The character I pity the most is.... Harry?? / Sociopathy

[moongirlk]

No: HPFGUIDX 35522

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "judyserenity" <judyshapiro at e...> wrote:
> Mahoney continued:
> > At any rate.  I suppose that of the living I feel the most pity 
for 
> > Harry.  The past continues to weigh on him, he has recent traumas 
> > to deal with, and can only look forward to more danger, 
disruption, 
> > uncertainty, suffering. He's haunted, hunted, can't 
> > catch a break. Poor kid.<
> 
> I've often had similar thoughts.  Poor Harry, mistreated by the 
> Dursleys, suspected of opening the Chamber of Secrets, forced to 
> relive his parents' murder in PoA, schoolmates resenting him in 
GoF, 
> etc etc etc.  Can't JKR cut him a break?  <SNIP> 

I wish that too, on occasion, but then I remember that for the sake 
of the story, poor little Harry's got to take a lot of abuse at the 
hands of his creator.  I guess that's why I can accept all that's 
happened to him more easily than, say, Cedric or Frank, neither of 
whose problems were essential to the overall storyline.  
I have a slightly neurotic way of reading in which certain characters 
(mostly peripheral characters, and particularly underdogs) seem to me 
to be real people.  I don't mean that I think the characters in books 
are real and that the Dursleys live on Privet drive and I'm going to 
go shake my fist at them for their treatment of Harry, but that well-
crafted people with whole back-stories like Frank who have no 
substantial point in the plot of the fiction they're a part of must 
live somewhere, somehow.  I can't explain what I mean without either 
sounding crazy or overwhelmingly sentimental, so I'm going to stop 
now, but suffice it to say that if ever I could be convinced to read 
HP fanfic, it'd be for the life story of some minor character like 
Frank (Or Mundungus Fletcher - is there any Gus fic?).


I said:
> > I think I almost felt sorry for young Tom Riddle at moments until 
I 
> > read about poor Frank, still working, plodding along through 
life, 
> > still brave and strong of will even after all he's been through
> > because of Riddle. There's a definite nobility to pressing on 
> > through life when you *know* you're not in for much in the way of
> > happiness or satisfaction.<
> 
> Kimberly, I loved that last line, about nobility!

I do think it's noble; it shows a lot of strength of character.  More 
than I've got.  If I were in Frank's place I'd have just stopped 
getting out of bed eventually.  The strength to go on and fulfill 
obligations and work and fix meals for one every night and even just 
keep breathing would go out of me if I had to do it without a 
reasonable hope of some love or joy or... something pleasant to 
come.  People like Frank just impress me with their tenacity.  Either 
they're able to hold on to hope through it all or they're just made 
of stronger stuff than I am.  I don't know what it is, but Frank has 
my admiration, and I'll remember him to honor all the real Franks in 
the world.  
 
<snip stuff on Tom and sociopathic tendencies>
> Sociopaths tend to be impulsive and fearless, as well as charming.  
> I thnk one of the reasons I respond badly to Sirius is that his 
> personality has many characteristics typical of sociopaths.  Now, I 
> am *not* saying that Sirius *is* a sociopath -- he obviously feels 
> remorse, probably excessive remorse, over the Potter's deaths, and 
> sociopaths don't feel remorse.  But the combination of impulsive - 
> fearless - charming sets off all sorts of alarms in my head.  It's 
> led me to interpret Sirius in a certain way, which is perhaps not 
>the way JKR intended. 

That's interesting, because I am fine with Sirius.  I think that's 
because in canon I don't really think he *has* charmed anyone, 
particularly.  He doesn't seem too concerned with ingratiating 
himself - he's focused on the task at hand to the detriment of 
people's saftey, much less common courtesy, but I consider that 
Azkaban-induced tunnel vision mostly.  I do think he'd do well to 
apologize to Snape already, and I hope he proves to have less violent 
impulses the further he's removed from his time in prison, but that's 
about it.  Draco, on the other hand, I see as a little sociopath-in-
training.  He seems fascinated with death, has shown quite a talent 
for sucking-up (charming) when he wants to, and relishes hurting 
others.  I don't think he's un-redeemable, but I do think if 
something doesn't happen soon, he's got a good base for becoming 
completely cold-blooded.  I worry about Draco, but at the same time I 
almost think it'd be cool if he *wasn't* redeemed, because then in 
the end we could have the groundwork for the next big dark baddie, to 
remind everyone that even if *this* story is over, the struggle it 
represents never is.  

kimberly
sentimental about frank, but ready to throw cast poor little draco as 
the next heavy for literary purposes.