“My ‘Role Model’ is a Homicidal Maniac”

Whenever you read a book or watch a movie, you usually adopt one character as your “favorite” character.  You empathize with the person, understand them.  Maybe you wish you could be like them.  You might admire Luke Skywalker for his courage, sympathize with Frodo’s burden in carrying the Ring, be intrigued by Mr. Spock’s I-have-emotions-no-I-don’t-yes-I-do conflict. 

Our favorite characters are generally the good guys in the story, though often the bad guys are intriguing and become our favorites for this reason.  That is relatively normal.

But I seriously have to worry about myself when I reflect on who my favorite character in the Harry Potter books is.  Because not only do I like her, I’m intrigued by her and I empathize with her; to some extent I have a longing to be like her.  Pretty normal, though, right?  I mean, everyone has a favorite character.

Yeah, but most people don’t idolize Bellatrix Lestrange.

Not only is Bellatrix described as Lord Voldemort’s “most faithful follower,” she is the person who tortured a young couple with a one-year-old son to the point of insanity (with help from her husband and brother-in-law).  On top of that, the woman is simply insane.  There’s a wildness to her that makes her doubly frightening; she’s like a beast newly unchained.  If I were given a choice of being caught in a dark alley with either Bellatrix Lestrange or Lord Voldemort himself, I’d be hard put to decide whom I would fear the most.

If you look at the Harry Potter fanfiction web sites, notably , you’ll find many people who have a fascination with the character Bellatrix.  So I like to think that I’m not alone.  That there’s something truly alluring about her in spite of her obvious repulsiveness.  For one thing, she’s the only female Death Eater (that’s a follower of Lord Voldemort). Sure, Narcissa Malfoy (Draco’s mother) is mentioned in books four and five, but she’s not really active in the Dark Lord’s ranks.  She’s more of a trophy wife for Lucius, a nod to the fact that, yes, dear Draco does have a family.  Bellatrix is the woman who sat regally before a court of law while being sentenced to life imprisonment in the horrendous Azkaban institution, and then stood, unfazed, yelling, “The Dark Lord will rise again!  Throw us into Azkaban, we will wait!”  Bellatrix piques your interest.  At the very least she makes you wonder, who is this crazy woman? Rowling also alludes, vaguely, to a close relationship between Bella and Voldemort – closer than master-servant, at the least, and causing many fans to speculate that the two are lovers.

So she is an interesting character.  That makes me feel somewhat better.  But that still doesn’t explain the fanatic way I’ve latched onto her, and it doesn’t explain why I feel a strange kinship with her.  Never having tortured anyone into insanity myself, nor murdered and pillaged in the name of my Dark master, I really don’t have much in common with Bella. 

In some strange way, though, Bellatrix embodies all of the things that I have ever wanted to be.  She does have some worthy characteristics.  But she takes them to the extreme, without any check on her behavior.  There’s no controlling her, unless your name is Voldemort, or you happen to have a quick-draw Avada Kedavra up your sleeve.

First off, Bella is a very proud person.  When she is on trial for a crime “most heinous,” facing the almost-sure prospect of life in prison guarded by evil soul-suckers, she doesn’t even bat an eye.  She shows no sign of fear, sitting on her chair “as if it was a throne.”  She looks her accuser in the eye.  She summons up a threat full of bravado about her master’s eventual return.  Fourteen years later, paler and gaunter from her stay in Azkaban, she is as alive, and evil, as ever.  When her master frees her and her cohorts, her skills are unvarnished and her pride is unmarred.  She’s unstoppable.  She’s the Rachel Berenson of the Harry Potter universe, for all you Animorphs fans out there.  That is, she’s Rachel if Rachel were fighting for the Yeerks, and had slightly less self-control.

This whole discussion of Azkaban brings up another of Bella’s good points.  She’s loyal, and she has the integrity to stand up for what she believes in. (Even if what she believes in is the idea that Muggle-borns should be eliminated in order to insure the purity of wizarding blood.) When Voldemort calls his followers back to him after a thirteen-year hiatus, it turns out that most of his Death Eaters, even his inner circle, have melted back into mainstream society, pretending to have been enchanted or under some other kind of influence during their Death Eater days.  Bellatrix, unlike her fellows, tried to find Voldemort after he disappeared.  She went to Azkaban without denying her loyalty to her master.  The fickle Death Eaters are more pathetic than anything else as they stand, assembled, before their enraged Lord.  Bella is triumphant, having followed him even when it was hazardous to herself. 

The most interesting contrast to draw, within the Death Eater ranks, is between Bella and Lucius Malfoy.  In book five, both are seen commanding their fellow Death Eaters.  They are, conspicuously, the only people giving commands, which I take to mean that they are both of high rank in Voldemort’s hierarchy.  On the one hand, we have Lucius.  Calculating, cold, acting only in his best interests, quietly gaining access to the Ministry of Magic through liberal use of his fortune, much as a Muggle oil lobbyist would gain access to George W. Bush.  On the other hand, we have Bellatrix.  Unwavering, hot-headed, mercurial Bellatrix.  Jumping from all-consuming rage toward Harry for “besmirching” the Dark Lord’s name one minute, to evil delight at meeting her torture victims’ son the next. 

Bellatrix’s wild streak is probably what endears her to me the most, even as it makes her more dangerous than almost any other Death Eater.  She has extreme temperaments.  She goes to the edge of rationality and puts her toe just across the line into insanity.  Here’s an example: throughout her meeting with Harry in book five, Bella doesn’t go five minutes without mocking Harry in a high baby-voice – “Where are you, little baby Potter?”  That’s about ten steps further from being mentally balanced than most people venture.  Bella is like an uncaged animal.  And it is this unpredictable, savage energy that makes her appealing.  She is bottled excitement, vibrating with freedom.  She is an Amazon warrior. (Incidentally, “Bellatrix” is the name of a star in the constellation Orion.  Its name means “female warrior” and it is often referred to as the “Amazon star.”)

Yet, for all her strength, Bella is vulnerable.  She is deathly afraid of punishment by her Lord.  She grovels before him.  But the catch is, Bellatrix can grovel before Voldemort and still be a strong character.  It’s just another point on her bipolar spectrum of emotions.  She can be weak on occasion and it doesn’t mar her character. 

If you look at it from the perspective of gender roles, Bellatrix is a truly “liberated woman.”  She is strong, far stronger than many of the male characters around her.  She is loud and obnoxious, not quiet, subdued, and submissive.  She expresses herself in a range of moods, most extreme, instead of being reserved.  And above all, she is proud.  So very proud.  She is alluring as a character because she embodies what a lot of women wish to be – liberated from the constraints of womanhood, free to be both strong and vulnerable.

Of course, she’s also killed countless people, tortured parents of young children to the point of insanity, and adhered to a doctrine of blood purity.  And her wild edge makes her unsettling, as she might on a moment’s notice go from “happy” to “enraged,” foaming at the mouth as she hexes you to death.

That’s why I worry about myself whenever I cheer Bella on.  Sure, she embodies things I admire, and I have to admit that unpredictability attracts me.  But still, she’s a murderess, a virtual racist, and just plain evil.  Not the kind of person you want to meet in a dark alley.  Especially if you’re a Muggle like me.