Harry's developing behaviour - average or unique?

[snow15145]

No: HPFGUIDX 118598


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
<gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> 
> I often wonder whether it reflects the demographic structure of 
HPFGU 
> but to me it is  noticeable that threads regarding Harry's 
> development and the question of boys' behaviour seem largely to be 
> posed and answered by women members of the group. As a result, I 
> sometimes feel that this puts a wrong spin on the matter because 
> looking at the matter from my perspective, I feel that wrong 
> conclusions are drawn as to whether Harry's behaviour is fairly 
> normal or unique to him.
> 
> What is my perspective? Firstly and obviously I am a male and was a 
> teenager some little time ago (my current age being 21+). 
> Additionally, I have had a great deal of experience dealing with 
> young people. For over 30 years I taught in South London at the 
same 
> school. Over the years it moved from being an 11+ to 16 boys' 
school 
> to a 13+ to 18 mixed and then finally to a 12+ to 16 mixed so I was 
> dealing with teenagers for my entire professional career. I also 
have 
> three children, now grown up, of whom two are male and, although I 
> took early retirement several years ago, my wife and I still work 
> with teenagers in our church Boys' Club. 
> 
> So, is Harry's journey from 11 to nearly 16 unusual? Is the move 
> from "Too Good" Harry to CapsLock!Harry a reasonable progression? 
And 
> do we expect him to calm down and become pleasanter after this? I 
> would say yes and want to set out comparisons between Harry's 
> progress and that of a typical real world guy.
> 
> We meet Harry as a naïve, uncertain 11 year old in 1991. At that 
> time, many boys of that age would be in the same situation. Up to 
> that age, their thinking had been very much guided by their family; 
> they usually conformed to the structure of the family. Boys of that 
> age still see the world very much in black and white; things are 
good 
> or bad. I remember, when my school was about to change from 11+ 
> intake to a 13 year old intake, having a conversation with my 
> Headmaster, who was a very wise old bird – definitely in the 
> Dumbledore mould. I said that I could see potential problems with 
> boys coming in at Third Year level because we usually gained the 
> loyalty and support of the First Years without any hassle but I 
could 
> anticipate that, being two years older, they would probably be more 
> streetwise and likely to question what was going on. My 
headmaster's 
> perceptive comment about the First Year boys was something 
> like "True. When they are at the age of 11, they haven't lost their 
> sense of wonderment or magic."
> 
> In my opinion therefore, Harry was not unusual at this age. He was 
> quiet and reserved, not many close friends. So was I. I was a bit 
of 
> a swot; I enjoyed finding out about things and wasn't particularly 
> athletic. Harry also wasn't completely angelic. Although he kept 
his 
> head down, metaphorically and physically, at Privet Drive, he 
> obviously had his views which were sometimes a little "wicked". We 
> see him in PS thinking of Dudley as a pig in a wig and he allowed 
> himself to visualise Dudley resembling one of the gorillas at the 
> Zoo. When he is annoyed or stressed, his wandless reflex magic 
> surfaces from time to time. In COS, he has great fun frightening 
> Dudley with his wand and he certainly produces a couple of 
sarcastic 
> replies for Aunt Marge in POA. So there is certainly a spark 
present 
> waiting to be triggered off!
> 
> What about him in OOTP? I said earlier that at 11, things are black 
> and white. It is as we approach our teens that the grey areas begin 
> to creep in. People we have looked up to as marvellous – maybe even 
> parents or grandparents – suddenly have occasions when they let us 
> down, embarrass us and try to continue directing our lives as they 
> did when we were younger. Teens want room to flex their muscles – 
> physically, behaviourally and socially – and like to spend time 
> pushing at the barriers and seeing if they can be prised open a 
> little further. And with it can come the tempers and the outbursts. 
I 
> know about that – I had red hair (then!). Both my sons went through 
> spells like this in their mid-teens. My elder son was dreadful; we 
> didn't dare take him anywhere. He was angry, moody, sullen and anti-
> social. Today, he is happily married and working towards a 
doctorate 
> in Theology  as a mature student. My younger son lived on a short 
> fuse for years (as did our nerves). Something would displease him 
and 
> there would be a minor volcanic eruption. He would address us in 
> capital letters and then stomp off to his room; you could tell by 
the 
> diminishing sounds of doors being slammed hard where he was. He is 
> now a highly-paid computer consultant used to making measured 
> decisions for companies. OK, so Harry had extra reasons for blowing 
> his top over and above the usual pressures of adolescence but much 
of 
> what he does and thinks are in part the normal behaviour and 
> development of average teenage males.
> 
> Will Harry revert to being like he was before his outburst years? 
No. 
> But he will return to being more civilised. He will not return to 
the 
> unquestioning and naïve Harry of 11 but he will be the experienced 
> and worldy-wise Harry of 17 or 18 growing into adulthood. This is 
how 
> it works out in the real world and I see this as being the same for 
> the Wizarding World. Let's stop trying to label Harry as a freak 
and 
> consider him as a normal teenager for whom the screw has been 
turned 
> a notch or so tighter than normal.
> 
> Geoff
> http://www.aspectsofexmoor.com


Snow:
Your post, Geoff, was extraordinary! I appreciate a man's point of 
view and can agree except where it involves Harry's acute actions to 
his feelings in OOP. I agree that it could be a typical teenage angst 
but this boy has voices in his head
that isn't normal in any 
spectrum. These voices haven't been exactly pinned down as to whom 
they are but we do know that a piece of Voldemort is inside of Harry. 
In this case we are not dealing with a real world conception of the 
typical teenager, male or female. There is nothing typical about 
Harry or his background let alone his future. 
It can be typical for any teenager (even those you think would 
never
) to behave in an unusual fashion but Harry is different 
despite Dumbledore's protective blockers to keep him as normal a boy 
as he could hope for.  Harry is just not the A typical teenager, and 
I don't think we should perceive him as such. 
Even Dumbledore does not underestimate Harry's behavior as his own 
when he refuses to look at Harry, for the majority of the year, 
because of the intense presence of Voldemort that lies within. 

Snow