Mother of the Year, The Role of Mothers in the Half-Blood Prince |
 Jan 27 2008, 10:51 AM
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Trained Hit Witch  Posts: 2,155 Joined: 1:26pm September 23, 2005 Location: Hotel California...ummm, I mean the Gallery Common Room   |
The Role of Mothers in Half-Blood Prince M-O-T-H-E-R “M” is for the million things she gave me “O” means only that she’s growing old “T” is for the tears she shed to save me “H” is for her heart of purest gold “E” is for her eyes with love light shining “R” means right and right she’ll always be Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER” A word that means the world to me -Howard Johnson Mothers – we wouldn’t be here without them; and the same applies to the wizarding world. The role of mothers in our lives, be they absent or present, helps to shape our character. Even women who aren’t mothers but fill that role are a guiding force. JK Rowling has given us quite a gallery of mothers we can discuss: Lily, Molly, Petunia, Narcissa, and Merope. So let’s take this chance to talk about them all: The Good (Molly), the Bad (Petunia), and the Ugly (Merope). But let’s not forget the surrogate mothers: Professor McGonagall; the director of the orphanage, Mrs. Cole; Augusta Longbottom; and even Hermione treats Harry with a maternal air at times. We’ll also examine how these women affect the outcome of character’s lives and the direction of the series. Let’s discuss the role of these mothers and mother figures in the lives of their children. Can a mother’s action or inaction, their absence or presence make someone a good person, or conversely, put them past the point of redemption? We can start this discussion by comparing and contrasting the first two mothers that we see in Half-Blood Prince: Petunia and Narcissa. Could they be any more different? Petunia is decidedly Muggle. The worst sort of Muggle imaginable in fact, with a hatred of anything to do with the wizarding world. Narcissa is a spoiled, snobbish witch with a pureblood mania and contempt for anything Muggle. What could they possibly have in common? For each of them, their son is the center of their world. Here are some questions to start the discussion. You can answer these or feel free to share your own observations. - Dumbledore told Petunia that she had “inflicted appalling damage” on Dudley. Could the same be said of Narcissa and Draco? - Did Petunia’s and Narcissa’s acquiescence to their sons’ every request damage Dudley and Draco or was it their ingrained prejudices? What do you think the presence of their mothers did to bring about their eventual actions in this book and Deathly Hallows? - Could either Narcissa or Petunia be called good mothers? Do past or present attitudes speak more clearly of their success as mothers? - Was it the responsibility of Dudley and Draco to break free from the prejudices of their mothers, or are they the victims of these prejudices? - Both boys experienced major attitude adjustments in the series. Do you think this is due to their mothers’ influence or external forces? If you believe it was both, which do you feel played the bigger part? --------------------  GalleryCast 84 - Woooo It's a Ghost is available on iTunes now Avatar by the fantabulous KimmyBlair |
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