Harry is dull

[Amy Z]

No: HPFGUIDX 45849

Pip wrote:
 
> I think *part* of it is, not quite the 'Harry as narrator' problem, 
> but the fact that Harry sees *himself* as dull. Ordinary. The only 
> thing he's good at is Quidditch. 

Yes, which is one of the most interesting things about him.  My eyes 
about popped out when I got to that line.

However, I don't agree that *we* see him as dull.  I don't see him 
that way at all; that's why my eyes popped out when he thought of 
himself as not good at anything.  I think he's a really nifty kid, 
even aside from the scar and the bizarre history with You-Know-Who.  
He's brave, he's kind, he gives a damn about people (am I just 
horribly cynical about 14-year-old boys, or does it stand out that 
Harry's reaction to splinching is not "Ewwwwww!" or "Coooool!" such 
as I expect from this population, but "Are they all right?").  He can 
fight off Imperius.

> There are several personality types for abused kids, and Harry is 
> actually pretty close to the 'adjuster' - the kid who rolls with 
the 
> flow, who survives by detaching emotionally, by becoming 
> nondescript, by not thinking about what's happening to them - just 
> dealing with it as best they can.
> 
> Harry's learnt to not ask questions (it gets you screamed at)

But he does ask them, doesn't he?  He's even quite snarky.  Aunt 
Petunia doesn't want him to ask about his uniform, but he comments 
anyway:  "Oh.  I didn't realize it had to be so wet."  Dudley beats 
him up at every opportunity, but he insults him anyway (the toilet 
remark).  One of his professors hates him from the git-go but instead 
of being dutifully quiet, he says "Why don't you ask Hermione?"  
We're on notice from the start that the backbone has not been beaten 
out of Harry Potter.  (Please forgive misquotes, this is from memory.)

> And since that's how he sees himself, and he's the pov character, 
> that's what we see. Boring. Ordinary. Follows his friends 
> suggestions, rarely makes his own.

Rarely?  You think?

Off the top of my head:

-Harry's the one who insists on going after the Stone.  He maps out 
the plan most of the way as well:  how to get past Fluffy, who'll 
drop through the trapdoor first (him), what to do when they have 
enough potion to get only one of them through to the final chamber.

-Harry's the one who sorts through almost the entire problem in CoS--
in fact, I think it's a bit of a flaw that Ron is so much the "great 
idea, boss!" figure there.  It's his idea to follow the spiders, he 
figured out the Myrtle connection, and he doesn't hesitate to take 
leadership in going into the Chamber.  He figures out how to "kill" 
Riddle.  He has another spur-of-the-moment brilliant idea about how 
to release Dobby and he DOES it, right then and there against this 
really scary guy.

Do I need to do books 3 and 4 too?  Or have I made my point?  Ron and 
Hermione contribute plenty, and if you want to argue that Harry isn't 
THE leader you can give it a go (though I'll argue back), but that 
Harry is A leader is undoubtable.  He may not describe himself as 
one, but he acts as one, and that's how he comes across, to this 
humble reader at least.
 
> And Harry's character is developing throughout the books - best 
seen 
> in the scenes with the Dursley's. In Book One he sees no way out, 
in 
> Book Two he tries to fight back, gets squashed and has to be 
rescued 
> by Fred and George, by Book Three he's telling the Dursley's he's 
> running away (and does it) by Book Four he's learnt how to make the 
> Dursley's do what he wants, and not just adjust to what they want 
to 
> do to him. He's not following the diet, and he gets to go to the 
> Quidditch World Cup.

Again, I think this progression is in canon, but this account is a 
bit exaggerated.

Amy Z

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Paul Wellstone, 1944-2002
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