JKR and the boys

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 161434

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Miles" <miles at ...> wrote:
<SNIP>
> He has very few friends, and he seems not to be interested in 
students apart
> from those who are his friends. This is shown differently in the 
films, by
> the way.
> What makes this situation unrealistic IMO is Harry's past until he 
came to
> Hogwarts. He had a very hard time not only at the Dursley's, but at
> elementary school as well. A person being bullied so much will 
most probably
> develop good knowledge of human nature - especially a bright boy 
like Harry.
> It's vital for him to understand people and to "read their minds" 
in order
> to find out who will harm him and who will not. JKR seems to have 
left out
> the emotional and social intelligence in her "Harry Potter" 
character.
<SNIP>


Alla:

Hmmmm, not ever being a boy, certainly cannot contradict your 
general impressions,  and snipping almost everything basically to 
disagree with this one idea.

I think it is quite plausible that Harry cannot read people well. I 
mean, yeah, it is vital for him to figure out who would have hurt 
him and who would not.

But this is not a general rule ( from my experience) that alll 
bullied kids will develop this. Say Harry defensive mechanism is to 
shy away from people who may have hurt him and just to open up to 
very few, so while what you are saying is possible, I disagree that 
how Harry copes is unrealistic.

So, I would agree with Betsy that Harry's intelligence is often 
sacrificed for plot purposes, but this is can be explained 
realistically enough IMO.

Alla,

who thinks that in general JKR got a lot of boys and girls 
interactions spot on, but certainly did not capture all of them, but 
only those that are necessary for the story.