[HPforGrownups] Is Harry a stoic?

[ChibiAiChan at cs.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 32862

In a message dated 1/5/02 7:49:37 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
aromano at indiana.edu writes:

<< I'm so delighted that you brought this up because I was going to ask this
 question tonight anyway, and this segues perfectly into it.  That scene
 has been bothering me lately.  It doesn't say specifically that Harry
 *cries*--only that he had a "burning, prickling feeling" in his 
eyes and
 throat and screwed up his face in order not to scream out in pain.
 
 Is Harry on record as ever crying? Surely nights alone in a dark scary
 cupboard as a kid might have hardened him, but he must have cried for his
 parents too.  I know 14-year old boys have a hard time feeling like it's
 okay to express their emotions, but after such a horrendous ordeal, it
 strikes me almost as extreme that Harry should try so hard not to cry.  I
 understand he's trying admirably to be strong, to be a man, to accept and
 deal with all that he has seen--but sometimes you just need to cry, and I
 think this was definitely one of those extreme moments. And this makes me
 wonder whether, if he keeps repressing his emotions--we know Harry is very
 private--a moment will come when they have been stretched to the breaking
 point and he'll snap, perhaps in a volatile, self-destructive way. 
 
 Does anyone else see potential danger in this personality trait of
 Harry's? >>

It might be that he never cried because he never wanted to give the Dursley's 
the satisfaction? I'm not sure really if that came out correctly ^^* That and 
maybe at a young age he learned crying didn't really help?

<3 Ai-Chan
*who hopes that wasn't too short cuz she really couldn't think of anything 
else of signifigance*