Why to Like and Not Like OoP

[m.steinberger]

No: HPFGUIDX 71104


> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "marinafrants" <rusalka at i...>
> wrote:
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Doriane" <delwynmarch at y...>
> wrote:

> > So while I perfectly understand that Harry is pissed off and
> > misbehaves as a consequence, I don't like it that the underlying
> > message is basically : "it's okay to wallow in your problems and
> pick
> > at others until friends or adults come and help you out".
>
> But OOP in no way suggest that this is okay.  Harry reacts this way
> because it's realistic for a kid in his situation to react that way
> (and yes, I do believe the OOP characterization of Harry was
> thoroughly realistic).  Considering that his behavior contributes to
> disaster at the end of the book, I think it's pretty clear that his
> reactions are not in the least bit okay.  Children are not stupid;
> they're perfectly capable of figuring out that just because Harry
> acts in a certain way under certain circumstances, that doesn't mean
> it's a good way to act.
>
> > But you see, the big
> > difference was that until OoP, Harry *was* just taking it all in
> > stride, so that was kind of okay with me. But in the last book, he
> > blows up. So I was thinking that *finally*, we were going to see
> how
> > to deal with emotional trauma. But no ! The only answer seems to
> be :
> > get angry, get pissed off, keep everything bottled up inside, blow
> up
> > in someone's face once in a while, and you'll be quite fine.
>
> But Harry is not "quite fine," either at the beginning of OOP, or at
> the end, or at any point in the middle.  He's as far from fine as
> we've ever seen him before.  If the book ended with Harry traipsing
> through the daisies, going "tra-la-la, I'm so happy," but the whole
> point of the story, to me, is that Harry is not dealing well, and
> his failiure to deal causes serious problems, for himself and for
> others.
>
> Marina
> rusalka at i...

All this would be fine if Harry had ended the book having learned that
lesson. But Dumbledore explicitly says that it's *his* (DD's) fault, not
Harry's. So what lesson is that supposed to teach?

The Admiring Skeptic