Harry's lack of consideration . . .

[Penny & Bryce Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 3054

Hi --

DrMM wrote:

> 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.

I think Harry does have an inkling of what could be bothering Ron, even
before Hermione spells it out for him.  But he (Harry) is lashing out
because he's upset that Ron wasn't there for him when he needed him.
This seems to be a perfectly natural reaction to me.  Ron was feeding
his own insecurities & worrying about his own problems rather than
helping out his friend.  This is also a natural reaction (particularly
when you consider that you're talking about 14 yr old boys here).

But, that said, I think it was actually Ron who was in the wrong first,
since Hermione says "Well, *of course* I knew you hadn't entered your
name in the Goblet.  It was obvious from the look on your face."  Ron
would have been (*should* have been??) drawing the same conclusions,
shouldn't he?  Instead, Ron turned to fretting about whether Harry was
going to end up with the fame & riches that he, Ron, dreams of so
often.  So, even though they were *both* stubborn in prolonging a
largely unnecessary argument; I would argue that Ron was in the wrong
first.  So . . . . maybe it is appropriate that he reaches out to Harry
to end their quarrel.

Ron was certainly just as guilty of lack of consideration for his friend
as Harry was in the above example.  This is particularly true if
Hermione spelled out Harry's problems & fears to Ron, just as she did
when she told Harry that Ron was jealous of him.  If Hermione said,
"Look, Harry didn't enter his name into that tournament, and he's
*really* worried that someone has it in for him."  If she did this, then
Ron must have shrugged off this information & refused to believe it.
Isn't that behavior equally bad?  Isn't that behavior perhaps even worse
than what Harry did, considering that Ron should know that his best
friend is frequently a target for Voldemort & the dark forces?

> 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).
>
Well -- he was angry at that point.  He was scared stiff of the dragons
and the only adult figure he felt comfortable turning to has just had to
flee because someone (Ron!) was approaching the common room.  Yes, he
lost his temper, but I thought his reaction was extremely natural.  He's
gone through weeks of being very isolated, with only Hermione for
company & with virtually everyone else allied actively against him.  His
nerves were probably shot.  Of course, he lashed out at Ron.
I also agree with Steve -- they are both adolescent boys.  Consideration
of others, particularly in moments of personal stress, is probably not a
terribly common characteristic for boys that age.

Your message seems to indicate that this is one of several examples that
you could point to that evidence Harry's inconsiderate nature, Dr. MM.
I'd love to hear some others.  I've never thought of him as an
inconsiderate person, and I don't think the argument with Ron is
evidence of a basic character flaw in Harry (not unless you attribute
the same character flaw to Ron in that case).  He may be guilty of
inconsiderate moments -- but aren't we all as a general rule?  Have you
never, not even once, been even inadvertently inconsiderate of someone's
feelings?  I just don't think he's at base inconsiderate.  He's just
guilty of being a teenage boy who's had more than his share of troubles
to preoccupy his time.

> 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 agree with Cassandra -- he does think alot in GoF about Neville &
Cedric.  He takes himself to task for failing to have ever inquired
about Neville's circumstances.  So, he does *recognize* that he's been
guilty of being preoccupied -- worrying about his own troubles without
considering that others might have their own large worries.  He's at the
right age to start coming to terms with that, as he matures.  It seems
to me that you're expecting an awful lot of him really.  <g>  He is a
flawed hero -- he's human.  It would really be a bit unrealistic if JKR
drew him with no faults whatever -- that would probably prompt more
criticism than his, on the whole, relatively minor & understandable
flaws.  He does have a conscience -- we see evidence of that when Lupin
lectures him for sneaking off to Hogsmeade.  The person you're
describing is a self-absorbed, shallow person who takes himself entirely
too seriously.  I don't see Harry that way at all.

Penny


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