Harry : compassion vs saving-people thing

[Hannah]

No: HPFGUIDX 114860


Del wrote:
> There seems to be a general agreement that Harry is very
> compassionate. That has always troubled me, because I just don't 
seethat. What I see is what Hermione saw : Harry has a saving people 
thing.
> 
> Let's take a few examples.
> 
> In PS/SS, Harry doesn't care much when Hermione breaks down after
> hearing Ron's hurtful comment about her. She doesn't show up for 
theHalloween Feast, but so what ? He knows she's crying in the 
toilets,but he doesn't care about going to get her and making her 
come to theFeast. But then suddenly she's in danger of being killed 
by the Troll,and *then* he cares.
> 
> In CoS, Harry doesn't care much about Ginny looking pale, sick and
> troubled. She obviously wants to talk to someone, but Harry doesn't
> care about getting her in a quiet place and asking her what's
> bothering her. But then suddenly she's taken to the Chamber of
> Secrets, and *then* he cares. But what does he care about, 
exactly ?Does he care about Ron and Percy's obvious pain ? No. Does 
he careabout Ginny's emotional well-being after the ordeal is over ? 
No. The *only* thing he cares about, and he tells us so, is that she 
might die.
> 
> Let's take another example in GoF. The Second Task. Harry gets to 
theMerpeople town, and finds the hostages. He then decides to wait to
> make sure they are all rescued. But *why* does he do that ? Does he
> care about the people who would get hurt if Cho, Hermione and
> Gabrielle died ? NO ! In fact, if he did think of them, he would
> realise that there's no way the hostages are going to be let to 
die ifthey are not rescued. DD made it very clear that he didn't 
want anyplayer in the TWT to die, so why would he allow *innocent* 
people whonever asked to be part of the show to die ?? But no Harry 
doesn'tthink about that, he's only obsessed with one thing, and once 
again hetells us so : "I don't want them to die !".
> 
> And finally let's skip to the end of OoP, and the infamous Sirius
> dream. Harry wants to go to the DoM, but why ? Once again he tells 
usso : he doesn't want Sirius to *die*. Sure, he's bothered by Sirius
> being tortured, but this is not his *primary* concern. He doesn't 
wantto end Sirius's pain, he wants to prevent him from dying.
> 
<snip>
> 
> First, there's the Forbidden Forest incident in CoS. Ron is
> arachnophobic, and yet Harry drags him in the FF in the pursuit of
> spiders. 
<snip> 

> What makes Harry save people is not compassion, it's his saving-
peoplecomplex, which not only is not based on compassion, but quite 
>often goes against what compassion would recommend.

Hannah replies: Wow, Del, interesting post.  I don't entirely agree, 
though I think you say some very perceptive things about compassion 
in this post and your response to Alla's.

Harry is a teenager - in the first book, he's only just 11.  He 
isn't terribly perceptive about people's emotions and finds it quite 
hard to relate to people emotionally.  This is understandable, given 
his loveless upbringing, and his age.  I don't think he's exactly 
uncaring, he's just got a lot going on in his mind and is a bit 
unobservant about peoples' feelings.

I know what you mean about his 'saving people thing' but bear in 
mind the actual circumstances in each of the examples you cite.  
Rescuing Hermione from the troll - he had no idea they'd actually 
encouter the troll, he thought it was in the dungeons.  He and Ron 
went to *warn* Hermione to get back to the common room. 

In CoS, he went to tell Lockhart what he'd found out about the 
Chamber, thinking Lockhart was about to set out on a rescue 
mission.  He didn't set out to rescue Ginny himself, then events 
took over.  

In GoF 2nd task, Harry's crime is not incompassion, it's just not 
thinking things through.  As Ron says, he's a bit dim for not 
realising there's no danger, but that's not the same as lacking 
compassion.  He's in a pressurised situation, he's not in a postion 
to sit and analyse the emotional consequences for those who know the 
hostages.  

And in OotP, he doesn't just race off to rescue Sirius.  He tries to 
find out if he's at home, and is told that *no one* is there.  He 
goes to the hospital wing to alert McGonagall, and finds she's 
gone.  He tries to tell Snape, and appears to be ignored/ 
misunderstood.  He is left feeling that his only option is to go 
himself.      

I think what makes Harry save people is a complicated mixture of 
things, partly compassion, partly (in later books) a sense that it 
is somehow his role to save people (a 'saving people thing'), but 
mostly circumstance.

I liked your examples about sometimes it being more compassionate 
*not* to save someone, but I would argue that Harry has not ever 
been in such a situation.  All of the people he saved/ tried to 
save, needed saving.  It wouldn't have been kinder to let Ginny die, 
or Hermione get clubbed by the troll, or to leave Sirius to be 
tortured to death, or to leave Cho, Hermione and Gabrielle to drown 
(as he thought).

Is Harry compassionate?  I would agree that it's not a major 
character trait of his.  But OTOH I don't think he's 
incompassionate.  He can be thoughtless, and insensitive, but since 
he's very young, is shown very little compassion by others, and has 
a lot to think about, I think we can forgive him.  He does care 
about people, even if he doesn't always know how to show it.  He'll 
get to be compassionate as he grows up and becomes more emotionally 
mature.

Hannah