For a start, there is no evidence that whatever has been done to Umbridge has not been or will not be punished.
No promise of restitution is made to her, and far from being allowed to stay in a hospital bed and recover she's kicked out in a way which encourages the reader to laugh at her. Raped and pelted out of the school by a poltergeist! Somehow I really can't see this as a victory for the victim.
That they are as plainly in the wrong as is possible to be, and that not by chance but because of their arrogant and obstinate natures, seems to me obvious; and that being the case, how can you say that JKR implies that whatever they did to Umbridge was "deserved"?
I believe the implication that the punishment was "deserved" lies in the fact that Umbridge attempted to crush Harry's will using the vampire pen: some might call that an attempt at mind-rape and respond that it's fitting that she was punished with a literal physical rape. Add to this the sense that Umbridge deserves Something Bad to happen to her and people are likely to respond with "There's her punishment, great, our sense of justice is satisfied!" But, as I've said before, using rape as a punishment is indicative of a thoroughly sexist mindset. (I would say the same of a woman who decided the best way to punish a male was to wound his genitalia.) For that reason I would much, much, much rather have had her being eaten by a dragon.
And JKR makes it perfectly clear that Umbridge has gone well beyond her orders
You're absiolutely right here, she didn't send the Dementor on his explicit orders. That said, I think it perfectly possible that she picked up a subtle hint given by Fudge himself: "Somebody had to act... They were all bleating about silencing you somehow - discrediting you - but I was the one who actually did something about it..." When I couple that with her earlier statement that Fudge was delighted to have an excuse to prosecute Harry in a Wizengamot, what I am reminded of is Henry II muttering to his knights, "Will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Or in Fudge's case, will no-one rid him of this teenage nuisance. Fudge's subsequent eagerness to prosecute fifteen-year-old Harry Potter as a fully-grown adult must have confirmed in Umbridge's mind that she'd done the right thing, and that it would be equally correct to carry on "silencing" Potter and everyone else who spread the "lies". She did not defy the orders of her superiors, she merely took their wishes and translated them into deeds. It's not that she shouldn't be punished - she should be - but Fudge and the others who wanted Potter "silenced" should be investigated and put on trial themselves. (Remember Fudge still hasn't faced any kind of enquiry for bringing a Dementor in and wiping Barty Jr's soul and spoken evidence - again, far more harmful than anything Umbridge managed to do.)
It seems to me that you are coming dangerously close to saying that, because she is a woman, she should not be blamed for her crimes - that they should all be imputed to Fudge, even those he had neither approved nor known about. And I do not think such a position would do women much honour.
Agreed, it wouldn't. But the sources of my unease are threefold: firstly, that her punishment was far in excess of what she inflicted; secondly, that a woman writer approves of rape as a punishment for an unpleasant character; and, thirdly, that there is no sense of the "buck stopping" with Fudge himself. He sent her there with some idea of her capabilities and personality; he made no attempt to check up on what she was doing; he can't be held entirely unaccountable for this lapse of judgement on his part. My theory is that Umbridge sent in reports of what she was doing, to which he replied approvingly. Why else did Fudge sign the parchment allowing her complete power as "High Inquisitor" at Hogwarts? Don't tell me he didn't know what was going on there; I actually credit him with more intelligence than that.
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Re: I still disagree...
Date: 2004-09-26 04:55 pm (UTC)No promise of restitution is made to her, and far from being allowed to stay in a hospital bed and recover she's kicked out in a way which encourages the reader to laugh at her. Raped and pelted out of the school by a poltergeist! Somehow I really can't see this as a victory for the victim.
That they are as plainly in the wrong as is possible to be, and that not by chance but because of their arrogant and obstinate natures, seems to me obvious; and that being the case, how can you say that JKR implies that whatever they did to Umbridge was "deserved"?
I believe the implication that the punishment was "deserved" lies in the fact that Umbridge attempted to crush Harry's will using the vampire pen: some might call that an attempt at mind-rape and respond that it's fitting that she was punished with a literal physical rape. Add to this the sense that Umbridge deserves Something Bad to happen to her and people are likely to respond with "There's her punishment, great, our sense of justice is satisfied!" But, as I've said before, using rape as a punishment is indicative of a thoroughly sexist mindset. (I would say the same of a woman who decided the best way to punish a male was to wound his genitalia.) For that reason I would much, much, much rather have had her being eaten by a dragon.
And JKR makes it perfectly clear that Umbridge has gone well beyond her orders
You're absiolutely right here, she didn't send the Dementor on his explicit orders. That said, I think it perfectly possible that she picked up a subtle hint given by Fudge himself: "Somebody had to act... They were all bleating about silencing you somehow - discrediting you - but I was the one who actually did something about it..." When I couple that with her earlier statement that Fudge was delighted to have an excuse to prosecute Harry in a Wizengamot, what I am reminded of is Henry II muttering to his knights, "Will no-one rid me of this turbulent priest?" Or in Fudge's case, will no-one rid him of this teenage nuisance. Fudge's subsequent eagerness to prosecute fifteen-year-old Harry Potter as a fully-grown adult must have confirmed in Umbridge's mind that she'd done the right thing, and that it would be equally correct to carry on "silencing" Potter and everyone else who spread the "lies". She did not defy the orders of her superiors, she merely took their wishes and translated them into deeds. It's not that she shouldn't be punished - she should be - but Fudge and the others who wanted Potter "silenced" should be investigated and put on trial themselves. (Remember Fudge still hasn't faced any kind of enquiry for bringing a Dementor in and wiping Barty Jr's soul and spoken evidence - again, far more harmful than anything Umbridge managed to do.)
It seems to me that you are coming dangerously close to saying that, because she is a woman, she should not be blamed for her crimes - that they should all be imputed to Fudge, even those he had neither approved nor known about. And I do not think such a position would do women much honour.
Agreed, it wouldn't. But the sources of my unease are threefold: firstly, that her punishment was far in excess of what she inflicted; secondly, that a woman writer approves of rape as a punishment for an unpleasant character; and, thirdly, that there is no sense of the "buck stopping" with Fudge himself. He sent her there with some idea of her capabilities and personality; he made no attempt to check up on what she was doing; he can't be held entirely unaccountable for this lapse of judgement on his part. My theory is that Umbridge sent in reports of what she was doing, to which he replied approvingly. Why else did Fudge sign the parchment allowing her complete power as "High Inquisitor" at Hogwarts? Don't tell me he didn't know what was going on there; I actually credit him with more intelligence than that.