Good moral core (Re: Dirty Harry/Clean Harry)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 117135


Del:
> > Similarly, I get the feeling that Harry was born to be good, he 
> > was born to be LV's nemesis. Right from the beginning of PS/SS, 
> > we see him doing good things, but we're rarely told *why* he 
> > makes good choices.  Even when he befriends Ron, it reads as 
> > though he first did what was right, and then he discovered that 
> > it feels good. Harry systematically makes the good choices, but 
> > we don't know *why*. We rarely see him considering the 
> > alternative and then basing his decision on precise reasons or 
> > beliefs. It always goes back to "this is the right thing to
> > do". But why ??


Neri:
> Harry is almost by definition the good hero, so yes, I think he has
> the talent for making the right choices most of the time. Still, I
> find it instructive that the prophecy doesn't say who will win. It
> says Harry has THE POWER to vanquish the Dark Lord, but it doesn't
> promise us that Harry will use this power. Free will again.
> 
> Why did Harry befriend Ron rather than Draco in SS/PS? Well, I 
> thought when reading it that the choice was pretty obvious. Ron was 
> nice to him. Draco reminded him of Dudley. Harry also refused to go 
> to Slytherin, in part, because Hagrid told him that Voldemort was in
> Slytherin, and Hafrid was nice to him too. I think that these were
> very good reasons for a 11 yrs old, and even for older people. If 
> you don't have a lot of information, going with the nice people is a
> better bet than going with the nasty people (hey, I just realized 
> this is what JKR said about men ;-) ). If later it turned out you 
> made the wrong choice, this is why we have second chances.


SSSusan:
Though I'm not sure you're going to be satisfied with this answer, 
Del, I do think you hit on it when you said "it felt good."  It 
*felt* like the right thing to do once he'd "chosen" Ron over Draco.  
Ron was fun, Ron was nice, it felt like the right thing to do.  
Similarly, Harry had never had any money before.  He finds he has a 
vault-full and he uses some of it to buy treats to share w/ Ron on 
the Hogwarts Express.  It *felt* GOOD, we're told.  It *felt* RIGHT.  
There's your reinforcement.  And that doesn't seem hard to understand 
or believe, for me.

I think of my dad.  *His* dad was an alcoholic who wasted his 
sporadic paychecks on booze, leaving his wife to raise of family of 6 
kids pretty much on her own.  WHY did my dad then choose to not hang 
out in bars, neglecting his family?  WHY did he not give in to 
poverty and being uneducated?  He got himself a Ph.D. and taught 
college physics.  He built a stable marriage & family and drinks 
responsibly.  Some people JUST DO this.  Rather than (understandably) 
giving in to their circumstances as many do, some **identify** with 
others outside their circumstances and fight the circumstances.  

Harry may have been one of those kids who, having nothing & being 
bullied, rather than succumbing simply chose to try to be different.  
And when it FELT GOOD, he knew it was the right course.  It's not 
THAT uncommon, nor do I find it to be unbelievable.

Siriusly Snapey Susan