The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Dumbledore's Dilemma

8.16.07 @ 12:01AM

DUMBLEDORE'S DILEMMA
Re: David Haddon's J. K. Rowling Condones Euthanasia in Latest Book:

Haddon's argument is ridiculous. Dumbledore was dying. He sacrificed his life to have Snape continue to be an agent against Voldemort. How long are intolerant evangelicals going to spread such rot? The irony is that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the most theological of the series. It presents an afterlife, and clear consequences are shown for how lives are lived. The American Spectator should be embarrassed at publishing Haddon's silly diatribe.
-- Doug Gibson
Ogden, Utah

Euthanasia???? Funk & Wagnalls defines it as "1. painless, peaceful death." Dumbledore's death doesn't meet that criterion. Or, 2. "The deliberate putting to death, in an easy and painless way, of a person suffering from an incurable and agonizing disease: also called mercy killing." Again, Dumbledore's death doesn't fit. How about giving your life for a principle, or to save others? That's what Dumbledore did, as we find out when we discover that Voldemort can't use the Elder Wand's full power because he wasn't the one who took it from Dumbledore's lifeless hands. Because of that, Harry Potter is able to overcome Voldemort and good triumphs. Under Haddon's sloppy definition McCoy can be charged with Euthanizing Spock in Star Trek because he let Spock into the radiation chamber so Spock could save the ship and crew. Only a fundamentalist jackass could describe heroic sacrifice of one's life as euthanasia.
-- John Gridley

Haddon's article is the kind of dumbass commentary that keeps alive the common view of evangelical Christianity as intellectually shallow; it is also an analog to the kind of left-wing paranoia expressed in places like the Daily Kos. Or maybe it's just the ramblings of a "writer and activist" in desperate need of a day job.
-- David Light
Maynard, Massachusetts

I respectfully beg to differ, at least on this point. Whether JKR realized it or not, she was endorsing (retelling) JC's sacrifice on the cross for others. Snape's "murder" of Dumbledore was not merely to save him pain/humiliation, but also to break the strength of the greatest "deathly hallow," a magical wand that defeated all others IF it was taken from the previous owner by force. By willingly surrendering the wand to Snape, the power of the wand was defeated.

Again, not particularly sure if JKR intended this point or any of the points attributed to her. Can't we all just read a book?
-- DK

I can't help but think that articles like this one are counter-productive. After all, you are reacting to entertainment and literary device and not to real life where this type of commentary belongs.

Let's look at it from this perspective: From the beginning of the series, Snape's true allegiance and motives have been carefully tucked away behind a veneer of mistrust and deceit. We are meant, of course, to imagine Snape as an agent of Voldemort and capable of great evil, and even though Snape appears to do the right thing again and again, Rowling still manages to make us not trust him.

Snape appears to kill Dumbledore in service to Voldemort, which drives the drama and finally makes us think we were right to not trust Snape all along. This too turns out to be a ruse, but it can't be denied that Snape did commit murder, so some mitigating circumstance had to be created. That circumstance turns out to be to save Dumbledore from a more horrible death that otherwise could not be avoided.

Mr. Haddon can argue, as he has, that this equates to euthanasia, but the words "lighten up" immediately jump to mind. In the sci-horror film Aliens, Corporeal Hicks made a pact with Ripley that one would kill the other in the event they were infected with an alien parasite. The alternative to being shot to death was to have the alien being rip through your chest in a gruesome and painful way with the end result still being death. I don't think anyone can reasonably say that they wouldn't prefer the bullet in this situation, but to equate this type of death to Kevorkian style euthanasia is a bit of a stretch, not to mention silly given the improbability of death by alien or magic spell.

To make this argument makes you look like a crank with no appreciation for fantasy and entertainment, and it's why liberals' brains turn off when you speak.
-- Chuck Lazarz
Reading, Pennsylvania

I think David Haddon missed a critical point in his article. In the story, Dumbledore knows when and how he will die, and what will happen to him if he is captured in his weakness close to that time. In real life, we do not know when our Creator will determine our time is done, and what saving miracles He may have for us. We are real and should not destroy this body He has given us. The Lord Jesus Christ knew when and how he was to die and could have prevented it. Thankfully for us -- he did not.
-- Jack A. Summers

ROVE DEMOCRATS
Re: Jeffrey Lord's Working the Anger Points and Lisa Fabrizio's The Brains:

Both Mr. Lord and Ms. Fabrizio expertly chronicle the Bush derangement syndrome that continues to spew from the MSM and the angry left. Facts, reality, common sense, and plain old decency are not in these people's lexicon. Mr. Kerry was correctly being held accountable by the Swift Boat Vets, back in the early '70s, when Mr. Rove was still a pre-teen. Dirty tricks, vis-a-vis Dan Rather's morbid obsession with the President's National Guard service, as opposed to say, Mr. Kerry's refusal to release his medical records to verify his medal quest, or, the 2000 election eve release of Mr. Bush's DUI, are "hits" by the Left that get a complete pass.

Mr. Armitage remains unquestioned to date, no gaggle of reporters stationed in front of his garage to insure he's not in hiding. Ah yes, the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the left in all its grandeur. I bet Texas never looked so good to Mr. Rove as it does today.
-- Anthony DiPentima

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Health Care, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Television, Business, Earmarks, Social Security, Religion, Law, Iraq, Iran, NATO