The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, Some thoughts on Dumbledore's commentary, and some questions for a |
 Dec 10 2008, 02:35 PM
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Claw-Clipping Kneazles at the Magical Menegerie  Posts: 2,452 Joined: 9:26am July 24, 2007 Location: I'm either in the Muggle Underground Forum or at the Hogwarts Express Roundhouse   |
rowena_r and the other Beedle Book Club mods, thanks
 The Wizard and the Hopping Pot Some thoughts on the commentary, and some questions ~~~~~ The commentary of Dumbledore focuses on several aspects: Why help when there are consequences? The commentary states the Great Inquisitions of the Fifteenth-Seventeenth Century were in flower. Helping a Muggle was a risk unto death by burning, pressing, or hanging. Indeed, the story was changed over time to reflect a pro-Wizarding, anti-Muggle bias. Dumbledore also comments on Brutus Malfoy and his positions of “wizards first” and “strength in wizarding by not helping Muggles.” Finally, Dumbledore comments on what happens when a solid story is re-adapted for children, and has a saccharine overcoating applied. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A few questions: Modern or ancient, Magical or Muggle, what ethics and mores do you find in this tale? Why do they matter to you; why should they matter to others? Be we Magical or Muggle, as parents, what are our duties to our children? What are the consequences for our families, our communities, and our societies if we fail in those duties? As parents, how do we deal with budding prejuidice in our children? Can we break the cycle before it’s too late? The father failed, in his lifetime, to teach the lessons his son needed to learn such that they took. How much failure do we allow our next generation? How do we support them so they learn and grow from their failure? Was JKR referring to Beatrix Potter when she wrote of Beatrix Bloxam and the Toadstool Tales? Why do you believe, so or not? Feel free to add your own questions to the thread. -------------------- The last enemy to be destroyed is death-- First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 26 The epitaph of James and Lily Potter |
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). Snape joins the good side 'cause he can't take the fact he led Voldemort to Lily and that's what Dumbledore asks (but still remains fascinated by dark arts and remains a git 
); and this wizard starts doing good 'cause he can't take the pot banging at his heels.
Maybe it's saying that doing good should be (is?) part of our nature - kind of like a reflex or something - like a response to an external stimulus as you say. As for where the free will comes in - as we see from the examples in life and the HP books, one still can ignore one's conscience even if it's bounding out there - or maybe find a way to muffle it (even though the wizard in this tale wasn't successful in doing that - I mean, this is a tale to teach wizards' children to listen to their conscience and do good after all) ... er... not sure if that makes sense 
