[HPforGrownups] Is Harry a stoic?

[Shannon]

No: HPFGUIDX 32866

At 10:49 PM 1/5/2002 -0500, Aja wrote:

>
>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?

I'm not sure that he IS ever on record as actually crying. The closest I
can think of, aside from the GoF example mentioned here, is at the end of
PS/SS, when Dumbledore explains why he was protected from Voldemort.  And I
don't think that was really crying, either.  

I agree, it IS extreme that he struggles so hard not to cry.  I think it's
perfectly understandable though, sadly. He's lived with the Dursleys all
his life.  They do nothing but torment him and delight in anything that
makes him miserable. Can you imagine what Toddler Harry must have gone
through whenever he cried about something?  He probably learned very
quickly that showing those kinds of feelings makes you a target for
ridicule.  I think he has quite a bit of growing yet to do before he finds
the strength to let those emotions go.

As for whether it could be a danger...I don't know. Possibly.  Anger and
grief are powerful things.  He's going to have to learn how to handle them,
and quickly. I think maybe it's going to be a key factor in him coming into
his powers completely.  Just as a lot of people are speculating on the
damaging effects of Neville's past on his present abilities, I think Harry
has the same kind of problem.

Shannon