Compassionate hero (WAS Re: Appeal of the story to the reader)

[nitalynx]

No: HPFGUIDX 175687

Part 1: Compassion for Snape

Carol wrote:
> The compassion comes later, after he sees the memories. Harry's
> initial reaction is horror and shock, not at all the reaction he must
> have expected to have to Snape's death, since he still thinks that
> Snape is DD's murderer and a loyal DE. 
<snip eloquent elaboration>
<snip suggestion of foreshadowing>
<snip observation of change in Harry's attitude to Snape>


Nita:
True, there's a change, but it happens a) off-page and b) after it has
turned out that Snape was his/DD's/Lily's all along. The
after-the-fact part parallels what happened with Kreacher and Griphook
- first they prove themselves useful, then Harry treats them well (or
not really well in the goblin's case). I'll explain why I'd prefer
on-page changes in part 3.


Part 2: Compassion and other emotions

Carol wrote:
> Harry has always shown some compassion for his friends. But compassion
> for those he sees as odd or inferior (Luna and Neville) develops into
> appreciation of them as friends and respect for their abilities. But
> only at the end of HBP, watching Draco lower his wand a fraction of an
> inch, and throughout DH does Harry finally develop, or start to
> develop, full-fledged compassion and empathy. We see it first when
> Molly Weasley gives Harry her brother Fabian's watch, and instead of
> wondering why she's given him a hand-me-down, he understands its full
> significance, which he can't put into words, and hugs her (DH Am. ed.
> 114). After all this time, he finally understands and appreciates
> Molly, knows what her brothers' deaths mean to her and how she fears
> for her children and how she loves him as one of them. It's a lovely
> and understated moment.


Nita:
Well, I see friendship and love (Ron, Hermione, Molly),
semi-friendship (Luna, Neville), and pity (Luna, Neville, Draco).
We're actually told that Harry feels "the tiniest drop of pity" for
Draco at the end of HBP. I believe pity and compassion are very
different, although them seem alike. I have no idea if Harry knows
what Molly's brothers' deaths mean to her. Perhaps he just finally
feels like a part of the family?


Part 3: Harry's character

Carol wrote:
> Harry is not notably articulate, especially with regard to emotions.
> He's just an average kid (a boy at that, meaning that he's less
> willing to display his emotions than the typical girl) with a few
> unusual powers and a unique destiny that continually places him in
> grave danger. He prefers action to words and is not always aware of
> his own emotions. It's as if, in both these instances, a wordless
> understanding simply comes to him, a little epiphany with Molly and a
> huge one with Snape.


Nita:
I think epiphanies are decidedly *not* the best way to show emotional
or intellectual growth for a character who lacks self-awareness. Or at
least they didn't work well for me in DH. "Somehow Harry just knew"
and such feel like authorial laziness when overused. You present a
very good explanation of how the growth *could have* occurred, but
it's your analysis, not JKR's writing, that puts the emphasis on
certain events and makes them work towards a goal, IMO.

So, what we have in canon is various stuff going on, events that might
be significant or plot points or both, and an oblivious hero in the
middle. Which leaves the text *very* open to interpretation, and no
amount of re-reading can resolve the differences of opinion on Harry's
growth. Maybe Harry subconsciously remembers Snape's good acts. Maybe
his reaction illustrates that he's not an avenger, like Draco is not a
killer. Or maybe JKR just needed him to get those damned memories :)

I've seen some writers establish a "reliably unreliable" narrator, so
that the reader can easily extrapolate the truth from the viewpoint
character's consistently skewed observations, and realize what the
character's hidden flaws and motivations are. But, since JKR has to
point out such flaws in an interview to explain his ambiguous
behaviour (Crucio!), it seems that in the end we are no more aware of
Harry's emotions than Harry himself.


Part 4: The amount of compassion Harry develops

Carol wrote:
> To the extent that the HP series is a Bildungsroman, this is the book
> in which Harry, though still a boy by our standards, becomes a "man"
> in the eyes of the WW. It's the last stage in his journey toward
> adulthood. And, IMO, he does make progress. His perception of Snape
> and Dumbledore and his mission is cleared, with the doubts and
> mistrust and misunderstanding removed. He chooses Horcruxes over
> Hallows; what is right over what is easy. He faces death without
> fighting back. He forgives Snape (and Kreacher and Draco). He sets
> aside revenge and sacrifices himself as an act of love. And he learns,
> or begins to learn, compassion. We see him talking to his younger son
> with the affectionate understanding that no one showed to him (or to
> little Severus, thirty-nine years earlier).
> 
> I see a vast improvement. I see hope for the future. Harry is not and
> never will be perfect, but he's a better person in this book--not
> merely courageous, as he's always been, but at last grasping how
> others feel and think--than he's been in any of the other books.


Nita:
I've never said that Harry is completely devoid of compassion or never
learns any of it. Due to the way he's written, it's hard to tell
what's going on in his head exactly, but perhaps you're right.

However, my point was that compassion isn't as central to the story as
it seemed to be, judging by some of DD's sound bites and such. It
isn't exactly necessary, so any compassion Harry has simply earns him
bonus points on the Good Person scale, and if he has only a small
amount, it's not a problem, not a challenge.


> Carol, once again asking people to look closely at the text itself
> rather than making unsupported generalizations based on disappointment
> in the book

Nita, whose disappointment had given way to bemused interest quite a
while ago