Dumbledore, the Order of the Phoenix, and the Fabian Society

My decision to begin some in-depth work on Albus Dumbledore was inspired by an article on the Headmaster at Red-Hen Publications which has, in my opinion, a combination of excellent insights and a few mistakes. Here is where I take issue:

Albus Dumbledore is one of the very biggest (non-chocolate!) frogs in the very small puddle which is the British wizarding world. And from what we saw in OotP it is clear that the British wizarding world is hopelessly corrupt. And it has continued to be so On. His. Watch.

Dumbledore is not a visionary outsider attempting to redress wrongs. He is the quintessential insider with his own clique of devoted followers, and he’s had decades to work with them and this is the result. One seriously has to wonder what kind of a state the place would have gotten itself into if Dumbledore hadn’t been around.

In short, Dumbledore “means well” and has a lot of great ideas, but he’s no good at influencing anyone or implementing those ideas. There are a few ways people have attempted to explain this apparent discrepancy between Dumbledore’s beliefs and his power. Some posit that Dumbledore is, in reality, evil. Others argue that he is manipulative. Others still have argued that Dumbledore is simply not all he’s cracked up to be, and in reality, might be cracking up a bit. The Red Hen article quoted above suggests that Dumbledore is not a good leader, filled up with a bit too much pride, and starting to lose it because he’s just getting a bit too old.

But I think a better explanation can be found in the subtle links Rowling makes between a political group called The Fabian Society and Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix (Colbert).

Several connections can be found in the names of Order members.

• Emmeline Vance – Emmeline Pankhurst, a women’s rights activist was one of the earliest members of the Fabian Society, and “vance” means “forward” (as in “advance”), which makes sense in light of their progressive political outlook (see Colbert). The connection is made stronger by the fact that she is wearing a green shawl when Harry sees her, something commonly worn by suffragettes (again, see Colbert).
• Fabian Prewett – one of the deceased wizards who was in the order. ‘Nuff said.
• Sturgis Podmore – one of the founding members of the Fabian Society was Frank Podmore; it was he who named the group (see wikipedia).
• Kingsley Shacklebolt – Kingsley Martin was a member, and he edited a”left-leaning political journal.”

Furthermore, many authors were among the early members – Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and Edith Nesbit, the latter being a favorite of Rowling’s.

But what does this have to do with Dumbledore? Though Dumbledore has avoided the position of Minister of Magic, he certainly does have some political involvement, being “Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot.” If Rowling means to connect the Order with the Fabian Society, then we have a very reasonable explanation as to why Dumbledore has not succeeded in effecting widespread change in the wizarding world, and why his beliefs have not always resulted in action, even though he holds such high positions of power.

Simply put, the Fabian Society believes in slow, eventual change, not revolution. This was one of their early defining characteristics, in fact. They are a socialist society, but different from Marx in his belief that equity would come about by a lower-class revolution. Rather, they believed in gradual change over time. In fact, a parody of their philosphy goes something like this: “What do we want?” “Gradual change!” “When do we want it?” “In due course!”

I see Dumbledore neither as evil, nor manipulative, nor powerful and clever but ultimately inept and ineffective as a leader, but rather as a transitional figure. His explanation of the lie that the statue told was part of his passing on the truth to Harry, who will be the uniter of what is divided and the corrector of what is wrong in the wizarding world.

Take the house elves as an illustration. Dumbledore’s treatment of the house elves represents a sensitive stance toward their psychological slavery and a transitional period towards a time of greater freedom for their kind. Dumbledore doesn’t lead a revolution like Hermione wants to do; he makes the change happen slowly.

Remember – Harry is the hero of the series; Dumbledore is the wise old man. Dumbledore has passed to Harry the wisdom that he needs to continue his efforts of reform in the wizarding world. The Fabian Society’s way of operating is to patiently seek reform by influencing systems and to strike when a golden opportunies arise. Dumbledore has been patiently working for reform over time, and my guess is that he sees in Harry and the events laid out before him one of those golden opportunities. Through Harry, expect to see houses united, magical creatures and wizards working together, and house elves empowered.
One might even think that the Sorting Hat learned its songs from Dumbledore’s political ideas…