Harry's lack of consideration . . .

[DrMM]

No: HPFGUIDX 3021

As I feel like being controversial today . . .

One of the problems I have with Harry's character is the lack of 
consideration he gives to others, even those who are his friends.  For 
example, in GoF he has absolutely no idea why Ron is so upset with 
him.  Despite the fact that Ron has made it obvious how overshadowed he 
feels by his brothers, Harry has no clue just how much it bothers 
Ron.  It's Hermione who has to explain Ron's feelings to Harry (and her 
understanding it makes for a nice H/R arguement).  And despite knowing why 
it has upset Ron, he's refuses to understand, instead focusing on himself 
and how *he's* the one insulted.  And in the end it's *Ron* who is the one 
to end the fight.  Not Harry -- Ron.

The other thing that bothers me is his thoughtlessness about Voldemort's 
other victims.  In SS/PS he says he's going to try and stop V because of 
what Voldemort did to his parents.  Harry already knows that a lot of 
people died because of Voldemort but the only thing that matters to him is 
his parents.  Now, I'll give him a break in the first one because he was 
just a kid, but in the later books he never seems to think about anyone 
else either. (This has led to a line in a fic I'm working on where 
Dumbledore says "You're not the only one who lost someone you loved to 
Voldemort.  Never forget that.")  Harry does seem to forget that and I can 
never quite forgive him for that.

I still think Harry's a good kid.  He's just a bit . . . selfish.  He never 
seems to consider anyone else's POV but his own.  However, I will say that 
GoF will probably mature him considerably.  Cedric's death should help him 
understand that he's not the only person hurt because of Voldemort's 
actions.  I still can't understand why he was so immature towards Ron 
though. . . . I'm quite sure Ron would have ended the fight sooner had 
Harry not been so immature about it (the whole throwing the pin at Ron and 
saying 'You've always wanted a scar' bit).

Anyway, I'd be interested in what other people think about this :)

DrMM (testing out her new e-mail address -- wonder if the .sig works?)