Eyeglasses: the key to Harry's vulnerability

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 163621

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "kibakianakaya"
<Lana.Dorman at ...> wrote:
>
> I've once again thinking about the role Harry's eyes play in the 
> story.  For a while I was satisfied that the importance lies in 
> Harry's ocular resemblance to Lily that shamed Slughorn into giving 
> up his memory.  But I started wondering about the importance of his 
> glasses per se.  A search revealed a very old thread, back in 2001, 
> that mentioned a Reader's Digest article where Jo said that Harry's 
> *glasses* (not eyes) are the key to his vulnerability.  But that 
> thread was very short (4 posts) and not very informative.
> 
> So I put it to the group - how do Harry's glasses reveal or 
> symbolize his vulnerability?  One thought is that Harry usually 
> needs outside help to see things clearly.  He often is so focused 
> on "what is right in front of his face" that he doesn't see consider 
> the bigger picture.  His urgency in going to the Ministry to rescue 
> Sirius comes to mind.  For what it is worth, when I first heard the 
> title "Half-Blood Prince" the first thing that popped into my head 
> was "Harry Potter: the Half-Blind Seeker."  Harry needs outside help 
> (his friends) to help him see clearly. 
> 
> But I am sure I am missing a lot here.  Any ideas.
> 
> Lilygale
>
Carol responds:
On a real and practical level, Harry's eyesight makes him vulnerable.
Remember how he gropes around when they're broken? If voldemort or a
De were to Accio his glasses when he's duelling, for example, he'd he
in very bad shape. Even the glasses themselves can be a liability, as
when he's playing Quidditch in the rain and is almost blinded by the
water until Hermione hits the glasses with an Impervius. So, if
nothing else, the need for glasses give Harry a weakness that many of
us can identify with.

On a more symbolic level, he can be myopic at times (especially
regarding today's birthday boy, Severus Snape?). Maybe he'll learn to
"see" in what Trelawney calls "the mundane world" in the next book?
I'm guessing that Harry, like most people who wear glasses, is
near-sighted. It's interesting (to me, at least) that Trelawney (who,
it seems, really is a Seer though she doesn't always interpret the
omens correctly and doesn't know she's made at least two Prophecies
relating to the Dark Lord) is far-sighted, as indicated by the glasses
that enlarge her eyes. (*Far*-sighted, get it? She can see omens, but
she trips over a chair in her classroom--though that part is also a
spoof of blind Seers like Tiresias, i think.) So Harry can see things
in "the mundane world," but can't understand their significance?

Carol, who is far-sighted like Trelawney but can't see the future, alas