic element of choice in Harry Potter is not a pure and fine one. Snape comes to Dumbledore because the woman he loves is in danger and then killed by Voldemort. He never says he wants what the GOOD side wants and when Dumbledore reminds him that he should care about Lily's son, he only goes as far as being willing to protect him from threats. He does not and never goes as far as respecting, supporting or being kind to Harry. Sirius's brother goes against Voldemort when he realizes his own aims and ambitions will never be met by this insane lord he has chosen. He is willing to sacrifice himself to get a Horcruxe, but he never contacts the Order or his brother to chose the GOOD side over Voldemort. Maybe if he had lived he would have gone that far, but since he died, we will never know.

Even Harry only chooses the good because he is forced to take the opposite side of his parent's murderer. And, he only chooses the GOOD house, Gryffindor, over the BAD house, Slytherin, because he already hates Draco and likes Ron. He does not deny to the Sorting Hat that he is ambitious and has a great need to prove himself; he only begs not to be put into Slytherin.

Sure, if Draco had chosen to help the Trio he would have been "redeemed" in the black and white world of Harry Potter, where only supreme sacrifices are noted as being real or important. However, Draco does progress to reluctance and more, begins to understand Voldemort is not only NOT interested in really supporting the Pure Bloods as much as he is interested in his own glory.

Draco does possess some "finer" feelings; he does not want to or get off torturing people or inducing fear or injury. He is willing to at least try anything to keep his family alive. He loves his family even after his father makes so many mistakes and puts them all in danger.

I think in his adult life, after going home to live where most of the world he knew is now either gone or meaningless, he will find he can become a better person, although stretching him to be heroic is really a very long reach. I think he will have LOVE in his life; he still has his parents and eventually a wife and son. So, if we stick to the Harry Potter theme about love being the strongest and most meaningful thing of all, Draco can qualify, in the end, as not a DARK character.

I longed for a Draco redemption all the way to the end. Alas, he was too scared, stubborn and influenced by his father's lead to be redeemed by his own ability to chose.

My bold! You're right, I think, that it was well done! The bold part is because I think Draco was exactly NOT the only DE to be thinking! His father was perhaps simple, but he definetely did think about what could be best to protect his family's fortune and name! There was other DE's with lots of brain tho' they used their brain to sothe their desire for power!


I really liked your post, Flutesong, but I wanted to point out your last sentence in particular!
For Draco to redeem himself - so to say - it would mean he disagreed with the values he was brought up to cherish, but he doesn't and even as a grown-up it seems he still isn't! It could be, that he really has made his mind up and found that those values are ok, but the part where the DE's used terror to get to their goal could very well be un-acceptable to Draco still.
We must remember, that not all share what is hugely accepted as a social and conscious mindset! Some believe the world can be a nice place even if every person has to take their fate into their own hand, while others believe it is a group effort to make sure all individuals are taken care of!

Nadia M
I want to point out, that your text per se is really good, but I really think you should write some more, to get more hang of making it fluent and more coherent to a reader (at least like me)! The reason I think you should continue writing is, that it's so interesting what you think about and how you see things, and I really would like to read more from you.

This post has been edited by The-T-Dane: 25 December 2008 - 09:51 PM

Very interesting essay Nadia M. You made some really good points about Draco's character. Once Draco realised the full implications of being a deatheater, I think his main priority was to protect himself and his family - to survive. Although he may not have wanted to harm anyone else by the time of the scene at Malfoy Manor, he wasn't going to put their survival ahead of his own family. Draco, being a Slytherin, had a desire for self-preservation after all.

I was happy that there was no big redemption scene for Draco in DH, as I think we need these more complex, 'grey' characters who are not heroes or evil, but like most people on this planet, somewhere on a scale between the two. This was also the reason why I enjoyed the more Machiavellian aspects of Dumbledore's character revealed in DH.

Thanks Nadia - will enjoy reading more of your work!

I really enjoyed this essay because like many excellent essays it really makes you think. Draco matured a lot over the final books and would emerge with a better understanding of his limits. And possibly a new respect for Harry, being able to stand up to people that draco found he could not.

One thing which did occur to me is that the Malfoy family had one priority - their family. Draco's mother went as far as to take a huge risk for her family when she declared Harry was dead. It may not redeem the family completely but at least in my eyes the family appears in a better light.The fact that they all had this overiding sense of loyalty to each other is fantastic, any risk draco could have taken would have impacted his mother and father as well as him self. I see that the risk to all 3 of them prevented any of them taking a stand until all hope was practically lost. And then the only risk taken was to save the rest of the family.

Thank you for the essay. I enjoy things which stimulate my brain.

Nadia M,

Excellently thought out and well written essay. I believe you have Draco's psychology dead to rights. I also believe he has a conscience and it spent the rest of his life deviling him about what he could have done and didn't do. I believe also he was forever embarrassed by his cowardice. You can see evidence of both when he meets Harry and Ron, while escorting his son onto train to Hogwarts. I did feel sorry for him somewhat, but he was offered a chance to escape, with his family, his fate by Dumbledore and refused it.

I really enjoyed reading the esay but strongly disagree with the fact that many including yolurself think that Draco is coward. He was almost forced to fill the gap of his father, tho he never want to be a Death Eater his fear kept him as one. Also he tried to do what ever he could to protect his famlies name evon tho it was pointless.

I dont think its a matter of Draco being evil, i think its more the fact the he was brought up by the worst influenses and roll moddles in the wizarding world. He intern has to live up to there ecspectatins

All in all I feal greatly sorry for Draco as his school life progress and in the epilog (which was rubish as we all very well no). Verry well writen

When I read Sorcerer's Stone, I thought that Draco was just as Harry thought he was: evil. Now I know the reason. He tries to be a Death eater, but actually is good deep down. Also, he was in Slytherin, (which many people take to be the "evil" house), probably because his parents were there. Then Voldemort expects all the children of Death Eaters to become Death Eaters too, which Draco does. Probably to prevent himself being killed, like we see in HBP. If his family had been in the Order and he had been in Gryffindor, he wouldn't have become one. All of these old pureblood families too highly cherish traditions and following your parents.

I'm not saying that he's a nice person, though. He taunts Harry, Hermione, and Ron and tries to get Hagrid fired. He's kind of like a yin-yang. If I was at Hogwarts and had to be with him the whole day, I can't tell if I'd punch him like Hermione did or befriend him. He's weird.