Harry and Morality

[psychic_serpent]

No: HPFGUIDX 57332

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Troels Forchhammer 
<t.forch at m...> wrote:
  
> >Yep, I agree that Harry knew going into Hogsmeade
> >was wrong and that he was hoping he wouldn't get
> >caught doing it too.  It was actually his doing
> >that that made me start liking Harry because it
> >was such a kid thing to do.

[snip]
 
> >While Harry didn't get punished as some may have
> >liked, Harry did learn a huge lesson which developed
> >his moral conscience in a way expulsion, detention
> >or point taking just wouldn't have done.  And isn't
> >that supposed to be the point, learning and
> >developing?
 
I have a problem equating following the rules with morality.  There 
are immoral rules and laws, as well as morally neutral rules and 
laws that exist for the purpose of keeping the world organized (such 
as only letting kids who have permission go into Hogsmeade). The 
opposite, however--disorganization--is not 'immoral.'  It's just 
inconvenient for those in charge, and sometimes, dangerous for those 
who break the rules, which might be in place for safety reasons.  
But breaking rules that are to keep people safe, if you're likely to 
be the one in danger by breaking them, is not 'immoral.'  It might 
not be too bright, mind you, but it's not immoral.  

It IS moral to BREAK immoral rules and laws, IMO.  JKR communicates 
this many times in her work.  It is immoral to enslave another 
being.  When Harry frees Dobby, he is technically taking away the 
Malfoys' property, which one might normally think of as immoral, but 
in this case it is moral because it was immoral for them to claim 
Dobby as property to begin with.  It is also immoral to imprison an 
innocent man.  Harry helps Sirius to escape unjust incarceration.  
One gets the impression that Dumbledore feels the dementor's kiss 
being given to ANYONE is an immoral and unjust punishment, and 
Harry's rescue of Sirius helps him to escape that too.  In GoF, 
Barty Crouch, Jr. does not escape this, and by helping this immoral 
act to take place, Fudge also destroys any chance of useful 
testimony coming from Crouch.  (If Fudge didn't do this for 
nefarious reasons, I'll eat my hat.  It is also immoral to hurt 
another person to keep information about one's own immorality from 
emerging, which I believe is at the heart of this.)

It is also moral to break rules for the purpose of protecting 
someone else.  Harry, Hermione and Ron wanted to protect everyone 
from what would happen if Voldemort got his hands on the 
Philosopher's Stone.  Neville was following the rules, trying to 
keep them in the common room, but his behavior was not moral, IMO.  
It was dangerous nitpicking that could have had disastrous results.  
(I'm still not convinced Dumbledore should have rewarded him for 
this.)  When Harry and Ron return from the Chamber with Lockhart and 
Ginny, Dumbledore talks about the rules they've broken--and also 
gives them an award for services to the school.  They performed a 
SERVICE by breaking the rules.  What they did was more moral than 
merely obeying rules--saving a life, preventing Riddle from becoming 
more powerful, preventing a basilisk from continuing to terrorize 
the world.  

Rules can also be just plain random.  If a school rule were passed 
saying that all students had to hop on their right feet when going 
down stairs, and on their left feet when going up, would it 
be 'immoral' to break that rule?  Of course not.  It is morally 
neutral.  Most school rules are morally neutral, existing for ease 
of administration.  If a student is out of his or her house after 
hours, it is not immoral in and of itself; if that student commits 
murder at that time, THAT is immoral.

Harry is always highly moral.  He cannot even bring himself to take 
Sirius' punishment into his own hands, when he thinks he's guilty, 
and, after he KNOWS Pettigrew is guilty, he cannot hurt him, 
either.  He knows that that would make him a vigilante.  I'm not 
sure that Harry does need to develop further morally, frankly.  He 
has never wavered in this regard.  Many of the adults around him, 
who have learned to compromise or whose lives seem centered around 
immorality (such as Lucius Malfoy) could learn a lesson or two on 
morality from our rule-breaking boy wizard.

--Barb

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