Harry's character development (Was: Draco...Interesting?)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 177000

Magpie wrote:
<snip>
> Sorry. This was just a book/series that made far more of an 
impression on me in the way it showed people not changing much than 
it did about people changing, so I can't honestly agree with any of 
the bigger things about change. <snip>

> The kids grow, literally, from 11 to 17, so there's some aspects 
where yeah, they're going to change. You can't write an 11 year old 
as a 17 year old (though adults can kind of peter out after 17 and 
remain obsessed with their own life at Hogwarts--again, an indication
that changing throughout life isn't a big focus of the series). But
imo everybody comes back to the books knowing they're meeting the same
characters they've always seen, and they get their wish.
<snip>

Carol responds:

I think you're right about Harry's basic character--he's brave and has
a saving-people thing from the first book. He's also trapped by fate
in a way that other characters aren't--Prophecy or no Prophecy, he's
going to have to face Voldemort at some point. He has to do so to live
rather than merely survive. And, of course, some of the changes in
Harry and his friends are merely the usual changes from child to
adolescent--discovery of the opposite sex, anger and frustration, the
realization that idealized adults are merely human and don't have all
the answers. Any book about growing up has to deal with those aspects
of adolescence because they're true and real and universal. Also, a
character must be recognizable as the same person at eleven or
seventeen or thirty-seven, even if he's had a life-changing
experience. Harry is still Harry (and Ron is still Ron) in the
epilogue. What's important in determining character growth is not the
similarities but the differences.

In each book, we see slight differences in Harry, and I don't mean
merely hormones or new magical knowledge. He's less of a stranger in
the WW and more aware of its flaws with every book; he learns how to
deal with criticism and the burdens of celebrity, whether he's being
universally idolized or ostracized; he learns not to rush recklessly
into danger (as in OoP); he learns to pay attention to other people's
emotional needs (recognizing Ron's and Hermione's feelings for each
other; pitying and starting to care about Luna; understanding
Neville's feelings about his parents and learning to respect him;
letting go of the idea that he has to do everything himself and
letting not only Ron and Hermione but the members of the DA help him).
 Most important, he learns to perceive others more clearly, not only
Luna and Neville but Draco and, most important, Snape, whom he has
completely misperceived for nearly seven books. I'm not sure what
profound change you expected in him, but I think that letting go the
desire for revenge and being able to forgive is sufficiently profound.

Ron, whom almost no one is talking about, finally lets go of his
insecurities and finds both his courage and himself in one symbolic
blow as he destroys the locket Horcrux. Maybe he's the same Ron he's
always been, but I think he's found his best self and set aside the
parts of himself that cause trouble and strife for himself and his
best friend and the girl he loves. (It's a nice touch, too, that he
gets into the CoS on his own and lets Hermione destroy the cup
Horcrux, showing that he no longer doubts her and trusts her not to
doubt him.)

Hermione, I'll admit, doesn't change much, but I think that she
finally learns to forgive. She sought vengeance against Rita Skeeter
and prospective traitors to the as-yet unformed DA and against Ron
with everything from attacking canaries to the silent treatment. In
DH, she accepts Ron back and admits that she loves him, even if it
takes a comment on house-elves to do it. And it seems to me that, even
though she still wants to free the house-elves, she at least
understands them a little better. It's through her interpretation of
Kreacher's belief system and emotions that Harry finally comes to
accept and respect Kreacher (who returns the favor by accepting Harry
as his master even though his true loyalty is still to Regulus).

Speaking of characters who change, Kreacher may not be human, but he
certainly does an about face in terms of attitude and behavior.
Regulus, though a minor off-page character, also changes in a profound
and significant way.

Lupin has his own little epiphany, courtesy of Harry. The young
Dumbledore changes from a slightly less sinister Grindelwald, whose
good intentions nevertheless involved controlling others against their
will, to a man who recognized the desire for power as his weakness and
strove to keep that desire under control. He remained secretive and
manipulative, but he also granted second chances (Snape) and placed
numerous people under his protection (Trelawney, Hagrid, the centaur
Firenze) and taught Harry to fight Voldemort by understanding him.

DH, for Harry, is as much a search for truth as it is a search for
Horcruxes. By learning the truth, first about Voldemort in HBP, then
about Draco and then Snape and finally DD himself, he achieves a
victory based on love and understanding. And he understands a few
things about himself that no other character seems to realize, least
of all Hermione: he isn't a powerful wizard like Voldemort, however
strong his Patronus. He can't outduel Snape, much less Voldemort. His
wand acted of its own accord in opposing Voldemort; Harry's own power
or will had nothing to do with it. Nor can he survive without Hermione
 (or Ron, who saves him from drowning, or the unknown ally who helped
them find the Sword of Gryffindor--though, of course, he doesn't guess
that it's Snape). Any Jameslike arrogance he may have developed in the
earlier books because of his skill at Quidditch or his status as the
Chosen One is gone by this point. Harry has learned humility, and he
walks to what he thinks is his death without a shred of arrogance,
laying down his life for the love of his friends.
 
Katie wrote: 
> > Harry again - Close-minded, prejudiced teenager turns into a man
who understands that everyone is an individual and that he shouldn't
judge a book by it's cover.
> 
Magpie replied:
> Harry again--Close-minded, prejudiced teenager who turns into a man
 without ever having his judgments challenged too much. No Jane Austen
"My whole preception of myself is crumbling!" transformative scenes
for Harry. New information about other people was not central to his
development imo. <snip>

Carol responds:
Just because Harry isn't as introspective as Lizzy Bennett, who has
time to ponder the contents of a letter and consciously realize her
imperfections and follies, doesn't mean that Harry doesn't have his
own epiphany. You don't go from hating a man and thinking he's a
murderer to publicly defending him, pointing out his loyalty to
Dumbledore rather than Voldemort and his love for your own mother
without a very thorough change of mind and heart. We have a whole
chapter devoted to "new information about other people," specifically
Severus Snape, that is absolutely central to his development. Without
it, he could not have set aside his desire for revenge and substituted
forgiveness and understanding, nor could he have accepted Snape's
message from DD that he must sacrifice himself rather than fighting
back. New information about Dumbledore, with whom he is as obsessed in
 DH as he is in HBP with Draco Malfoy is also central to his
development. In "The Forest Again," he believes that Dumbledore has
betrayed him. In "King's Cross," he learns otherwise. (He also sees
LV's future and what will happen if he doesn't show remorse.) By the
epilogue, he has forgiven both Snape and DD and honored both of them
in the naming of his second son. (Needless to say, Tom Riddle receives
no such honor.)

Carol, who thinks that having Harry think "OMG, I've been so wrong
about Snape! I never should have let his sarcasm and detentions
mislead me into thinking he was evil!" as he's steeling himself to
face death without fighting back would have been both OoC and
completely inappropriate