HP Characters: Three-Dimensional or Archetypes? (Harry in Particular)

[Penny & Bryce]

No: HPFGUIDX 27755

Hi everyone --

I was reading an article in Christian Century entitled "Rowling as 
Moralist," and I wanted to explore one of the author's assertions.  She 
says: "Although Rowling's characters are convincing and engaging, none 
of them is fully three-dimensional.  These characters are progressively 
revealed, but they don't grow or change -- not even Harry himself.  As 
each school year passes, Harry becomes more and ever more clearly who he 
is.  But that's all.  His development is essentially linear."

Putting Harry aside for a moment, is it true that all the other 
characters are archetypes or one-dimensional?  Let's start with Snape. 
I think it's true that his character is being progressively revealed to 
us, bit by bit.  We don't know the full pre-books Snape yet (although 
apparently Alan Rickman does!!!).  Has Snape changed much in the first 4 
books?  Probably not actually.  In his case (and he's the one character 
that most people argue is the most complex & multi-dimensional), he 
hasn't really grown or changed so much.  We the readers have simply come 
to understand more about him.  BUT, he certainly has the capacity to 
grow & change before the series is completed, and in fact, I expect that 
he will change quite alot over the course of the next 3 books.  He is 
also willing to put aside his differences with Sirius Black by the end 
of GoF, for the sake of unity against the Voldemort camp.  This is a 
sign of growth I think.

What about the Trio?  Have they grown or changed over the course of the 
books so far?  Do they have the potential to grow even more?  I think so.

Hermione -- I think she's changed alot from having become close friends 
with Harry & Ron.  Is she someone who's just become more clearly who she 
was, or is she someone who's faced some challenges & made changes in 
herself as a result?  I think she faced the challenge of being 
friendless & became a more well-rounded person as a result.  IMO, she 
has made great strides toward becoming less bossy, less of a 
know-it-all.  I think she is a different person than she might have been 
if she hadn't become friends with Harry & Ron.

Ron -- Is he the same basic person he was when we first met him in the 
train compartment in PS/SS?  Ron strikes me as a character who hasn't 
completely conquered his demons yet.  I do think there's potential for 
him to face his inner challenges & become a different person as a result 
though.  He still needs to come to term with his jealousies, 
insecurities & ambition ... but I don't think it's impossible that he 
won't.  I'm just not sure we've seen too much growth from Ron so far.

Harry -- Here's the meat of the discussion.  Has Harry just become "more 
and ever more clearly who he is" or has he changed in some fundamental 
way so far?  In PS/SS, I would say that "No ... he really just finds out 
who he is & begins to find his place in the wizarding world."  Hermione 
is the one who changes the most in PS/SS I think.  In CoS, Harry wonders 
to himself about whether the Sorting Hat should have placed him in 
Slytherin, he wonders if he could be Slytherin's Heir.  One of my 
favorite analyses of HP is an article by Alan Jacobs in which Jacobs 
points out that in CoS, Harry has been asking the wrong question.  He's 
been asking "Who am I?" when what he should have been asking is "What 
must I do to become what I should be?" (Jacobs sees the books as one big 
giant bildungsroman, a study in character formation -- I tend to agree 
with this view).  But, in CoS, I'm not sure we can argue that Harry 
undergoes any sort of fundamental character shift yet.

Now, PoA.  I think Harry is presented with temptations that must be 
overcome, and these temptations & the way he handles them do in turn 
affect his fundamental character.  The temptations, of course, are 
Sirius Black (turns out that Harry was very glad he refrained from 
killing Black) and Peter Pettigrew (showing mercy to the man who 
betrayed his parents).  Is Harry a different person at the end of PoA 
than he was in the beginning?  Or, was he always at base a good merciful 
person, who wouldn't have had it in him to make any other choices with 
regard to Black or Pettigrew?

What about GoF?  Harry spends the better part of this book in a state of 
panic over the Tournament.  The connections between Harry & Voldemort 
are becoming harder to ignore by the end of this one too.  We don't get 
too many introspective glimpses into Harry's psyche post-duel with 
Voldemort IMO; it's hard to say how that experience *really* affected 
him.  My sense is that he is scarred & that he will distance himself 
from others in the next book.  He did change over the course of GoF ... 
but I'm not completely sold on the idea that the growth wasn't merely 
linear after all.

I think I've managed to confuse myself a fair bit with this one.  My 
initial thought when I read the quoted material from this article was to 
say, "No way.  The characters, especially Harry, definitely change & 
grow."  Now that I've tried to analyze it, I'm not so sure any longer. 
I do, however, feel certain that JKR isn't done with Harry's demons in 
particular.  I think Harry will very definitely be forced to confront 
other aspects of his personality before all is said & done.  I think 
it's also possible that Ron & Hermione will be required to do the same.
So, thoughts anyone?  Is Harry inevitably good?  Is his growth linear so 
far?  Will his ultimate maturation require him to face temptations, 
challenges & inner demons?  What do you think?

Penny
(who especially hopes English lit types like Ebony will pick this thread 
up ...given that her own English lit days are long, long ago)