Dumby and Voldy: A Character Analysis from the Structuralist Perspective by Silver Doe

As any Harry Potter avid follower already knows, the "Chosen One" earned his brand and fame because of these two other major characters that represent good and evil in Harry's universe: Albus Dumbledore and Lord Voldemort. So, allow me to expound on the characterization of these opposing pair from the vantage point of structuralism.

For purposes of this discourse, I will use Binary Opposition as a tool to analyze how these characters operate in the dynamics of the plot.

Dumbledore is, undoubtedly, the very embodiment of Good, the one end of the Good-Evil continuum, providing our protagonist with the counsel and the wisdom he still lacks owing to his youth and inexperience. He is immensely wise and powerful, notwithstanding his occasional judgment lapses and human frailties, which got the better of him in Book 6, when he fell victim to one of the Horcruxes, in a moment of weakness. He baffles Harry with his cryptic messages and one-liners, and with his enigmatic persona, withholding a few secrets from him. (We sometimes find this incomprehensible, even irritating. Why not lay all the cards on the table for Harry to see? That would have made our hero's quest a lot easier. Then, again, it will rob us all of the thrill and sense of suspense which have kept us rooting for the next book.)

Dumbledore inspires Harry with his example. I personally think he was teaching Harry something when he made that smooth, stylish escape during the arrest scene in Order of the Phoenix, when Umbridge and Fudge ordered his arrest on account of treason or sedition against the Ministry. It was his way of educating Harry on standing your ground and fighting for your principle. Being a half-blood himself, he believes in the peaceful co-existence of magic and non-magic people. This is another interesting side to the three major characters-- Harry, Dumbledore and Voldemort. They are all half-bloods.

Spotlight on Lord Voldemort now. Every inch of him is evil. He is the other end of the Good-Evil continuum, the very definition of anti-hero. In many respects, he was very much like Harry Potter in his youth-- half-blood, stubborn, self-possessed, and charismatic. But, unlike Harry, he had no friends, like Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, to fill in for his missing superego. He wanted to know more, be more powerful, become some Machiavellian leader of a purist, dark society someday, and achieve immortality and infinite power. He went as far as losing his soul to achieve his ultimate goal of becoming the greatest wizard in the wizarding world. Notwithstanding his half-blood status, he loathes Muggles and became intent upon "purging" the wizarding world of half-bloods and Muggle-borns. Reminds me of Adolf Hitler, who was not even German in lineage, but campaigned for the annihilation of the Jews, who, he believed, pollute the gene pool of the superior German race.

Voldemort, although immensely powerful after being "resurrected," has one major flaw: in the words of Dumbledore himself, "Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness (APWBD to Voldemort, Order of the Phoenix)." In contrast, Dumbledore embraced death, instead of facing a fate worse than death-- the humiliation of having succumb to his momentary weakness.

To Dumbledore, there is dignity in death. To Voldemort, death is something he could not and will never want to face. So ironic, considering that his name contains the French word for death, "mort." Oh, by the way, the word "albus" is Latin for "white." So, there's the symbolism.#