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Thought For The Day
Apr. 30th, 2011 12:53 pmI think the most unforgivably manipulative thing Dumbledore did was when he told Harry that the reason Snape hated James was because James saved his life. It's about on par with Obi-Wan Kenobi telling Luke that Vader killed Luke's father: that is, it's only true if you squint your eyes and look at it from a particular direction; technically true, but essentially deceptive.
In both cases, the result was to make the mentor's young charge hate someone that they might otherwise be conflicted about. I can understand Obi-Wan's motives - Vader was dangerous, and the enemy - but it begs the question as to why Dumbledore would want Harry to hate Snape even more. Or is it that Dumbledore thought it was more important for Harry to idealize his father than it was for him to understand Snape? Foolishness, either way: the fruit of that manipulation led to the death of Sirius.
Darn, this is another piece of evidence in the "evil, manipulative Dumbledore" stakes, isn't it?
In both cases, the result was to make the mentor's young charge hate someone that they might otherwise be conflicted about. I can understand Obi-Wan's motives - Vader was dangerous, and the enemy - but it begs the question as to why Dumbledore would want Harry to hate Snape even more. Or is it that Dumbledore thought it was more important for Harry to idealize his father than it was for him to understand Snape? Foolishness, either way: the fruit of that manipulation led to the death of Sirius.
Darn, this is another piece of evidence in the "evil, manipulative Dumbledore" stakes, isn't it?
