Harry's Depression in OoP

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 110812


Alla wrote :
"Del, could you please clarify , what do you mean by saying that Harry
should have blamed himself for Cedric's death and did not?"

Del replies :
I lost you somewhere, uh :-) ? Sorry. What I meant is that if he was
indeed depressed, and if one of his symptoms was *undue* guilt, then I
would expect one of his major areas of guilt to be over Cedric's
death. I am certainly *not* saying that he should be feeling guilty
about that, it was *not at all* his fault !

Alla wrote :
" He surely did blame himself:
 
 ""It wasn't your fault, Harry," Mrs.Weasley wispered.
 "I told him to take cup with me," said Harry" - GoF, paperback, p.714"

Del replies :
Yes he blames himself, but only in the immediate aftermath of the
events. I don't remember him blaming himself for Cedric's death weeks
or months after it happened. Harry blames himself right after it
happened, but IMO that's not at all a sign of depression, that's not
at all excessive guilt. It's just the normal kind of guilt that many
innocent people feel when something bad happens and they wonder if
they could have prevented it. If everything goes right, they sooner or
later come to realise that what happened was not at all their fault
and that they needn't dwell on what they could have done differently.
Even though we are not expressly told that Harry came to that
conclusion, it seems to me that he did.

Del