[HPforGrownups] Re: Lack of human affection in books

[Monika Huebner]

No: HPFGUIDX 12621

On Mon, 19 Feb 2001 14:20:51 -0000, rlpenar at yahoo.com wrote:

>--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Julie Smith <whimzical at y...> wrote:
>>  I've found it interesting how little affection/
>> emotion/intimacy is in the books. I wonder why this
>> is? <snip>
>
>As a very touchy-feely type person, I have also noticed this. I mean, 
>I hug friends when they come over to my house and when they leave. 

Maybe there is a lack of "hugging" because there are so few female
characters? I think teenage boys generally don't like to show their
emotions too openly.

Remember the scene in the Shrieking Shack when Lupin hugged Sirius? I
think this was very touching, it was a spontaneous gesture from
Lupin's side to reassure Sirius and to prove him that he would do him
no harm. I have thought a lot about Sirius' lack of reaction, and I
think that he was just not able to process emotion at this time. Don't
forget that he had passed 13 years without any human contact at all,
terrified and psychologically tortured by dementors. It will take him
more than a few months to recover from this. When he tells Harry about
what happened in the night when James and Lily died, he is visibly
shaken though, and has tears in his eyes, a very emotional moment.

>Hagrid is also 
>just about the only person (other than perhaps Ginny?) who openly 
>cries. Is this a giant trait???

I don't think so. But since the Harryverse is mostly populated by
males, we won't see much open crying. 

Monika


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