Harry : compassion vs saving-people thing

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 114877



Alla,

you don't understand me. I am NOT trying to say Harry did something
bad, or that he did good things for a bad reason. What I am objecting
to is the opinion many people have voiced on this forum that he did it
out of a specific reason : *exceptional* compassion. I am trying to
explain that what was driving him was not immense compassion but
heroism. Those are 2 different things, but both are most noble and rare !

Yes the people Harry saved needed saving, and it was a *heroic* thing
to do for Harry to risk his own life to save them. But there was no
compassion involved, which is not a crime !

Alla wrote :
" Ginny did NOT want to die in Chamber, Hermione would not be able to
 manage to save herself from troll, etc.

Harry was reliving their suffering, was he not?"

Del replies :
Yes, he *ended up* relieving their suffering, but that was not the
*reason* he did it. He didn't go in the Chamber in order to stop Ginny
from suffering from the possession, he didn't go to the toilets in
order to stop Hermione from suffering out of... what, exactly ? No. He
went to save their lives, period. Pure heroism. Admirable. But no
compassion, which is OK !!

Alla wrote :
"As to giving all the care they need, I think you are being too hard 
on Harry. he really is trying to help people around him. He scres up 
sometimes, but he tries  and that is enough for me. As he grews up  he
manages to do better and better, IMO"

Del replies :
I agree that Harry is OK. But I disagree that he is exceptionally
compassionate, which IS what I'm arguing against, not Harry's
personality itself.

Alla wrote, about Hermione crying in the toilets during the Halloween
Feast:
" But he did not have TIME to digest the news yet, Dell. I as only
asking why he was supposed to care when hermione was simply missing,
when he did not know yet that she was crying. "

Del replies :
A very compassionate person would have cared right away after learning
that Hermione was crying in the toilets. There's no digesting needed.
A very compassionate person would have left the Feast right upon
learning that Hermione was feeling miserable, to go and look for her.

But all this means is that Harry is not a Very Compassionate Person,
which is perfectly OK and normal !! I am only arguing against the
opinion that Harry is exceptionally compassionate, so if I manage to
demonstrate that he's averagely compassionate, no more and no less
than any other average kid his age, then I've made my case.

Alla wrote :
" I think it is reasonable to assume that Hermione was afraid of the
troll, so she was in pain."

Del replies :
Actually no, because Harry didn't think the Troll was in that area,
and most definitely not in Hermione's toilets.

Alla wrote :
" Well, I think he cared about the kind of pain people around those 
girls would feel if they DID die."

Del replies :
Can you prove that ? Can you show me quotes in the canon where Harry
actually thinks about what other people will feel if something happens
to someone, that he *shares* their pain, and that he then acts with
the specific intention of stopping or diminishing that pain ? 

Alla wrote :
" Sorry, Del , but you are trying to take away from Harry's character
 the trait I love him the most for. So, I have to dissent  respectfully."

Del replies :
What trait is that ? If it is heroism, then no I'm not taking it away.
Harry is a true hero. But if that trait is exceptional compassion,
then yes I'm afraid I'm trying to take it away.

Let me put it another way : if my life was at risk, I'd love to have
Harry around. But I would never dream of confiding my pains and
sorrows in him, because he's shown repeatedly in my eyes that he can't
relate to sufferings that he hasn't experienced himself.

Alla wrote :
" Let's not talk in hypotheticals. Please give me ONE example from the
books when saving people Harry tried to save was NOT the best thing 
to do (Please don't include Sirius, because that was TRICK from the 
beginning. Harry did not know that. )"

Del replies :
But Harry *would* have known, if only he'd listened to Hermione,
instead of *forcefully* intimidating her into silence, uncaring that
she was honestly trying to help him.

And there are no examples that I can think of when saving people was
not the best thing to do. But most often it was not done out of
compassion, but out of heroism, which is fine with me !

Del