Harry's Temper Was Re: Feelings on OoP

[boyd_smythe]

No: HPFGUIDX 80462

> Del wrote:
> I understand JKR had to withhold information from us, but this 
never made any sense to me, so I'm not bothered anymore that he 
doesn't ask the questions that truly bother him in OoP...
> Del <


I have felt the same way, Del, but now as I think about the last two 
books in the series, I think we may have a different animal.

JKR needs to believably evolve Harry's character from a 
happy-just-to-be-there little boy who wants to help his new friends, 
to the boy-who-understands-and-accepts-his-fate despite what he has 
seen. I would just feel cheated if Harry kills LV without first coming 
to a better understanding of himself. The meaning would be so much 
larger if Harry really *understood* what his actions were going to 
mean. Harry: "I may die, but if I don't try to stop LV, then no one 
can. And even though I've sometimes been treated poorly, there are 
some things that are still worth saving."

Maybe this is a little too Biblical a read of the plot trajectory, but 
I just don't see a simple battle where Harry wins. What a letdown that 
would be.

Another parallel that might shed light is <groan> LOTR. While I don't 
subscribe to the many threads that have posited close ties to LOTR, in 
that great series, as in this one, there was a single small person 
capable of vanquishing the hugely powerful and evil villain. And 
despite the many epic battles in LOTR, it all came down to whether the 
small hero could sacrifice himself for the good of all, knowing full 
well what horrors were likely in store for him. And, in Frodo's case, 
what other desires began lurking in him, as well.

That worked because it made the actions Frodo took *supremely* heroic. 
I'm waiting for a similar change in Harry's character that will make 
his actions more heroic, as well.

-Remnant