[HPforGrownups] Savior complex? (was "Harry and Tom")

[Magda Grantwich]

No: HPFGUIDX 110816


--- Matt <hpfanmatt at gmx.net> wrote:
 
> Of course we, as readers, can see ways out of the situations that
> Harry cannot see -- that makes for good drama -- but from Harry's
> position, as a pre-teen/young teen who is constantly being thrust
> into unfamiliar situations with little in the way of a support 
> network, it
> legitimately looks as though everything is left up to him.  I don't
> think it's a sign of some deep-seated psychological problem that
> Harry wants to help Neville or Hermione or Hagrid or Ginny or 
> Gabrielle or
> Cedric or Arthur or Sirius.  Rather, it's a sign of a young man who
> knows right from wrong, and is willing to stand up for what is
> right. 
> 
> --Matt 

And that's true - up to the end of OOTP.  But it's clear that
charging into situations without a backup plan or at least without
considering the situation from all angles will only take you so far
and in fact can lead to your death eventually.  And a dead hero is no
good to anyone, least of all himself.  

Hermione threw up reasonable objections to Harry's vision of Sirius
in danger and Harry's response was to simply get more and more angry
rather than confront them.  He also didn't hesitate to use emotional
blackmail on Ron when it looked like Ron might side with Hermione
("You didn't ojbect when I saved your sister!"  "I didn't say I had
any objections!"  (not an exact quote)).  

When I was reading OOTP I thought it was the usual climatic rescue
scene being set up but Harry's comment to Ron was what made me
realize that something was somehow badly wrong and that Harry was
going to make some kind of mistake or fall into a trap.  I think that
was JKR's intention in OOTP, to make us (and Harry) realize that good
intentions and noble purpose will only take you so far and that
you've got to use your reason too.

Magda 


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