How dim is Harry? - Abuse and Oppression.
mcschnoor
mcschnoor at comcast.net
Sun May 16 19:07:47 UTC 2004
No: HPFGUIDX 98519
> I think Harry's going to be a bit more demanding now on, though - he
> no longer trusts that adults secrecy is for the best. In fact, I
> seriously doubt he trusts anyone but himself now!
> ...
> Dumbledore didn't tell him about the prophecy, purposefully puts him
> to the hands of his nasty relatives, and just about every adult is in
> with putting him into the misery known as Dursleys or involved in
> other conspiracy against him. (and besides, what magical protection
> there may be, it does NOT protect Harry from Dursleys!)
That's a really good point, and I think it really reflects on both the
nature of the school system to not interfere and also the reality of
Harry growing up. As children, we all tend to accept what our
superiors say at face value, and especially with the Dursley's blatant
disregard for any of his emotions or needs beyond the very basic,
Harry would have just accepted their word as gospel truth.
Still, it strikes me as quite odd that, under the confines of his
emotionally and often physically abusive home life, we would end up
with a well-rounded character such as the Harry we all know and love
in books 1-4. Yes, many kids learn social skills in schools, and Harry
went to some sort of primary school, but was taunted there as well. It
is only in book 5 where Harry actually starts acting like a person
dealing with severe post-traumatic stress syndrome, lashing out at
others, going through anger and denial and all sorts of moods, and
this is even before Snuffles snuffs it.
Don't get me wrong, I love Hp and I love the characters, but Harry is
just so good and so noble that it's a wonder, given his home life,
that he doesn't end up more like Draco in the sense of family abuse
and the repercussions thereof.
> Oh yes, there's another reason why Harry doesn't ask questions: he
> doesn't trust anyone enough to do so, and the one he trusted enough,
> is dead (and if Sirius isn't truly dead and comes back, Harry's going
> to doubt it IS Sirius!).
Exactly. Sorry folks, but I bet that Sirius is dead for good. No spell
can bring people back from the dead, and in terms of plot devices,
Harry's big thing now is not learning self-reliance (He's got enough
of that already) but learning to trust. That's not an easy task.
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