Harsh Morality - Combined answers

[delwynmarch]

No: HPFGUIDX 121102


Hickengruendler wrote:
"Just because Harry, the character, judges Seamus more harshly than he
probably deserves, doesn't mean, that we, the readers, should, too.
(snip) 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."

Del replies:
Now that's funny, because I feel just the opposite way. I've always
felt that by putting us almost inside Harry's head, JKR's intention is
to make us agree with Harry pretty much all the time. This is even one
of the main reasons reading OoP was unpleasant for me : because I
found myself disagreeing with Harry way too often, separating myself
from him too much to be able to read about his reactions without
repeated twinges of annoyance.

I do think that we the readers are supposed to agree with Harry.
Especially considering the target public of the books : kids the same
age as Harry. They are (as a group) by definition as irrational as
Harry, so they wouldn't see anything wrong in the way Harry acts and
reacts.

Del