[HPforGrownups] Re: Harry : compassion vs saving-people thing

[Lady Macbeth]

No: HPFGUIDX 114863

Hannah wrote:

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.

Lady Macbeth replies:

And age 10-11 is when, according to Sociology standards, children are
supposed to be entering this phase of understanding - compassion - in being
able to identify with the feelings of others.  It's why we have to tell
TODDLERS things like, "How would you feel if she hit you?" or "How would you
feel if someone broke YOUR toy?"  Age 5-10, while they're in elementary
school, comprises development of this skill - it's generally accepted that
by age 11, they should be starting to hone that skill, not just beginning to
learn it.

Hannah wrote:

<snip> He and Ron went to *warn* Hermione to get back to the common room.

<snip> 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.

<snip> 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.

<snip> 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.


Lady Macbeth replies:

And in each case, the "logic" region of the adolescent brain took over,
responding to the logical way of solving the situation - "if no one else
will solve it, I will".  As he gets increasingly older, he increasingly
turns to others, but in the end he continues emotionlessly down the path of
logic - it's another of the ways that the Voldemort the wizarding world
remembers and Harry are alike - cold, logical steps rather than considering
the emotional state of the others involved.  (We see emotion starting to
conflict with Voldemort as the books progress - this is an interesting twist
in the comparison, but better left for a different discussion.)

Hannah wrote:

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.

 Lady Macbeth replies:

He's 15 going on 16 at the end of OotP - he should be MASTERING the skills
of compassion (developmentally) rather than just starting to learn them.
Yes, he has a lot of other things to think about - but so do the other
characters.  Harry himself forgets that when he goes off about what he sees
as a flaw in one of them.  His irritation with Ron's complaints about money,
his anger at Percy's "betrayal", the absolute ANGER he displayed toward
Hermione when she even SUGGESTED he had a "saving people thing" - those are
just a few examples of his not considering the background of the people he's
talking to.  Yes, some of it he doesn't know.  Some of it he has no
experience with.  But a truly compassionate person would take the time to
get to know others, instead of knowing what's on the surface of their
personas.

-Lady Macbeth



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