Why to Like and Not Like OoP

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 71111

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "m.steinberger" 
<steinber at z...> wrote:
> > 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

First of all, I think Dumbledore was being a manipulative bastard in 
that scene.  I hated the way he pretended to take responsibility for 
Sirius' death while subtly pinning the blame on everybody else.  
Dumbledore is no longer the infallible voice of moral authority, and 
I think Harry knows this.  Harry did not walk out of that 
conversation thinking that the whole thing was totally Dumbledore's 
fault.  We learn in the very next chapter that he still blames 
Snape, and I think the scene with the mirror indicates that deep 
down he's aware of his own culpability, too, even if he's not ready 
to deal with it yet.

Second of all, this is the Harry Potter series, not The Boy Scout's 
Guide to Moral Development.  I, for one, was getting a little tired 
of every book ending with Dumbledore delivering "this year's life 
lesson" in a neat little package.  OOP eliminated or subverted many 
of the traditional elements we've come to expect from the series, 
and I think it's a good thing.  Sirius' death was a huge blow to 
Harry, the worst he's received yet, and his still in the early 
stages of grief at the end of the book.  It's way too soon for him 
to be extracting moral lessons from what has happened.  But the 
readers can get the point even when the characters haven't.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com