OOP: Adolescent Angst

[Jim Flanagan]

No: HPFGUIDX 66255

It seems to me that in OOP JKR has done a very good job of portraying 
Harry as a troubled, formerly abused mid-teen.  Harry's tendencies to 
keep things to himself have been a running theme since the first 
book, and it is easy to see where they come from (his initials are 
VD).  

In OOP, his "chip on the shoulder" is exacerbated by (1) Dumbledore's 
decision to distance himself from Harry (thereby evoking feelings of 
abandonment developed while living with the Dursleys) and (2) the 
flood of testosterone reaching his brain.  As a consequence he reacts 
uniformly badly to many of the stressors of year 5: OWLS, girls, 
Umbridge, girls, Snape, girls, isolation, girls, etc...  This gives 
OOP its downbeat tone that a lot of people don't like, but which is 
actually a very advanced theme for a "children's" book.

I think that JKR has done a remarkable job of writing about an 
extremely difficult age for a boy.  Now I'll have to go re-
read "Catcher in the Rye" to look for parallels between Harry and 
Holden.

-JamesF