Monday, February 6, 2012

The Media=The Masters of Manipulation

As I continue reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I have noticed that J.K. Rowling uses issues she sees in real-life in the Harry Potter books. For example, Voldemort's rise of power is VERY similar to Hitler's Nazi regime during the Holocaust/World War II. I think the character Rita Skeeter shows J.K. Rowling's portrayal of the media.

As we already know, Rita Skeeter has published countless lies about Harry, (especially during HP and the Goblet of Fire and HP and the Order of the Phoenix. So why is Harry believing her every word in the book The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore?

She is manipulating Dumbledore's past. According to Merriam-Webster, to manipulate means to to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage. Rita only cares about publicity and money. Sometimes, she doesn't lie about things, but she is an excellent manipulator.

He had trusted Dumbledore, believed him the embodiment of goodness and wisdom. All was ashes....
"-but don't forget, Harry, this is Rita Skeeter writing."
"You did read that letter to Grindewald, didn't you?"
"Yes, I- I did...."
"I thought you'd say 'They were young.' They were the same age as we are now. And here we are, risking our lives to fight the Dark Arts, and there he was, in a huddle with his new best friend, plotting their rise to power over the Muggles." (pg 361)

Harry had trusted Dumbledore completely. He had idolized Dumbledore as if he were, you could say, "God." But the more information he hears about Dumbledore, such as his friendship with the notorious wizard Grindewald and his attempt to "rise to power," the less faith he has in him. This was so unlike him. Harry is angry and unsure whether to trust him or not. Hopefully Harry will come to his senses and realize that Dumbledore has made up for his "shady" past.




14 comments:

  1. I agree with everything you wrote, most definitely. Rita Skeeter is just a representation of gossip magazines that are all around today. Every where you go, you see false advertising and obvious lies. She, as many things in Harry Potter, is a small piece of a large issue and theme.

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  2. I get what you are saying and agree but, she wasn't lying. Dumbledore did write those things and I think a good bit of what she said about his early life was true. However, Rita Skeeter's only truth was about his early life. He changed for the better. Dumbledore was very flawed but he wasn't bad. He just wasn't the godly figure we knew him to be.

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    1. I don't think Rita Skeeter lied at all. She just manipulated his story! But she does have a reputation of being a liar.

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    2. It is interesting to think about how persuasive writing can be dangerous!! #connectionstoELA

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    3. Well she did lie a little. If I remember correctly, she indirectly accuses Harry of murdering Dumbledore. But yes, for the most part she just used facts to her advantage.

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    4. Wait, why would Harry be accused of murdering Dumbledore? I think she just emphasized the fact that Harry was in the tower with Dumbledore, but I'm not sure if she accused him of murdering him. I'm not sure though! I'll look back in the book!

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  3. I agree that Dumbledore needs to be seen as we knew him but he wasn't the person that we knew. We have to remember that. As Harry learns these new things, that's what he has to judge by.

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  4. I gotta agree, Harry has changed a lot throught the final books, revieling more about his feelings towards the world.

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  5. Do we judge someone on past decisions or who they decide to become in the present??

    Do we want to look up to people who are absolutely perfect or people who have made mistakes?

    Is *anyone* perfect??

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    1. The best people to learn from are people who are flawed and "complicated." Dumbledore came to his senses and tried to be the best person he could be. This is how Harry should see him.

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    2. No one is perfect. I remember in 5th grade I heard that Roald Dahl was extremely racist. For awhile I hated Roald Dahl for it, but I can't help loving "Matilda" anyway. As a author I still love him. In certain cases we have to accept that our heros have issues. If we didn't look up to people who made mistakes we wouldn't look up to anyone. I will never meet Roald Dahl because he died so I will never know if he ever changed. Dumbledore however, did change completely. He still made mistakes but his intentions changed for the better. In "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" Dumbledore says "It is our choices that show who we truly are," and in the end Dumbledore chose "good" over "evil."

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    3. The problem is with your last sentence which says that Dumbledore chose "good" over "evil". S ome may argue that Dumbledore actually may have chosen to follow the path of "good" but committed many evils along his journey.

      For instance, he left Harry in the care of his aunt and uncle. Surely a wizard of that power and wisdom would know of Petunia's hatred for her sister and all things wizardly? And even if he didn't know at the time when he dropped baby Harry off, one would assume that he would check on Harry periodically to see how the freaking SAVIOUR of the Wizarding World was doing. But instead, our title character was left in the care of Dursley family who shut him in a cupboard under the stairs, threatened (and probably carried out the threat) to not feed him, and swung frying pans at him while he was doing their menial labor. And of course, who can forget the fact that Dumbledore has been behind the scenes manipulating the entire story since book one! So while he may not be "evil" he's been making questionable decisions many people have died from as a consequence.

      (This is not necessarily my personal view, I'm just trying to play the role of the devil's advocate).

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    4. I agree with Micah. He has made some evil decisions in his past, but we can forgive him because Dumbledore has tried to make up for his faults.

      Also, J.K. Rowling creates characters who are extremely complicated. For most of her characters, a reader can't say whether they're "good" or "evil." For instance, Malfoy has done some bad deeds (for Voldemort), but does that mean he is evil if he did these things out of fear? Is Snape completely "good" even though he resented Harry and judged him too quickly because of his hatred towards James. Rowling has created realistic, flawed characters! :)

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