Harry's Lies

[naamagatus]

No: HPFGUIDX 125087


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c...> 
wrote:
> 
> Over on the Sugarquill, I saw a couple of comments that I thought
> might be worthy of discussion here.  Madam V. Hunter said:
> 
> "Harry does not often behave like an honest person, but his 
dishonesty
> is not about telling a certain number of untruths. Harry is brave, 
but
> is he brave enough to tell Mrs. Weasley that he gave Fred and George
> the money for their business? He didn't do anything wrong. Fred and
> George are his friends. Harry had a great deal of money he didn't 
want
> any part of and Fred and George wanted to make an investment he
> believed in. So why is he reluntant to be honest with this woman who
> has shown him nothing but warmth. Harry tells us why. He doesn't 
trust
> that her love for him will survive her dissaproval. He saw the way 
she
> treated Hermione, he's watched her disapproval of her children: What
> are Fred and I, next door neighbors?  Molly doesn't began to
> understand or appreciate how much Sirius means to Harry--anything 
she
> is going to say about Sirius is eventually going to alienate him. So
> with Molly, Harry has begun a tradition of being dishonest--not 
lying
> necessarily, but telling her what he thinks she wants to hear 
because
> he believes that is the only way he can keep her love and affection.
> 
> Harry's dishonesty here is not shown as an admirable trait. It is 
very
> sad. He's afraid to be honest because he's afraid that this woman 
will
> stop loving him. That's no way for a child or teenager to feel about
> their parent figure. A child who is afraid that Mom or Dad will
> dissaprove of them to the point of rejection will never tell a 
parent
> the truth. Children so afraid of parent's rejection have done some
> very sad things:running away,keeping abuse secret, or even harming
> themselves. Harry has done all the above. We're looking for the 
scars
> of the abuse Harry's suffered with Petunia and Vernon. I think this 
is
> it."
> 
> 
> In reply to which Grace has Victory wrote:
> 
> "I think this is the crucial issue with honesty. The problem is not
> whether Harry has a character flaw (because everyone has some, and
> this one makes him more human) but whether JKR recognises that this
> particular trait is a flaw.
> 
> And we don't know. It's something we won't know until the end of the
> series. I don't think JKR would ever go to the extreme of promoting
> dishonesty. But I do sometimes wonder whether it's a moral blind 
spot
> for the author, and that she hasn't noticed how many casual lies 
Harry
> tells."
> 
> 
> So what are we to make of Harry's lies?  How do they fit with his
> psychology?  How do they fit with the morality of the Potterverse?
> 
> 

First, not telling something is not lying. Secondly, I find both 
quotes childish in their black and white perception of ethics. 

Children are taught that "it is wrong to lie", because they are too 
young to be taught the nuances of adult behavior. And how can you 
teach it anyway? The subtlety of the new hairdo: if it's your best 
friend, *some* honesty is required (the exact measure depending on a 
multitude of factors, such as revamp possibilites and emotional 
fragility); if it's a colleague - a complimentary comment is almost a 
must (unless it's absolutely horrible, in which case you don't say 
anything)... etc. And the situation always changes slightly if you 
are asked for your opinion. 

So, in not telling Molly Harry was engaging in that kind of ordinary, 
day to day, negotiations and deliberations of social interaction. In 
other words, it is (more or less) morally neutrel.


Naama, who never buys pens if she can help it ...