blog # 21

Rowling, J.K, . Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York, America: Bloomsbury, 1999. 223. Print.

            Sometimes it’s not what is inside a person that counts.  A lot of the time, the defining factor of a person is the actions they take.  The saying “actions speak louder than words” is an accurate statement, meaning that it doesn’t matter who a person is, they’re actions will show who they really are.  In one of the most famous series of al time, Harry Potter, a main character, Dumbledore, states "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  This statement was pertaining to Harry’s ability to speak parstle-tongue.  Harry was worried that he was becoming Voldemorte because he shared many of the same qualities as Voldemorte.  But Dumbledore reassures him that it is not what abilities he has (like speaking parstle-tongue) but rather how he uses his abilities.  The same is true with the characters in Firefly.   Each of the characters have the same abilities, but who they are is defined by what they do with their abilities.  Both the crew and the mayor have the ability to do the wrong thing, and both choose to do the right, moral thing. Niska has the ability to forgive but he chooses to hold a grudge and punish them later in the series.  If what Dumbledore said was true, then we can safely assume that the crew and the mayor are good people due to their choices and we can also assume that Niska is  bad man when we observe his choices too.  Overall, it is important to remember the words that the beloved Dumbledore said and to keep that in mind when making decisions.