Sirius revisited--emotional maturity

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 105414

Katie asked:
<snip> (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.) <snip>

Carol responds:
That's an interesting question. Could it be that most of us see James
in exactly the same way: an "arrogant little berk" and a bully at
fifteen, redeemed somewhat by saving Severus (whom he still hates)
from the werewolf a year later and fully redeemed (in the reader's
eyes if not in Snape's) by fighting Voldemort to the death trying to
save his wife and son? Young James is, IMO, impossible to like, and
his reasons for saving Severus are probably a mixture of selfishness
and nobility, but by the end of his short life, he seems to have grown
up and become worthy of admiration. I think there are very few James
bashers because there are no James worshippers, either. He's a
straightforward character about whom most of us have no strong feelings.

Sirius and Snape, on the other hand, are complex characters whoe
motives are less clear than James' and who have an odd mixture of
character traits. I personally prefer Snape with his wit, sarcasm,
obvious intelligence, surprising courage, and air of mystery to Sirius
(I really ought to call him Black to make them parallel) with his
arrogance, reckless bravado, understandable depression, and rather
desperate affection for Harry. But I understand why others are
attracted to Sirius and try to defend him, just as I hope the Snape
bashers understand the compulsion of Snape fans (not apologists,
please: he's not Voldemort) to defend him. 

To return to James--I think there's no question that, in the end, he
showed true courage, and for that reason no one feels that he needs
defending. Either that, or his actions in the Pensieve scene *can't*
be defended (you don't hex someone "because he exists," you stupid
little berk!) and so no one even tries. You simply dislike the young
James and admire (or grudgingly accept) the slightly older James, and
that's that. At any rate, that's my view.

Just out of curiosity, are there any James fans on the list? If so,
please step forward and defend your favorite character. I'd like to
hear how I've got poor James all wrong.

Carol