Sirius revisited--emotional maturity

[anthyroserain]

No: HPFGUIDX 104321


SSSusan:
> Isn't this similar to Harry's young life?  
[snip]
> 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??

I suppose my answer- and it's going to sound weak, but it's 
something I believe- is that people can (and often do) have exactly 
the same experiences without behaving in the same way. I rarely ever 
think about the Dursleys because they seem such absurd caricatures 
to me; it's very hard to take them seriously. Though you're right, 
they are incredibly abusive... and that's before Harry experiences 
any of the horrors at Hogwarts. 

Yet Harry seems entirely unaffected by this experience, except 
possibly that he seems far more compassionate toward others than 
most boys his age. Harry seems like an exceptional case to me. To 
quote a button I've seen, "not all abused orphans grow up to be 
wizards."

(By the way, speaking of "attacking schoolmates just because they 
exist", why on earth does James behave the way he does? He seems 
honestly quite sadistic in the Pensieve scene to me, yet he doesn't 
get .1% of the criticism that Sirius does.)

 
> 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?  

I don't know that I want to "explain away" Sirius. Certainly he 
seems to be a flawed and damaged human being. But (as I said rather 
snippily in another post) I don't know what better reasons there can 
be. There's nothing in cold, hard facts to fully explain his 
behavior, but then again, there's nothing that can fully explain 
*anyone's* behavior. If he is depressed (and I think he is), that 
would affect his behavior substantially. I'm sure we've all done 
regrettable things, and Sirius has definitely done more than most, 
but I'm not willing to consign him to the "bad person" pile just 
yet :)

As to Sirius's "father" comment: I think he's lonely, and he's 
trying to manipulate Harry in the best way he knows how. A bad idea? 
Absolutely, but I don't think he's trying to hurt Harry. And this 
comment doesn't strike me as too selfish, given that the risks 
involved are risks primarily to *Sirius*, not Harry. (Compare this 
with the far more vicious Prank. Sirius's actions there, I'd say, 
are indefensible, and I have no wish to excuse him from that.)


> --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! :-)

I don't mind comparing Harry to Sirius, and I think you bring up 
some excellent, truthful points. I'm just of the opinion that Harry 
behaves far more nobly than could be expected or demanded of any kid 
with his upbringing.


-Katie