Sirius revisited--emotional maturity

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 104288

Katie wrote:
> I do think Sirius is immature, but I think that, as Jocelyn says, 
> he *was* relatively young when he went to Azkaban. (I believe I 
> read that same article, Jocelyn, by the way, and entirely agree 
> with you here. The article said that decision-making capability 
> and rationality were the last areas of the brain to fully mature, 
> and it seems that Sirius has most of his trouble in these areas.) 
> We find out that Sirius ran away from home and had to become 
> independent at a young age, due to his miserable family. This 
> certainly would also have some effect on his emotional maturity.


SSSusan:
Something really struck me in this paragraph, Katie.  Isn't this 
similar to Harry's young life?  I know, he didn't have to run away, 
but he certainly lived within a miserable family and had to learn to 
take care of himself pretty much, and to handle their crap.  Add to 
that the incredible horrors he endured--death of parents, attacks by 
Voldy, etc.--and his upbringing would certainly be as horrible (or 
moreso) than Sirius'.  We *have* seen some of the same rashness in 
Harry--rushing off to save people or fight w/o really thinking of 
the consequences.  (Don't get me wrong--it's one of the things I 
love about Harry--his willingness to just DO what has to be done, 
instead of shuffling his feet and saying, "Can't somebody ELSE do 
it?")  And yet, when it comes to emotional maturity, it seems Harry 
is ahead of Sirius.  He's NOT an arrogant git, attacking schoolmates 
just because he can/they exist.  He's NOT setting people up like 
Sirius did Snape with the prank.  I guess I'd ask, why isn't Sirius 
as mature as Harry??

You also made these statements:
1) > I'd argue that Sirius is suffering from depression in OOTP.

2) > And I don't buy the argument that Azkaban shouldn't have 
> affected his emotional development.

3) > There's a discussion going on in this group about Hermione and 
> her parents that touches on the idea that the wizarding world can 
> sometimes be a little indifferent toward characters' emotional 
> health. 
 

SSSusan again:
I certainly agree w/ number three.  Hogwarts/the WW seem to be 
places where "just buck up and take it" is the motto.

Do you think these things could be enough to "explain away" Sirius?  
Again, I keep thinking of Harry.  We see him become quite surly and 
angry, even resentful in OoP--something which seemed quite natural & 
understandable to me--and yet he somehow doesn't seem as immature or 
selfish as Sirius on occasion.  [I'm thinking, for example, of how 
Sirius, as an adult, goads Harry by saying his *father* would've 
taken the risks Harry's declining to take.]  Is that a fair 
comparison to make?  

Given what you said here--
> It seems to me (though I may well be wrong) that HP fans are 
> often quite absolutist about the characters in the books. There's 
> a tendency to see characters as overwhelmingly evil or good, 
> begetting character assassination and complex theories (frequently 
> involving charms and spells to affect personality) to justify 
> a "good" character's morally ambiguous choices. My question is, 
> why do we need characters to be overwhelmingly one thing or 
> another, to a degree that would be unrealistic in real life? 

--it may be that you're not really inclined to do any kind of 
comparing of Harry to Sirius.  And that's fine, because I'm not 
challenging you so much as I'm just curious about it. Hoping that 
makes sense! :-)

Siriusly Snapey Susan