We all know those characters that everyone loves and adores like their lives depend on it. These characters can either be cute in personality, looks, or a mix of both. Whoever they are, readers will go to the ends of the earth to defend them.
Like Bibble from the Barbie: Fairytopia movies, Mushu from Mulan, Pascal from Tangled, and Tyson from Percy Jackson (especially in the show) to name a few. And Dobby from Harry Potter.
Apparently.
Except I’m here today to say that Dobby is a horrible character. He is not cute. He is annoying, and most importantly, DOES NOT deserve ANY defending WHATSOEVER. I already know what everyone is going to say. Trust me, I’ve heard it a million times before and I will hear it again when this exact topic comes up.
“But Dobby is so cute!”
“He just wanted to help Harry!”
“He did the best he could!”
Yes, I know. I know. But look, I don’t care. Maybe he had good intentions, but he definitely did not show that with his actions. Before The Chamber of Secrets even started, Dobby spent the entire summer making sure that all the letters from Harry’s friends didn’t make it to him, which obviously hurt Harry’s feelings. And then his first true appearance consisted of him breaking into Harry’s room, getting him in trouble with the Dursleys, and then telling Harry that he needs to stay away from Hogwarts, the only true home that he has ever known. Basically telling Harry that he needs to stay with the family that shoved him under the stairs his whole life and then put prison bars on his window.
Personally, I would take the vicious Basilisk over that any day of the week.
And sure, you can argue that he was doing this to protect Harry from the dangers coming to the school that year, but don’t you think that if he did want to protect Harry, he wouldn’t have cursed a beater to go after Harry during a Quidditch match, causing Harry to fall off his broom and break his arm. In fact, that could have literally killed him. I don’t know about you, but that isn’t the same definition I have for “protection”.
AND, to make matters EVEN WORSE, he is the type of character that does absolutely NOTHING except to get in the way and cause problems. His death? Yeah, totally avoidable if he had JUST STAYED OUT OF THE WAY like Harry TOLD HIM TO. He was asking for it, and I say that with all the love in the world.
And to add to his already long list of problems, he is NOT cute. My friend, Bella, tried to tell me that he was. To which I replied that he looked like a hairless cat. My classmate said, “I would prefer the hairless cat over Dobby.”
I have to say, I agree. And I am NOT a cat person.