[HPforGrownups] Deliberately Doing the Wrong Thing (Was: Rule Breaking and & HP

[Susanne Schmid]

No: HPFGUIDX 29220


 
  David <dfrankiswork at netscape.net> wrote: 

<In the former case the rules are there for a reason, and when we 
<break them, the reason comes back and hits us in the face - <which is 
<what happens, broadly speaking, to Harry. (He doesn't get <attacked by 
<Sirius, but his devaluation of his own worth, which underlies <the 
<apparent triviality of the rulebreaking, is brought home to <him.)

In the particular case you and Penny are alluding to, Harry not only breaks the rules, but deliberately does the wrong thing. He doesn't feel too well about sneaking to Hogsmeade, because he knows that he is forbidden to do so for his own good. So breaking this rule is not a case of "I know I'm doing what I shouldn't do, but my conscience tells me to do it all the same". I suppose that, if Snape just for once had renounced making snide comments about Harry's father, Harry would have accepted detention or whatever punishment without arguing (like he accepted what Lupin says after having got him out of that scrap), because he feels that he cannot justify his behaviour, neither with Snape nor with Lupin.

 <snip> 

<In fiction which claims a moral purpose, 
<we need for every misdemeanor to get a legalistic punishment or <for 
<the perpetrator to own up to the authorities.

Or to be miserable, for a period of time we deem appropriate. Being punished by authorities is not a sine qua non. As it says in PoA (quoting from memory): "Harry felt more miserable becasue of Lupin's words that he would have for receiving a detention." I think this is a very subtle way to tell us how our children should become: They should develop a conscience- so even if they avoid being punished, they should at least feel that what they did was not right.

<Which view do we want children (and grownups) to develop?

See above.

Susanna/pigwidgeon37



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