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

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 117205


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:

Del:
> Harry is not even in this situation : he *was* taught some 
principles
> by the Dursleys, albeit bad ones. And yet as soon as he gets away 
from
> the Dursleys, those principles are immediately replaced by good 
ones.
> How come ?
 
SSSusan:
> " Don't some people just do good things because they've seen bad
> things and don't want to repeat them?"
 
Del:
> Yes, but very often it implies a *conscious* decision. One first has
> to realise what happened and why it happened, and then one has to
> decide not to do it, or identify an opposite behaviour, and then one
> has to catch oneself when doing it or when having an opportunity to 
do
> otherwise.
> 
> Harry just seems to jump from "I don't like that bad behaviour" to
> "I'll do that opposite behaviour".
 
Geoff:
While Harry has been at the Dursleys, he has been miserably unhappy. 
He has been treated as a second-class citizen and if the Dursleys 
have noticed anything which seems to give him pleasure, they have 
tried to eliminate it or limit it.

But I think we have already picked on an example of the motivation to 
go the other way and that is when he shares what he has bought on the 
train with Ron. 

'"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry who had never had anything to 
share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice 
feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's 
pasties and cakes"

(PS "The Journey from Platform Nine and Three Quarters" p.76 UK 
edition)

Harry finds at this point that sharing time, thoughts, experiences  
and material things produces a "feel-good factor". There are other 
places as the story progresses which reinforce this: becoming the 
Quidditch seeker comes to mind. He is quickly finding that being 
pleasant, doing good things and being with friends is more uplifting 
than sinking into despair or following the Riddle line and becoming a 
self-seeker. By doing this, Tom is denying himself the knowledge of 
real friendship. His only support comes from fear or sycophantic 
followers and so he effectively isolates himself from anything good 
or positive.

Looking further at the suggestion that Harry is headstrong and rushes 
into situations, how often do we do something which, in hindsight, 
looks foolhardy or dangerous? Taking the Chamber of Secrets as an 
example, apart from going with Ron (and Lockhart), what alternatives 
were there? The message on the wall implies that Ginny was in mortal 
danger. So who does Harry approach? He could go to Dumbledore who 
might well place the tips of his fingers together while he cogitated 
for some long time; McGonagall would probably look severe and 
dither... 

If he then persuaded them to come, it would emerge that a 
Parseltongue speaker was needed to open the Chamber and can you 
imagine Dumbledore or McGonagall going down the slide?

Meanwhile, Ginny is getting weaker, Tom Riddle is getting stronger 
and less fuzzy round the edges and trouble at t'mill is getting 
closer....

Geoff
http://www.aspectsofexmoor.com