[HPforGrownups] HRH Courage under Fire
Alexander
lav at tut.by
Sun Mar 3 06:14:53 UTC 2002
No: HPFGUIDX 36005
Ahh, and at last I delurk again after a looong delay!
> Uncmark wrote to us:
u> I was wondering about JKR's treatment of courage in her
u> characters. the 3 main characters are wizard born (Ron),
u> Muggleborn (Hermione), and wizardborn raised by muggles
u> (Harry). Remember your own development at age 11-15 and
u> see how'd you react facing a dark wizard wanting to kill
u> you?
Personally I think you underestimate early teens. They are
quite capable of *very* mature behavior, especially if their
childhood was not nice. And even if it was, hard times make
teenagers maturate real fast.
There's a Russian fiction writer who writes mostly about
teens age 12-15 (exact HRH age!) who, facing situations and
dangers that can broke many an adult, still survive and even
"keep their soul" (so to say). And the most interesting
thing is that he is a psychotherapist and there are *no*
characters in his books not taken from real life (under
different names, of course), and many a situation he
describes actually happened to teens he was working with,
with the same results.
So I find nothing exceptional in the fact that three best
students of Gryffindor (from the point of view of Gryffindor
qualities, not from PoV of their marks) can face an archevil
dark wizard.
u> Harry is unbelievably heroic at times, especially in SoSt
u> when he decides to enter the trapdoor and keep LV from
u> getting the stone. Why? He decides to go alone for the
u> stone realizing the severity of LV getting it. "Don't you
u> understand? If Snape gets hold of the stone Voldemort's
u> coming back!... If I get caught before I can get the
u> stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursley's and
u> wait for Voldemort to find me there, it's only dying a
u> bit later than I would have, because I'm never going to
u> the Dark Side!"
A perfectly reasonable decision, one a Gandalf or
Dumbledore could be proud of.
u> (some text skipped)
u> Most 12 year old girls I know would leave school and
u> return home after learning the heir of Slytherin was
u> targeting muggleborns for attack. Hermione instead finds
u> the book that mentions basilisks and has the presence of
u> mind to look around corners with a mirror!
Don't forget that she is extremely self-confident. She has
no hints looking at Basilisk in a mirror is dangerous -
nothing in the books makes her think so! :) Instead the
books say it's safe to do so! Personally I'm wondered why
didn't Hermione change her views about books, however
slightly, after the accident...
u> Ron and Harry (12 year old boys) never gave up even after
u> seeing Hermione petrified. They discover the entrance to
u> the Chamber themselves and taking Lockheart with them
u> jump in without question.
Don't forget they both had an extremely good stimuli -
Ginny if I remember correctly.
u> Just how unbelievable is she? How many 13 yearolds have
u> the intelligence and maturity to not misuse the
u> Time-Turner? I doubt anyone other than H!
IMHO a lot of, if they had comparable experience.
u> I'm looking forward to see how the characters develop in future
u> books.
That's it. We all are looking... :)
u> JKR forever!
u> Uncmark
Sincerely yours,
Alexander Lomski,
(Gryffindor/Slytherin crossbreed),
who is seeking for his old sparring partners to flame each
other once again... ;)
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