Sirius revisited--emotional maturity

[mnaper2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 104686

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "jekatiska" <mauranen at y...> 
wrote:
> > SSSusan:
> > I think you're right, too, that we were/are INTENDED to think of 
> > Sirius as one of the good guys.  And because there were good 
aspects 
> > to his character, I have continued to issue *tempered* or 
> > *qualified* "defenses" of him.  I think there were many good 
THINGS 
> > about him, but the recent spate of posts pointing out his 
failings 
> > have really made me reconsider the overall Sirius.  
> 
> Jekatiska says:
> 
> Oh, come on. Sirius was a KID. Kids do stupid things. Kids do cruel 
things . . . . And most kids fortunately grow out of it and become 
sensible adults. 
> Some kids are more thoughtless than others, but it doesn't 
necessarily mean that they will 
> become thoughtless or cruel adults. 

Ally:

Ah, but Sirius has his shortcomings as an adult, too, doesn't he?  He 
says himself that you can tell a person by the way he behaves to 
those who are inferior to him and turns around and abuses his house 
elf.  A cruel thing.  He allows Snape's head to bang around when 
transporting him - a petty thing.  Even as an adult, he makes no 
apologies for the "prank" despite the fact that it endangered Snape 
and Remus, another petty thing.  He breaks the rules re: Grimmauld 
Place on a number of occasions - an arrogant and reckless thing.

What Sirius has going for him is his love and devotion to Harry and 
James, but outside of that, I think he's more than a little boorish.  
He doesn't seem to have a lot of remorse for things he's done wrong, 
and doesn't seem to care much about the possible implications of his 
impetuousness.  Despite having broken ties with his reputable 
pureblood family, he still seems like quite the elitist to me in 
OOTP.