Fairy tale v real life Was: Re: Innocent Alby?

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 123033


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "pippin_999" <foxmoth at q...> 
wrote:

Pippin:
> I love the way Harry is making the transition from magical, 
> fairytale thinking to a more realistic view of the world. I think
> it's very realistic that  he has not made that transition 
completely. 
> Some of the people he knows, he still thinks of in a childish 
> black-and-white way, while he has come to a more grownup 
> view of others.
 
Geoff:
I think Pippin has put her finger on it. We are seeing Harry's 
journey from childhood to manhood through his eyes. As children, we 
saw the world in clear bright colours with grown ups fitting into the 
catergories of friendly and kind or nasty and to be avoided. This was 
reinforced by the stories we read. The goOd were good and the bad 
werE bad and wore black hats.
 
In message 118574, when we were discussing CapsLock!Harry, I wrote:

<quote>
We meet Harry as a naïve, uncertain 11 year old in 1991. At that 
time, many boys of that age would be in the same situation. Up to 
that age, their thinking had been very much guided by their family; 
they usually conformed to the structure of the family. Boys of that 
age still see the world very much in black and white; things are good 
or bad. I remember, when my school was about to change from 11+ 
intake to a 13 year old intake, having a conversation with my 
Headmaster, who was a very wise old bird – definitely in the 
Dumbledore mould. I said that I could see potential problems with 
boys coming in at Third Year level because we usually gained the 
loyalty and support of the First Years without any hassle but I could 
anticipate that, being two years older, they would probably be more 
streetwise and likely to question what was going on. My headmaster's 
perceptive comment about the First Year boys was something 
like "True. When they are at the age of 11, they haven't lost their 
sense of wonderment or magic."

In my opinion therefore, Harry was not unusual at this age. He was 
quiet and reserved, not many close friends. So was I. I was a bit of 
a swot; I enjoyed finding out about things and wasn't particularly 
athletic. Harry also wasn't completely angelic. Although he kept his 
head down, metaphorically and physically, at Privet Drive, he 
obviously had his views which were sometimes a little "wicked". We 
see him in PS thinking of Dudley as a pig in a wig and he allowed 
himself to visualise Dudley resembling one of the gorillas at the 
Zoo. When he is annoyed or stressed, his wandless reflex magic 
surfaces from time to time. In COS, he has great fun frightening 
Dudley with his wand and he certainly produces a couple of sarcastic 
replies for Aunt Marge in POA. So there is certainly a spark present
waiting to be triggered off!

What about him in OOTP? I said earlier that at 11, things are black 
and white. It is as we approach our teens that the grey areas begin 
to creep in. People we have looked up to as marvellous – maybe even 
parents or grandparents – suddenly have occasions when they let us 
down, embarrass us and try to continue directing our lives as they 
did when we were younger. Teens want room to flex their muscles –
physically, behaviourally and socially – and like to spend time 
pushing at the barriers and seeing if they can be prised open a 
little further. And with it can come the tempers and the outbursts. I 
know about that – I had red hair (then!). 
</quote>

It is here that the world begins to lose its clean shiny look and 
sometimes takes on a rather weathered and gritty look. It is here 
that hero Dumbledore begins to develop feet of clay; it is here that 
Harry sees the pain that Neville hides and his hatred for Voldemort 
deepens; it is here that we see the complex interweaving of themes 
which makes us consider - and even doubt - the motivations of so many 
characters both good and bad.

The transition from fairy tale to real life mirrors the journey which 
we have all experienced at times when we turn a corner in our life 
story and see the page become smudged and blotted despite our best 
sttempts to keep it clean and tidy.