Re: Harry’s anger: neither teen angst nor channeling Voldemort

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 94348

Neri wrote:
> I know that many list members, me included, have felt uneasy about 
> Harry's anger in OotP. It wasn't in character, and made him less 
> likeable than he is in the previous books.

Del :
I disagree. What made me uneasy in OoP is that this anger was *very 
much* in character, and it was scary. This angry Harry was one of 
the possible Harrys I'd envisioned when reading the previous books, 
but it most definitely wasn't the one I wanted to see happening. So 
when I saw the way Harry was turning, I became very upset, but not 
so surprised after all.

Neri :
> Sure, Harry has many reasons for anger in OotP, and he is 15 and 
> has the hormone surge (thought I find it a terrible cliché, and 
> somehow Ron and Hermione manage to avoid the same fate). But isn't 
> it obvious that Harry's anger, or at least the worst of it, is 
> simply channeling LV's emotions through the scar link?

Del :
I don't like the idea of attributing the worst of Harry's feelings 
to LV. In my idea, it's a bit like pretending that Harry would be 
perfect if only there wasn't LV. He wouldn't, he isn't.

Neri : 
> The telling part is that Harry is not just angry in OotP, he 
> actually *enjoys* his friends' hurt. This is definitely not Harry. 
> Our Harry doesn't have a sadistic streak in him. Well, perhaps 
> towards Dudley in moments of discord, or towards Snape, but 
> certainly not towards Ron and Hermione.

Del :
You say it yourself : Harry *does* have a sadistic streak (as many 
people do, including me). Who he applies that streak to isn't 
relevant. We don't excuse Vernon and Petunia for being sadistic only 
to Harry and not Dudley, do we ? So I see no reason for excusing 
Harry for being sadistic only to Snape or Dudley. He has a sadistic 
streak and he has to deal with it, period.

Neri :
> Yet JKR has made a point of describing Harry "not sorry at all" or 
> even actually taking pleasure in hurting his friends at least four 
> times in OotP (and I might have missed more cases). The quotes are 
> below for those who want to dwell on the details. Note 
> especially "deep satisfaction" and "vindictive pleasure". Note 
> also the words indicating the unexplained suddenness of the anger 
> feelings: "for a split second", "nasty impulse", "anger that had 
> just flared so unexpectedly". This is reminiscent of the sudden 
> surges of hatred that Harry feels towards DD in two different 
> cases, which we know for sure are LV channeling.

Del :
All throughout the series, Harry struck me as not being always so 
kind, especially with his friends. He's kind with them when they 
don't bother him too much, but he can get awfully nasty when they 
get on his nerves.
In PoA, he doesn't mind being mad at Hermione for *weeks* over a 
stupid broomstick matter ! I've been mad at my friends, it can last 
a few days, but there's no way anger will last for weeks unless you 
keep rekindling it. Harry *refused* to forgive Hermione all that 
time. But what struck me at the time is that he consistently refused 
to consider the hurt he was causing her. Even Hagrid told him, but 
still he refused to relent. This was the first time I knew for sure 
that something like Angry!Harry could very well happen later.
Then in GoF, he repeats it all with Ron. He refuses point-blank to 
put himself in Ron's shoes for just half-a-second, he refuses to 
consider the hurt Ron is feeling.
Actually I even remember a time in GoF when Harry *hates* Ron : when 
Harry is talking with Sirius in Gryffindor Tower's fire, and Ron 
arrives, forcing them to cut the conversation short. There, for a 
brief moment, Harry is described as hating everything in Ron, 
including his several inches of bare ankles showing beneath his too-
short pyjamas. This really struck me.

Neri :
> Each of these small episodes by itself could have been only teen 
> angst, but taken together they are telling. Of course, we see 
> Harry having surges of anger towards many other people in OotP, 
> but it is especially out-of-character when it is directed towards 
> his close friends.

Del :
For me, those episodes are not at all out of character, they are in 
fact very much in character. But they are not at all teen angst ! 
They are *natural* anger ! Let me explain.
I've always been a pretty kind person, even as a kid. The word that 
most people use to describe me is "nice". My husband has always been 
amazed by my capacity of NOT lashing out to others most of the time 
when I'm angry. But there's a whole personal history behind that. As 
a kid, I was very nervous, and I quickly learned to master myself 
and not be too hot-blooded, because it was terribly upsetting for 
me. I repressed my emotions, believing they would cease to exist if 
I ignore them. (I wanted to become like a Vulcan, and I meant it !) 
But of course they didn't, they only accumulated, and sometimes 
things would get too much, and I would become terribly angry. It was 
rare, but quite violent. Then one day I destroyed a possession of 
mine I valued extremely, in one of those fits of rage. And it scared 
me to death ! The thought crossed my mind, clear and strong : "if I 
don't learn to master my anger, I'll kill someone someday". It 
wasn't a rhetoric figure, I truly meant it : I knew I could 
knowingly, willingly, kill someone during one of those fits of 
anger, because my anger was so much out of control. I was 9 at the 
time, but I purposely, single-handedly turned my life around right 
that moment, and swore I would learn to deal with my anger and my 
bad feelings, not just repress them. At the time, I thought I could 
in the end manage to erase those feelings. But now I'm 30, and I 
know I probably will never be able to do that. Each time I get into 
a new situation, I have to learn new ways to deal with the angry 
feelings that situation can create in me. I have to learn new coping 
methods, specific to that situation. But thankfully, because I know 
what I'm capable of, I can always avoid giving in to truly horrible 
actions : I know deep inside I could do really bad things if I let 
my anger rage completely out of control, which somehow helps me 
prevent it, because I don't deny it. Knowledge can truly be 
empowering in some situations : I know myself, I realise and admit 
the way I'm (unfortunately) functioning, so I can make conscious and 
even not-so-conscious decisions to stop that behaviour.
But Harry hasn't got there yet : he doesn't realise yet where giving 
in to his anger can lead him. So when I read about Harry's fits of 
anger in the first 4 books, when I read of his enduring resentment, 
when I saw him wallow in hate towards Snape or LV, I knew where 
things could be going. I didn't think JKR would dare doing it 
though. It takes guts to write such things. But she did it, and I 
applaud her. She wrote a very human character, who has a very 
difficult life, who was never taught how or why he should deal with 
his feelings, who's been forced to repress all his anger, hurt and 
resentment for years, and who is finally cracking up and coming to 
terms with his demons inside. This rings very true to me. Even down 
to the attempted Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix : that's the kind of 
things I would have done when I got so angry as a kid (but because 
now I know I *could* do it, somehow this knowledge would make me 
strong enough to *choose* NOT to do it !)
Harry has a problem with anger, there's nothing "bad" or "wrong" 
with that, but he will have to learn to deal with it. And that's why 
the idea that love will be his ultimate weapon is plausible to me : 
because in order to control my anger, I had to develop my love and 
compassion. 

Del, who is NOT trying to pause as a saint :-) !