Harry's disposition -Suburban Wasteland

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 94569

-- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Ms Mo Me <fauntine_80 at y...> wrote:
> I think Harry is acting perfectly normal considering
> his circumstances in OoP.
>
> He was shut away with his Aunt and Uncle for a month
> ... THEN he was attacked by dementors.
>
> THEN he gets a letter saying he is kicked out of
> school, ...
>
> THEN he is taken to the Order and STILL not given too
> much information.
>
> He BARELY passes his trial, and DD won't look a him
> ...
>
> His two best friends are made prefect ... now Malfoy has a small
> AUTHORITY over HP. ...
>
> He goes back to school only to find out he's the
> laughing stock of the WW and has to deal with Umbridge
> ...
>
> He is constantly worried about his loved ones and
> friends getting killed. He continually has nightmares ...
>
> He has to deal with the stress of O.W.L.'s and Snape
> beating down his throat.
>
> He is dealing with conflicting emotions with Cho, ...
>
> The list goes on and on........
>
> I would be a little peeved (no, not Peeves!) too if
> this was going on in my life. A 15 year old boy can
> only handle so much!
>
> If Harry is a little angry and snappy at times, he has
> every right to be!
>
>
> ~Mo, who thinks JKR has great insite into the human psyche.

bboy_mn:

Let me chime in with the others and say that I couldn't agree more.
Given the circumstances how could Harry not be the Harry we saw in
OotP? I mean the misery heaped upon this poor boys in unrelenting. Is
it that unusual that he becomes frustrated and angry? I think not.

Let me expand on one point. Let's focus on his time at Privet Drive.

Harry goes through an extreme trama, he is thrown into the
Tri-Wizard's tournement against his will, Ron is mad at him, he is
nearly killed, he witnesses the murder of a fellow student that he has
grown to respect, we witnesses the re-birth of Voldemort, minutes
later he is surrounded by Death Eaters, a split second quirk of fate
saves him from death, he see his parent come out of Voldemort's wand
and talks to them briefly, then to top it all off, he is nearly killed
by Fake!Moody who he has also grown to trust and admire.

If that weren't enough, he is then uncerimoniously dumped at Privet
Drive. No one makes any attempt to talk to him, to lend any
reassurance or perspective to his own near death and Voldemort's
rebirth. As always, Herry is left ALONE to deal with the situation on
his own. "Stiff upper lip" and all that be damned, don't these people
have brains, or hearts, for that matter. It didn't occur to anyone
that Harry might need some support to deal with that trama? OOOOH
NOOOOO! Just let him work it out on his own.

Now to the most critical part. Harry, as always in his sad life, has
only himself to rely on to deal with his tramatic circumstance. But as
some one with limited life experience, as some one with few role
models, few guides in his life, few examples of balance and
perspective in life, few balanced reference points, it's not a
surprising that his thinking occassionally gets a little twisted.

Look at how quickly his thinking became warped when the returned from
visiting Mr. Weasley in the hospital the first time. In no time at
all, using a seemingly perfect path of logic, Harry has himself
convinced that he is some kind of monster that is a danger to everyone
around him.

Since he has never in his life had anyone he could comfortably turn to
for support and perspective, he decides on his own that he has to
leave Grimmauld Place and return to Privet Drive. Only the fortuitous,
yet without explanation or reason, demand by Dumbledore that he 'stay
where you are', keeps Harry from leaving. Even then, he is not
reassured, and reasonably so. Instead, still convinced he is a monster
that isn't fit to be around normal people, Harry spends his time
hiding from his friends.

There are several other more minor examples of Harry's thinking
process being lacking in perspective and hyper-rationalized in OotP
and the other books as well. And you will notice that as soon as other
people do intervene and lend a balance perspective, Harry gets back on
track very quickly. It has to be hell being such a lonely isolated boy.

I remember being a teen. I remember various bouts of similar types of
hyper-rationalized thinking which lead to equally irrational conclusions.

Given the hellishly tramatic things Harry has experienced, and the
absolutely horrible (near criminal in my book) support he has been
given by the people he trusts, it's a complete wonder that Harry is as
well adjusted as he is.

Everyone else complains that they can't see how Harry could be so
angry even factoring in Teen Angst. Personally, I can't see how Harry
could possibly be as calm and rational as he is. If anything his
anger, fear, and frustration are underplayed.

Given the hell and loneliness Harry has had to endure, if he were a
typical modern suburban teen, he would probably end up in the Great
Hall with an AK-47 taking out his frustration on anyone and everyone
who fell between his sights.

But then that's just my opinion.

bboy_mn