Harry's Anger: LV v. Sirius

[Anne <urbana@charter.net>]

No: HPFGUIDX 49068

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr <annemehr at y...>" 
<annemehr at y...> wrote:
> Harry's anger with Sirius was based on the past; his only 
> issue with him was the betrayal of Harry's parents.  On the other 
> hand, his battle with Voldemort is ongoing and involves trying to 
save 
> his own life along with the whole wizarding world.  He is 
> continually finding more reasons to fight him.  This is shown 
pretty 
> well in the scene where Harry goes to bed after his experience in 
the 
> pensieve:
> 
> "Lying in the darkness, Harry felt a rush of anger and hate toward 
the 
> people who had tortured Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom....<snip>      It 
was Voldemort, Harry thought, staring up at the canopy of his 
> bed in the darkness, it all came back to Voldemort....He was the 
one 
> who had torn these families apart, who had ruined all these 
lives...."
> 
> Harry can identify strongly with other peoples' suffering at the 
hands 
> of Voldemort along with his own and that of his parents, and they 
all 
> factor into his motivation to join the fight.  And whenever Harry 
> comes face-to-face with Voldemort, his immediate concern is with 
> survival and preventing fresh horrors.  So, I think Harry's anger 
for 
> the sake of his parents is always there, but it exists along with 
many 
> other concerns.
> 
> Annemehr
> who is finding on this list that it is very difficult to express 
> herself clearly and hopes this comes across alright!

You expressed it very well, IMO, Anne, and you brought up to me what 
is one of the crucial differences between Harry and Voldemort: 
empathy. Both Harry and Voldemort had lousy childhoods, but Harry is 
able to empathize with others, while Voldemort does not. Was Harry's 
childhood less lousy than Tom Riddle's? Hard to say whether it's 
worse to grow up in a Muggle orphanage than to spend almost every 
waking minute being tormented emotionally by the Dursleys. For 
whatever reason -- perhaps his innate goodness -- Harry cares about 
what happens to others, strangers as well as his friends, while 
Voldemort merely uses other people for his own nefarious reasons. 
Voldemort doesn't even care about the DEs - they are merely a means 
to an end. 

Anne U
(figures this has probably been said before, but it's worth 
reiterating)