Is Dumbledore really a hero?

[adria_charles]

I recently finished the Harry Potter Series for probably the tenth time or so. Growing up I have always loved, admired, and considered Dumbledore a hero. This time though I am currently questioning that.

Dumbledore came into possession of the Elder Wand in 1945 by defeating Grindelwald. Tom Riddle began his journey of immortality in 1942. Dumbledore might not have known about the Horcruxes at first, but he did know what path that Tom Riddle was on. Having already gone after and defeated Grindelwald why wouldn't he go after the upcoming Voldemort? He has the Elder Wand, so what's stopping him?

What do you think? Do you think Dumbledore can truly be considered a hero?

[michellebkane]

I recently finished the Harry Potter Series for probably the tenth time or so. Growing up I have always loved, admired, and considered Dumbledore a hero. This time though I am currently questioning that.

Dumbledore came into possession of the Elder Wand in 1945 by defeating Grindelwald. Tom Riddle began his journey of immortality in 1942. Dumbledore might not have known about the Horcruxes at first, but he did know what path that Tom Riddle was on. Having already gone after and defeated Grindelwald why wouldn't he go after the upcoming Voldemort? He has the Elder Wand, so what's stopping him?

What do you think? Do you think Dumbledore can truly be considered a hero?

I too have questioned a lot of Dumbledore's decisions in regards to Voldemort, but I am not sure that he is intended to be a hero. Harry is the true hero of the novel. He is the Chosen One. Dumbledore is a Wise Mentor in Harry's Quest to defeat Voldemort. I am not sure that Dumbledore would have defeated Voldemort in 1945 because he did lack the knowledge of the Horcruxes. Dumbledore is a great, wise mentor who was a hero in the eyes of Harry and the students of Hogwarts, but his destiny was not to be there hero in the war against Voldemort.

[Bri Munnich]

Dumbledore throughout the Harry Potter series has most certaintly been a good guym but I do not think that makes him a hero. I think that is a fundamental element of him as a character. J. K. Rowling wrote him in an understated way at times to personify Harry as a character while giving Dumbledore the power of being mysterious.

[barb429]

I agree that Dumbledore it not necessarily a hero, but I feel as though he admits this in the series. He see his own failings, and he knows that he isn't strong enough to be the one to carry the hallows. He is a deeply flawed man, but he is not meant to be the hero of the series.

[Amanda Zarth]

I think he serves more as a guide to Harry than as a hero per say. I mean, he kept a lot of secrets from everyone (such as Snape's story) and almost never really helped Harry when thigns got complicated

Perhaps he was just trying to make Harry find his own way of dealing with the burden of being the chosen one and thought that for Harry to grow into the man he needed to be, he ought to do it on his own.

[using-my-words]

I think the most important thing about Dumbedore is that he is a deeply flawed character who is seen by most of the other characters as being near perfect. They all idolize him, and he does nothing to deter them. I think Dumbledore is ultimately a "good guy" but he is not a hero. Many of the decisions he makes throughout the series are thoughtless (or thought through and decided without seeming to care about the consequences for Harry and his friends). He is power-hungry, and dismissive, and doesn't seem to realize at times that Harry is not just the Chosen One, he is a CHILD. Dumbledore has far more knowledge about what is going on than he ever lets Harry know, even though it's Harry's life that's on the line. That alone makes him not a hero, I think.

That being said, I do still like Dumbledore. He is a deeply flawed character, and I think that becomes more obvious the older we get and the more we read the books. (:

[adria_charles]

I think the most important thing about Dumbedore is that he is a deeply flawed character who is seen by most of the other characters as being near perfect. They all idolize him, and he does nothing to deter them. I think Dumbledore is ultimately a "good guy" but he is not a hero. Many of the decisions he makes throughout the series are thoughtless (or thought through and decided without seeming to care about the consequences for Harry and his friends). He is power-hungry, and dismissive, and doesn't seem to realize at times that Harry is not just the Chosen One, he is a CHILD. Dumbledore has far more knowledge about what is going on than he ever lets Harry know, even though it's Harry's life that's on the line. That alone makes him not a hero, I think.

That being said, I do still like Dumbledore. He is a deeply flawed character, and I think that becomes more obvious the older we get and the more we read the books. (:

I have to agree with everyone. I think because I read them so young I have always held onto that young perception of the books until just recently. I have always like to read and enjoy the stories with a young mind. It just kind of breaks my heart because I believe I put him on this pedestal and for some odd reason only recently realized how much he lacks the "hero" qualities I blindly thought he possessed. I always saw Harry as the true hero of the story, as he is meant to be, but have always had a spot in my heart for Dumbledore. I think J.K. Rowling does such a wonderful job to make Dumbledore a likable character that it's easy to see past the flaws and disappointments he carries out through out the series.

It's amazing how differently my adult mind compares to my younger, child like mind, when reading books.

[kaitykinetic]

I do see Dumbledore as a hero, albeit a flawed one. I think that he probably spent a lot of his later life thinking of all the ways he could have prevented all of the horrible things that happened in the Wizarding world, and that probably was a lot of the motivation behind his support of Harry, The Order, Dumbledore's Army, and so forth. He could have easily been a neutral force in the war, but he knew that he needed to make up for the times he didn't step in when he could have.

[Stand_tall]

I think at one point he wanted to be but as time when on, I think he ended up changing his mind maybe because he didn't want to be blamed for deaths, he knew would happen. When looking at the way he acts, I think he rather have someone clean up their own mistakes or give the glory to someone else because it would help them grow as a person. But with Tom Riddle, I don't think he knew what to do at first and when Tom had already insisted on going on the path he choose, it was too late and there wasn't much he could do. This is just my view but I think Dumbledore didn't do much because he wanted the next generation to take care of it, as a way to show them how the world really works and to teach them lessons about love and friendship at the same time.

[Cjgarland89]

I also have to agree with most of everyone here. I think as a young teenager and reading the books it was easy to see Dumbledore as a hero, and the good guy of the book. But honestly I feel that Snape ended up being a bigger hero in the end because Dumbledore did a lot of questionable things that were overlooked and relied greatly on Snape for the protection of Harry. I think it's awesome to re read the books as an adult and see things from a whole different perspective and still be able to relate to the overall theme of the book and the trials of each character.

[gh0stboyy]

(Contains spoilers)

I've always loved that the characters in the Harry Potter series are realistic and flawed. None of the characters in the book completely fit the overdone hero narrative, not even Harry himself, and I like that a lot.

When I first read the books, I was actually at Hogwarts age (12 years old) so from the beginning I related to Harry. I immediately viewed Dumbledore as his savior. I idolized the character.

As i reread the books now, I've grown up just like Harry did. Now I see Dumbledore similar to how Harry saw him in book 7 when he really started questioning their relationship. A lot of what he did was manipulative and could have been better executed. At the same time, like Harry, I want to believe he redeemed himself because I do still look up to him.

Ultimately, I don't really know what I believe. I do think he truly loved Harry, though.

[chateau_buoy]

(contains spoilers)

I recently finished the Harry Potter Series for probably the tenth time or so. Growing up I have always loved, admired, and considered Dumbledore a hero. This time though I am currently questioning that.

Dumbledore came into possession of the Elder Wand in 1945 by defeating Grindelwald. Tom Riddle began his journey of immortality in 1942. Dumbledore might not have known about the Horcruxes at first, but he did know what path that Tom Riddle was on. Having already gone after and defeated Grindelwald why wouldn't he go after the upcoming Voldemort? He has the Elder Wand, so what's stopping him?

What do you think? Do you think Dumbledore can truly be considered a hero?

Dumbledore is definitely a hero.

(sidenote: I haven't read the books in years so my memory is a little fuzzy and I apologize if I'm forgetting anything important)

I feel as though Dumbledore's difficult choices and sacrifices are often overlooked. And I don't mean his biggest sacrifice of all (ie: giving up his life in the search for the horcruxes). He was forced to make a decision; kill Harry and destroy a horcrux (and kill an innocent child) or let Harry make the choice himself and risk having the world destroyed by Voldemort if Harry were to choose not to sacrifice himself. Dumbledore believed that his actions would teach better than any words, and he was right. Harry chose to sacrifice himself despite the fact that Dumbledore knew what Harry truly was and never told him. The sacrifice that I believe is often overlooked is the sacrifice that Dumbledore made when he decided not to kill Harry. By giving that choice to Harry, Dumbledore sacrificed being a recognized "hero" of mankind. Instead he stayed behind the scenes and did his best to make sure that Harry knew what love meant so that he would make the right choice when the time came.

I also believe that if Dumbledore "went after" Tom Riddle, that would essentially be a manhunt! Dumbledore wasn't about to go hunt anyone down. He was most likely hoping that Tom would come around to the good team eventually, while simultaneously healing from his battle with Grindlewald and honing his magic skillz.

Also...I don't mean to be inappropriate but I have this theory... do you think that Grindelwald was Hitler?

[weeh84]

I recently finished the Harry Potter Series for probably the tenth time or so. Growing up I have always loved, admired, and considered Dumbledore a hero. This time though I am currently questioning that.

Dumbledore came into possession of the Elder Wand in 1945 by defeating Grindelwald. Tom Riddle began his journey of immortality in 1942. Dumbledore might not have known about the Horcruxes at first, but he did know what path that Tom Riddle was on. Having already gone after and defeated Grindelwald why wouldn't he go after the upcoming Voldemort? He has the Elder Wand, so what's stopping him?

What do you think? Do you think Dumbledore can truly be considered a hero?

I think Dumbledore is an important character to the development of Harry Potter being a hero in the series. He was so lovable in the beginning. Despite the fact that his intentions were questionable toward the end, he still aided Harry who defeated Voldemort. He has always been his "Jiminy Cricket." Harry became the hero we all knew he would be. As far as Dumbledore being a hero, I don't think I have ever seen him as one. If anyone else could carry the label, hero, it would be Snape. His character development was so unexpected...that he truly cared for Harry, and his sacrifice was ultimately heroic. Always <3

[braver]

I've always loved that the characters in the Harry Potter series are realistic and flawed. None of the characters in the book completely fit the overdone hero narrative, not even Harry himself, and I like that a lot.

I think this is one of the best things about the books - every single character has their flaws, which makes them more believable, relatable, and loveable. That includes Dumbledore.

Is Dumbledore the hero of the series? No. But that doesn't mean that he isn't *a* hero to someone. I don't personally like thinking of any character as simply a "hero" because I feel like it waters them down, but he is obviously a great man.

[gaporter]

(contains spoilers)

I recently finished the Harry Potter Series for probably the tenth time or so. Growing up I have always loved, admired, and considered Dumbledore a hero. This time though I am currently questioning that.

Dumbledore came into possession of the Elder Wand in 1945 by defeating Grindelwald. Tom Riddle began his journey of immortality in 1942. Dumbledore might not have known about the Horcruxes at first, but he did know what path that Tom Riddle was on. Having already gone after and defeated Grindelwald why wouldn't he go after the upcoming Voldemort? He has the Elder Wand, so what's stopping him?

What do you think? Do you think Dumbledore can truly be considered a hero?

Dumbledore is definitely a hero.

(sidenote: I haven't read the books in years so my memory is a little fuzzy and I apologize if I'm forgetting anything important)

I feel as though Dumbledore's difficult choices and sacrifices are often overlooked. And I don't mean his biggest sacrifice of all (ie: giving up his life in the search for the horcruxes). He was forced to make a decision; kill Harry and destroy a horcrux (and kill an innocent child) or let Harry make the choice himself and risk having the world destroyed by Voldemort if Harry were to choose not to sacrifice himself. Dumbledore believed that his actions would teach better than any words, and he was right. Harry chose to sacrifice himself despite the fact that Dumbledore knew what Harry truly was and never told him. The sacrifice that I believe is often overlooked is the sacrifice that Dumbledore made when he decided not to kill Harry. By giving that choice to Harry, Dumbledore sacrificed being a recognized "hero" of mankind. Instead he stayed behind the scenes and did his best to make sure that Harry knew what love meant so that he would make the right choice when the time came.

I also believe that if Dumbledore "went after" Tom Riddle, that would essentially be a manhunt! Dumbledore wasn't about to go hunt anyone down. He was most likely hoping that Tom would come around to the good team eventually, while simultaneously healing from his battle with Grindlewald and honing his magic skillz.

Also...I don't mean to be inappropriate but I have this theory... do you think that Grindelwald was Hitler?

I think I agree with you mostly. I need to reread the later books in the series, it's been a little while for me too. But Dumbledore is a complicated character. Sometimes cold and sometimes warm. I like that his relationship to Harry has layers which are revealed as the characters age, and become more understandable as the readers age.

Your theory about Grindelwald... huh. I'll have to reread and think about that....