"Some won't like it".

[heather the buzzard]

No: HPFGUIDX 129949


>Alisha:
>>there's a lot of "wasn't it him who..." thinking going on.  
>>/He's/ the one who did this.../he's/ faced more than either 
>>of them...Voldemort killed /his/ parents.  This is the 
>>attitude in Harry that I, personally, resent.

Lupinlore wrote:
> But everything he is thinking there is true, madorganization!  
> Harry DOES have more right to know what's going on than either 
> Ron or Hermione do.  There is nothing wrong with feeling 
> entitled when you genuinely ARE entitled, which Harry most 
> definitely is.  If he did not think that way it would be silly 
> and unrealistic, as well as untrue.


Besides which, he feels guilty for these thoughts.  He can't 
help feeling them and fights against them, then feels bad that 
he has them, then has them all over again.

Who among us has NEVER thought "I am better than so-and-so, I 
deserve more than so-and-so"?  Come on, be honest.  It doesn't 
mean that, in the greater scheme of things, we are snobs or 
stuck-up, because 99% of us quickly realize "oh wait, that may 
be in part true, but it's not fair, they're better than me in 
these other areas, we're all human here".  That doesn't stop 
the fleeting thought, the sense of injustice.

I would even argue that Harry's feelings of guilt over his 
feelings of 'entitlement' or 'injustice' are a large part of 
the reason why he does lash out at his friends.  In psycho-
speak, he's just externalizing his anger at himself.

It's totally irrational, but it's human.  You're upset with your 
friends, so you lash out at them.  Then you feel guilty about 
it.  So you get mad at yourself.  So you lash out at your friends some more, rather than truly admit your own fault to yourself.

Anyway.  I think the whole thing *should* be settled by the fact 
that Harry does harbour guilt over these negative feelings.  He 
knows they're not 'right' but he can't help it.  The whole book 
shows Harry struggling with feelings he KNOWS he shouldn't be 
having, but he's powerless against them.

Now we could argue as to whether he could actually have been 
trying harder, or whether he was just 'giving in' to the feelings 
too easily.  However, even then I would argue that the latter is totally normal, for any human being, and especially for a teenager, and ESPECIALLY a teenager who has been abused, neglected, and tortured.  Poor guy must be emotionally exhausted, no wonder he behaves immaturely.

And I'll suggest again, that I would not be at all surprised if 
his 'connection' to Voldemort is further influencing the strength 
and the tenacity of his negative emotions, in other words 
Voldemort's own negative feelings are affecting Harry's.

heather the buzzard