However, neither do I subscribe to the idea that the -other- kids are 'insane'. I think Harry & co often have knowledge that others don't, thus they act on it and confuse other people. The thing is, they're -right- and everybody else (including Draco) is -wrong-, factually speaking, most of the time anyway. They -do- need to start the DA and prepare somehow for Voldemort, 'cause what else could they do? They weren't being taught Defense Against the Dark Arts and Voldemort -was- out to get them. You're not crazy if they are, in fact, out to get you, as they say.
It seems like JKR's approach to 'real' insanity is pretty straightforward-- you can tell when someone's crazy 'cause they coo and don't comb their hair, basically. Bellatrix was wearing a sign on her forehead with 'crazy as a loon' on it, pretty much. Same with Luna. She was labeled "X for 'crazy person'" and it took the Trio (always seeing things the others overlook) to realize she's not actually all that crazy at all. Just misguided. But then, so is Draco. Misguided.
Calling -anyone- 'crazy' off-handedly gets my hackles up, I guess, not least because I'd be one of the first on the chopping block if people started labelling the borderline cases, probably. Dumbledore is not crazy. Harry is not crazy. Draco is not crazy. And in fact, Luna isn't crazy either-- and neither is Moody-- or Filch! Most characters in HP with very few exceptions (Voldemort, Bellatrix... okay that's it) are pretty sane with the information they have to go on.
It's -imperative- to define insanity before one uses it to label people. Gah. It's such a complex topic! Why oh why do people want to bandy about that word so much, I'll never really empathize with, though I suppose one must separate oneself from those 'other' people, who're clearly insane. Okay I'm winding myself up, I have to stop. I just wish people used real labels, anyway. Instead of 'insane', they could say 'schizoid with paranoid tendencies' or 'psychopathic'... though a lot of old well-worn psychiatric terms have gotten misused too, like 'bipolar' which a lot of people don't even know what it means anymore.
Voldemort strikes me as suffering from some combination of ailments... sociopathic & psychopathic & schizoid beginnings, yeah, but all this is probably overlaid by a nice layer of dementia, what with all the body-hopping and likely memory leakage/sappage. He's not really Tom Riddle anymore, is he. He's the equivalent of a severe case of Alzheimer's on top of everything else (well, dementia, sociopathy, paranoid-shizoid-type behavior), it seems like. Meh.
no subject
It seems like JKR's approach to 'real' insanity is pretty straightforward-- you can tell when someone's crazy 'cause they coo and don't comb their hair, basically. Bellatrix was wearing a sign on her forehead with 'crazy as a loon' on it, pretty much. Same with Luna. She was labeled "X for 'crazy person'" and it took the Trio (always seeing things the others overlook) to realize she's not actually all that crazy at all. Just misguided. But then, so is Draco. Misguided.
Calling -anyone- 'crazy' off-handedly gets my hackles up, I guess, not least because I'd be one of the first on the chopping block if people started labelling the borderline cases, probably. Dumbledore is not crazy. Harry is not crazy. Draco is not crazy. And in fact, Luna isn't crazy either-- and neither is Moody-- or Filch! Most characters in HP with very few exceptions (Voldemort, Bellatrix... okay that's it) are pretty sane with the information they have to go on.
It's -imperative- to define insanity before one uses it to label people. Gah. It's such a complex topic! Why oh why do people want to bandy about that word so much, I'll never really empathize with, though I suppose one must separate oneself from those 'other' people, who're clearly insane. Okay I'm winding myself up, I have to stop. I just wish people used real labels, anyway. Instead of 'insane', they could say 'schizoid with paranoid tendencies' or 'psychopathic'... though a lot of old well-worn psychiatric terms have gotten misused too, like 'bipolar' which a lot of people don't even know what it means anymore.
Voldemort strikes me as suffering from some combination of ailments... sociopathic & psychopathic & schizoid beginnings, yeah, but all this is probably overlaid by a nice layer of dementia, what with all the body-hopping and likely memory leakage/sappage. He's not really Tom Riddle anymore, is he. He's the equivalent of a severe case of Alzheimer's on top of everything else (well, dementia, sociopathy, paranoid-shizoid-type behavior), it seems like. Meh.