Why is dumbledore gay

Well, it seems pretty clear that, for the most part, the world described in the Potter books is a coherent one: inconsistencies are very rare.

Should we accept part a of this proposal? In contrast to ab seems more problematic. Are there facts about what is true in the world of a story, and if so, what determines those facts? October Rowling reveals Dumbledore is gay The author appeared at Carnegie Hall in to answer fan questions after the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The upcoming Harry Potter TV series on Max may have an opportunity to properly portray Dumbledore as openly. Rowling has missed her chance to impart any new information about any of the Harry Potter characters. So what should our principle be?

Albus Dumbledore's sexuality was confirmed by J.K. Rowling inrevealing that he had a romantic relationship with Gellert Grindelwald. So the question is whether it is a secondary truth. Yes, the iconic wizard is gay, according to author J.

K. Rowling—although the original Harry Potter book series doesn't explicitly say this. Is Dumbledore gay? What we face here is a version of what philosophers call the problem of truth in fiction. For here are some things that are not primary truths in the world of Harry Potter : Hermione has ten fingers and Cedric Diggory does not play for the Boston Red Sox.

What principles govern the generation of what we might call secondary truths? So our best evidence here is what Rowling herself said. One major source of secondary fictional truths is non-fictional truths imported from the actual world. Reaction was immediate and emphatic.

It is just as mistaken to demand demonstrations from the rhetorician as it is to accept merely persuasive arguments from the mathematician.

Seven clues that 39 : J

Responses fell into three categories. And it seems pretty clear that Rowling intends to be describing a coherent world: she corrected these inconsistencies in later editions. Moreover, it seems pretty clear that the Harry Potter books are the kind of books in which internal consistency is prized: they belong to a genre where internal consistency is a hallmark.

The educated person seeks exactness in each area to the extent that the nature of the subject allows. Some readers were delighted by the news. The Fantastic Beasts movies did not explicitly confirm Dumbledore's gay identity, disappointing some fans who were hoping for more representation.

But why should that matter? His sexuality and romantic history with Gellert Grindelwald is explored in more depth in the Fantastic Beasts movie spinoff franchise. Within two days, close to 3, comments had been posted at the Leaky Cauldron with another 2, at MuggleNet.

But the most interesting type of response was the third. As we noted above, there seem to be four places we can look: textual evidence, reader response, authorial intent, and genre-constraints. Others were dismayed. Rowling made a remarkable announcement. Presumably, most readers think that in the world of Harry Potterthe earth revolves around the sun, cats have four legs, and January precedes February.

Instead of a single principle, I think that we should be looking instead for rules of thumb.