JKR and the boys

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 161473

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Miles" <miles at ...> wrote:
> 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.

Pippin:
Some people react this way. I think Lupin is a good example. But I think
Harry received so many negative messages that the only way he could
survive was to tune people out. Naturally his people reading skills 
would suffer from lack of practice and that in turn would contribute
to the bullying and make a vicious cycle.

Often, kids get bullied *because* they don't read people well. They 
don't pick up the cues that their behavior is being perceived as weird or 
improper, they persist in their behavior instead of modifying it, they 
alienate people, and then the bullies pick on them because they can.

 But this isn't really a book about teen romances or
teen friendships. According to the author, it's about a boy who doesn't
know who he is. That lack of self knowledge sort of precludes any
deep knowledge of other people. 

I think Harry  was only able to relate to Ron and Hagrid at first because
they are *so* easily read; they almost served as a primer for the rest of 
humanity. With their support Harry was able to develop the skils at
people-reading that he didn't form at a younger age. He is getting
pretty good now, though he still needed a boost from Felix to manage
Slughorn. His NEWT level will be managing Snape, assuming
DDM!Snape, that is. 

Harry still hasn't gotten the hang of the social judo that would let him
deal with Snape's insults without damage to his own ego. I think we'll
see him get that. But since it can't happen till Book Seven, JKR has
to keep Harry somewhat socially retarded until it does. 

The same with her romances. She doesn't want to get into hot water
of teen sex, but after all does every treatment of the subject have to
be gritty? 

Pippin