An odd musing about Harry's attitude

[marephraim]

No: HPFGUIDX 53874

Re Steve's contributions to this thread, and the initial one by Jon:

Steve writes:

> True, respect for your elder and people in general should be the
> default, and as far as I can see, Harry does respect people until 
> they have given him reason to do otherwise. ..... I certainly 
> can't agree with your statement that he shows 'complete 
> disrespect'. .... There is a difference between respect and blind 
> respect. We need to make a judgements about a persons 
> respectability; some people just aren't very respectable. While 
> you should always respect a person's basic humanity, that doesn't 
> mean you have to respect a mean vicious dishonest abusive person. 
> I would still show basic politeness and Harry certainly is more 
> polite than most people I've meet, but I don't respect people who 
> do not conduct their lives in a respectable manner,and that seems 
> very reasonable to me. ..... Harry is not a little boy any more. 
> He's becoming his own man, and like a man he is standing up 
> against his oppressors and refusing to be oppressed. That is a 
> just and right thing to do.
> 
> Again, there is a difference between obedience and blind 
> obedience. We had a discussion a while back where someone talk 
> about levels of moral development. People who blindly obey have a 
> lower level of moral character than people who make their own 
> judgements and do what they think is right. Sometimes the right 
> thing to do is to disobey the rules; sometimes the right thing to 
> do is to disrespect those who do not act respectably. 
> 
ME jumps in to comment...

I think this topic comes naturally from the previous discussion 
about philosophy and HP. Harry's moral development is reflected in 
several ways. But politeness is more than a quality of one's moral 
fibre, as is noted by Jon and Steve. I would note that Harry _is_ 
polite, and naturally so given his age and the circle of 
acquaintances with whom he associates. Leaving the Dursley's out of 
it, Harry's interactions with Snape are complicated and growing more 
so, yet these interactions always reveal Harry to follow the basic 
protocols of student-teacher, youth-adult conventions. 

I have taught kids Harry's age (POA and GoF age) and most of the 
kids are very good, well-mannered, moral children. That doesn't mean 
they don't push the envelope. During this age range there is a 
tendency to black and white everything and everone. It has been 
variously noted that the series is written from a third-person 
limited perspective. Generally, what we see and know depends on 
Harry's perception of things. Harry may show displeasure or dislike 
at the way Snape treats him but he goes to class, follows 
instructions related to the lessons, and gives minimal cheek to 
Snape throughout. What he has discovered is that he can be open in 
disliking Snape because this seems quite acceptable to Snape 
himself. 

On the other hand, thematically, Snape serves to check the 
development of pride in Harry -- if Harry should ever want to 
believe his own press, there is Professor Snape to remind him that 
he's just a snivelling little git who doesn't deserve it. This 
contributes to keep Harry humble, and promotes self-examination.

There is an interesting article from ZENIT.org today about HP and 
morality, etc..  It can be read at 
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=32786

I'd love to hear feedback on it (and/or anything of my morning 
ramblings here :-> )

MarEphraim