Remus Lupin's major personality trait

[neotoma]

Talking to gblvr after sanj's lovely and LotR-filled party, we got onto the trickiness of writing Remus Lupin.

Our favorite werewolf is many things -- a good teacher, a perceptive fellow, a somewhat shifty character when the times call for it -- but he's incredibly frustrating to write.

Mostly because his defining personality trait is that he will not stick his neck out one little bit -- unless there is a great big reward in return for his risk. He will not do anything simply because it's the right thing to do, or because it's his responsibility to do the right thing.

He'll happily step back and avoid a nasty situation, even though he could easily have intervened, because he isn't interested in helping for the sake of helping. He's passive-aggressive and profoundly self-focused.

Does anyone else find him smack-worthy because of this? Especially when trying to write and he holds the entire plot up because he won't help when the plot needs him to?

Comments

[jeddy83.livejournal.com]

I don't that it could be said that Remus never sticks his neck out. I can think of at least three occasions when he did for nothing or little in the way of personal gain. He joined the Order of the Phoenix straight out of school (not much advantage to him there considering the way the wizarding world treats werewolves), he taught Harry the Patronus Charm, and he stood up against Molly Weasley (definitely a nasty situation and not something that I would want to do) to insist that Harry got information in OotP.

Based on that evidence, I would say that, rather than not sticking his neck out when there is no reward, it is only when there is a disadvantage for him that he won't stick his neck out.

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Teaching Harry the Patronus Charm was in no way a risk. Telling off Molly, well, I suppose it depends on how much you think it would have gotten Remus in trouble with the Order.

The only really risky thing was joing the Order right out of school, and that I'd say was a lot peer pressure there. Remus seems to be susceptible to other people's opinions.

I would say that, rather than not sticking his neck out when there is no reward, it is only when there is a disadvantage for him that he won't stick his neck out.

Err, maybe we have different definition of 'stick his neck out'. I see it as doing something when there is a definite risk attached.

You see it as... doing something when you don't have to whether or not there is risk attached?

[jeddy83.livejournal.com]

I'd say we have a difference of opinion over what Lupin would consider risky. Personally, I think that things that involve emotional risk are more difficult for him than things that involve physical risk.

Hence, I think that for him teaching Harry the Patronus charm was more risky than joining the Order. Prior to that, he seemed to have gone out of his way not to get too close to Harry. And again standing up to Molly (and that's the risk I was referring to, not trouble with the Order) is about emotional risk. Joining the Order would have been much less risky, though you are right there would have been emotional risk in not joining.

As to how susceptible he is to other people's opinions, I would say that there is a large difference between Remus as an adult and Remus as a teenager. With the one exception of Dumbledore, he doesn't exactly appear to be a pushover as an adult. When that changed, who knows, but I would say it was already starting to happen when we see him in Snape's memory. He didn't appear to be anyone's flunky, unlike Peter.