Sirius revisited--emotional maturity

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 104441

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??

Katie:
> > 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
>
SSSusan:
That's NOT a weak answer at all! It's quite fair, and the reason I
thought twice about not asking this at all. :-)


Katie:
> > 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." <snip>
> > 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.


SSSusan:
Again, fair enough.  I think I was trying to bring up a comparison,
just to show that Sirius really *didn't* handle things as well as
Harry has....  I've never been aligned with those who dislike Harry
or think he's a brat; in fact, I think "nobly" is an apt descriptor
for him.  (Yes, rash & reckless at times, too, but for a noble
REASON, typically.  Oh--well, let's leave his relationship with
Snape out of it for now, though. :-))


Katie:
> > (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.)

SSSusan:
An excellent question.  I wonder why that is??  Is it simply 
because we see James trying to STOP the prank?  Is it because we 
know he ended up with Lily, and so we assume he had a change of 
heart?


SSSusan, before:
> > > 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.

Katie:
> > 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 :)

SSSusan:
And on this we agree.  As I said in another post, I've come to be
more critical of Sirius than I used to be, but I'm NOT willing to
label him "bad."  He's too complex a mix to be all "good" or
all "bad."


Siriusly Snapey Susan