Harry's entitlement - Long!(was Re: "Some won't like it".)

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 130023

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, phoenixgod wrote:
> 
> I have a minority opinion of one on this list apparently. I don't 
> think Harry's attitude has much to do with him being a teenager and 
> everything to do with being Harry.  Harry is a doer. he needs to 
> feel like he is participating and helping out with the war effort. 
> shutting him in Hogwarts drove him about as insane as Sirius went 
> over at the GP.  Virtually any other teenager would have either 
> passively went along with the order (Hermione, Neville) or grumbled 
> about being treated like a kid but still not done much (Ron, 
> Ginny).  Harry is proactive in a way that no other character in the 
> book is and no one in the order honored that. Frankly I think they 
> could have gotten away with hiding a whole lot more from Harry if 
> they just made him feel like what he was doing mattered to the war 
> effort. if Dumbledore or Snape connected learning occulomency to 
> some kind of reward like becoming a junior member of the order or 
> some knowledge about what was going on, I think Harry would have 
> thrown himself into the lessons with gusto, regardless of who was 
> teaching them. but he was expected to just learn them with no added 
> promises of being brought more into the know. contrast that with if 
> he could just make it through that door...

Hmmm.  I think there is a compromise possible here.  I agree that much
of Harry's behavior in this situation comes from fixed personality
patterns rooted in his upbringing, his experiences, and in just being
who he is.  However, those personality patterns are affected by the
fact that Harry is at a certain stage in his emotional development. 
In other words, it isn't that he's Harry, or that he's a teenager,
it's that he's a teenaged Harry.


> 
> this whole conversation reminds me of why I didn't like OOTP. the 
> book relies too much on smart characters being stupid. I don't have 
> a hundred years of teaching experience and even I know that kids 
> will go to the bat for you if you give them some trust and 
> responsibility.  They, like everyone else, want to feel like what 
> they do matters.
> 

This I definitely agree with.  OOTP was definitely Rowling's worst
effort, filled with clumsy contrivances so poorly handled as to be
appalling at times.  Having said that, I do have to admit it does
illustrate accurately many of the issues that arise between adults and
teenagers, particularly with regard to communication.  In other words,
I agree that adults and teenagers as a generic rule act in ways like
this.  However, I found it very hard to believe that THESE adults
(particularly) would have acted like this in this situation.


Lupinlore