Is Harry arrogant?

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 123616


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Geoff Bannister" 
<gbannister10 at a...> wrote:
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "M.Clifford" 
<Aisbelmon at h...> 
> wrote:
> 
> Valky:
> classmates like Neville, Ron and Draco, were actively avoiding the 
> > grown up thoughts Harry was having, like duty and self sacrifice.
> > Now Ron and Neville showed when it came to the crunch that each 
> > possessed one of these virtues, but it is Harry who had them 
both in spades *all year*. And that is *just a little* extraordinary.
> 
> Geoff:
> I agree with a lot of that analysis, but does that make 
> Harry "arrogant"?
> 
> One dictionary definition gives -
> arrogant > adjective having an exaggerated sense of one's own 
> importance or abilities
> 

Valky:
Well I do see arrogance in the way I described it before, as a 
knightly quality of ego - using the definition that you have used 
Harry has a sense of exaggerated importance and abilities, it is 
evident in his sense of duty in the quote below.

Geoff:
> Looking at the incident which Valky mentioned...
> 
> '"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets 
hold of the Stone... <snip>

Valky:
This is the first evidence of arrogance about his grown up duty. 
Assuming, that the way Snape will NOT get hold of the stone is if He 
(Harry) himself stops him. 


Quote continues:
> ".....Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was 
> like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts 
to get expelled from! He'll flatten it or turn it into a school for 
the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter any more, can't you see? 
> D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor 
win the House Cup?"

Valky:
This is evidence of the resignation and compassion he feels, this is 
all very Lily in Harry, so again, Geoff you are entirely correct.. 
but then....

".............If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well 
I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find 
me there. "

Here is Harry again citing his arrogance, in saying "I am going to 
fight Voldemort, 11 years old I'll take it all on, just bring it"... 
imagine Snape hearing this sentence, Harry would be laughed heartily 
into a corner, and what would Snape say exactly? Would it come out 
something like.. "Potter you are exaggerating your importance and 
abilities...."

The quote continues:
".....It's only dying a bit later than I would have done because I'm 
never going over to the Dark Side!...."

Valky:
This is a mixture of arrogance and a bit of resignation. It comes 
late in the rant, and I think purposely, because it comes late to 
Harrys mind. Harry starts off with his faith that *he* has to stop 
Snape, granted DD is not there so Harry feels a bit resigned and is 
not going to sit down and do nothing. OTOH imagine say, Fred and 
George in his position, would they make the same decision, probably 
not. Fred and George would stir a raucous in the halls or some other 
*creative* way of alerting the teachers to Snape's (which is 
actually Quirrel) absence. It is Harry that comes to the conclusion 
that *he* must go down the trapdoor, alone if he has to, and fight 
the bad guy one on one to the death if necessary, to do his duty. 

".....I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two 
say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?" He 
glared at them.'"

Valky:
Harry ends with a hint of revenge, so he has swayed back, most 
likely, to overestimating his ability to make an impact on Voldemort.

The most important thing I am trying to say is that Harry's 
arrogance is the kind of arrogance that a warrior takes into battle. 
The warrior is not actually an arrogant person, but they assume a 
sense of it when faced with a situation that calls for them to be 
brave. This part of Harry is like James. Though in James case, I 
think, he was *always* trying to be brave and often ended up looking 
arrogant instead.