Harsh Morality - Combined answers

[hickengruendler]

No: HPFGUIDX 121095


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "delwynmarch" 
<delwynmarch at y...> wrote:
 
> 
> Jen wrote:
> "And Harry does seem to struggle with complex moral issues like why
> a 'good' person such as Seamus doesn't believe his story. And why
> Dumbledore would trust a 'bad' person like Snape. And how the once-
> sainted James can be a good person and a bully at the same time. His
> moral complexity grows with his character."
> 
> Del replies:
> I don't see him as struggling very much. He readily classified 
Seamus
> as bad for not believing him. He refuses to accept that DD has good
> reasons for trusting Snape, he refuses to consider that the man 
might
> not be completely evil. As for James, Harry doesn't struggle for 
very
> long, and he lets Remus and Sirius convince him quite easily, which
> again is congruent with a Platonic view : since James ended up
> fighting LV, he was good, and it doesn't matter that he did some bad
> things.

Hickengruendler:

Maybe, but Harry is a teenager. He is allowed to make rash and unfair 
conclusions and to be unforgiving. He's in a difficult age and I 
would be happy if some readers (not necessarily you) would be a bit 
more forgiving of Harry's mistakes as well. Especially those who 
think he should make the first step in his relationship with Snape.

And it doesn't really matter, what Harry thinks concerning Seamus. He 
was a bit unfair to Seamus, that's true. But Harry is not perfect, 
nor was he ever meant to be. Just because Harry, the character, 
judges Seamus more harshly than he probably deserves, doesn't mean, 
that we, the readers, should, too. IMO it was clearly shown, that 
Harry was as responsible for the quarrell in the dormitory, than 
Seamus was. I can understand Harry's reaction, he had a terrible 
summer, but we are not supposed to agree with everything he does and 
says, and IMO JKR has made this absolutely clear in all of her books, 
especially book 5. Therefore we are not necessarily meant to agree 
with Harry's opinion about Seamus. Look how soon Seamus was convinced 
of the truth, once he got some decent informations. (Don't 
misunderstand me, I dislike Seamus for totally petty reasons like the 
screentime he took away from Neville in the movies, especially the 
first, and I was thrilled that Neville was on Harry's side in this 
scene and Seamus was not, but IMO, even through Harry's biased point 
of view, JKR never showed Seamus in an unfair light).
  
Hickengruendler