[HPforGrownups] Annoyed with Harry

[Melete]

No: HPFGUIDX 129734



> Magda:
> - He doesn't appreciate his friends enough.
> - ...it's amazing how clueless he can be about the
> big picture.

> 
> Kemper:
> I think Magda points out Harry's character flaws
> well. To sum her
> points: He's generally inconsiderate and self
> involved. 
> 
> Bookworm:
> Of course he is inconsiderate and self-involved.  He
> is a teenager.  
> 
 Ravenclaw Bookworm has brought up some excellent
points.  I'm personally very confused by the the anger
and annoyance directed at Harry by many readers after
OOTP.  I recently had a coworker read OOTP for the
first time and she expressed the same feelings that
Kemper and Magda shared.   I actually find it
refreshing that JKR kept Harry much closer to what a
teenager would quite possibly be feeling in those
situations rather than keeping him a bastion of
perfection.   Should he hide away his insecurities? 
Should he instead keep his confusion and hurt hidden
away?  I think he tries very hard to keep his feelings
of inadequacy, worry and general selfishness hidden
away in the first 4 books quite well.  

I suppose I feel very much with Harry at this point
because I was one of those children who was very
smart,  very polite who tried not to be a bother to
friend or adults even when I was hurting from social
scorn or self-doubt.   This trying to be perfect for
everyone can also be hurtful.  It keeps everyone at
arm's length rather than finally allowing them to help
out when they do care about you. 

Harry is at the end of his tether in OOTP.  He is
really at an emotional precipice.  He can't stay in
the cupboard below the stairs as it were emotionally. 
To become the hero he must be he must face up to what
the Wizarding World considers to be, how his peers and
mentors truly view and measure his own self-worth
against that.  It is no wonder that when he is with
his friends he explodes with emotion.  They are the
few people that he has ever trusted, loved and opened
up to even in the smallest of ways.  For him to reveal
his anger to them is in its own way a sign of trust on
his part.  Yes it does seem unfair for him to unleash
at the people that truly care for him as Harry (not as
a Savior of some sort).   But his anger and
insecurities are unveiled in those moments which is a
much safer alternative to the moments when he does not
confide anything to his friends.  

I'm glad JKR portrayed Harry this way.  For me it
makes him an even more believable character -- one
that is emotionally fragile, his self-esteem
experiencing great growing pains.   I'll be quite
frank this is my favorite book thus far for this very
reason.  Hermione crumpled under expectations in the
3rd book (hitting Malfoy, etc), Ron abandoned his best
friend in the 4th book, this is the book where Harry
is at his turning point.   I'm excited to see how he
will mature in the next volume.

Cheers,

Ellydan


		
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