The Page Turners discussion

What do you guys think? I don't believe that Draco was all that bad. I thought that he could say mean things, but he was brought up in a household were that went unpunished. I don't think that it was fair that people put Draco down like they do. He was scared and confused in the 6th and 7th book. He didn't want to kill Dumbledore and he was terrified in book 7. Draco didn't know if he should be family obligated, because all of his family were Death Eaters, or obligated to do what he thought was right. Please let me know how you feel in this matter.

I completely agree with you. I think he was just a misunderstood character with a challenging upbringing. After he joined the Death Eaters and pledged his allegiance to Voldemort, he was terrified for his own life. Most of his negative actions were merely done out of fear. Poor Draco!

Kathy wrote: "I never thought of it like that. He was brought up to be the brat he was when we first meet him but maybe he would have turned out different if his family wasn't evil."

Olivia wrote: "I completely agree with you. I think he was just a misunderstood character with a challenging upbringing. After he joined the Death Eaters and pledged his allegiance to Voldemort, he was terrified ..."

This is what I love about books and characters. I love picking apart the characters to find explanations to what they did. To me, it's better than trying to solve any mystery.

Absolutely misunderstood. It has been said that Harry and Draco are essentially the same character, but on different sides. Draco was raised with a bigoted mentality, which he embraced as a child, but struggled with as he got older. He was terrified and did not want to be involved with Voldemort or the war after he saw it for what it really was. He even refused to identify Harry to the Death Eaters once they'd captured him. There's nothing in the books that leads me to believe Draco is evil. He's simply a boy brought up under the wrong circumstances.

Actually, I usually like evil guys until they kill a character I liked, which Draco never did. Once he became a Death Eater, I started to feel bad for him. The poor guy obvliously didn't want to join the Dark Lord, but he was forced too, then forced to kill the Headmaster who was one of the most powerful wizards in the world! I also feel bad for his mom, all she wanted was to keep him safe, then the exact opposite happened to him. :P

I think Draco is misunderstood. I believe that the majority of what he did was posturing in order to stay as a respected member of Slytherin community. Him becoming a Death Eater was not optional. He had to prove that the Malfoy family should not be incinerated by Voldy and was doing what he needed to to survive. I picture him as very much like a male Narcissa- raised as believing they are better than everyone else, and having to live how society dictates, as if their every move is watched in order to discredit them. They are also both very protective of their family.