hating/loving Harry

[Geoff Bannister]

No: HPFGUIDX 183602

In message 182594, Catlady wrote:

"There are quite a few readers who excused everything Snape ever did
since he first swooped into the Potions classroom and made that speech
about the beauty of the softly simmering cauldon, and most of them
agree with you about Harry, altho' some think Harry was a bad guy from
the first time we saw him interacting with Dursleys, not just from
halfway through the series."

Geoff:
I have commented on the fact that I find I am posting far less frequently 
to this group than I used to. Since I joined HPFGU, almost 5 years ago in
 July 2003, I have posted 2346 messages prior to this current. Only 69 
of those have been written this year. So my output has dropped quite 
drastically. Why?

Well, some of the threads simply do not "grab" me. But I have noted in 
the past that there is a tendency at the moment for spme thread to  
become negative ones in which the naysayers take hold of the reins 
and there is a mutual airing of grouses. If anyone then tries to interject 
something positive we get replies which suggest that their writer is 
correct in his or her judgment, that anyone who disagrees is wrong 
and is taking a naïve overview of what is really going on. So, at the 
moment, we have a "Let's bash Harry" theme nicely under way which 
gave rise to the quote above from one of Catlady's posts with which 
I started. 

Now, let me say that, if I read her post aright, the quote did not 
originate from her, but who, in their right mind (or sober), would 
dream of making such an unbelievable – and dare I say barmy – 
comment?

Harry being a bad guy from the beginning? Are we talking about 
the same Harry? Are we even reading the same book? We first meet 
Harry as he is about to turn eleven.  He is ignored as a person, treated 
like a slave being made to cook and do chores. He gets second-hand 
cast-offs for clothing. Although the Dursleys can get free glasses for 
him on the NHS, they can't be bothered to replace the ones repaired 
with Sellotape. Dudley's charm, ability and intelligence is flaunted in 
front of him, he gets stupid, thoughtless presents and, because of 
Dudley's interference, "At school, Harry had no one." So this is a 
portrait of a "bad guy from the first time we saw him"?

It's surprising that he /isn't/. In my teaching career and in young 
people's work in churches, I have often seen guys (in its unisex 
connotation) who had become unmanageable because of this sort 
of treatment. He has emerged from his experiences surprisingly 
well, all things considered. But many of the things which he has 
been upbraided for on this group recently are the sort of things 
which many of us might well have done – or thought about doing 
– in our teens. I challenge anyone to say that they have never had 
a moment of overwhelming anger when they have wanted to lash 
out and hurt. I can remember times in my teens when I could almost 
sense a red mist before me and wanted to do something to display 
my fury. At moments like those we do not stop to consider the 
moral balance of our behaviour. It is one thing that I see in the 
books looking at them as a Christian. We have no plaster saints; 
all have weaknesses and failings and, conversely, the great 
majority of those on the side of evil could be redeemed given
the right circumstances. It is something that Tolkien also reveals 
in his books. It is only people such as Voldemort or Sauron who 
have so suppressed their souls and muted their consciences that 
they have placed themselves beyond the reach of love. All the 
characters are flawed. As examples, Harry has his temper, he 
seeks security and has his moments of "thinking on his feet" 
without working the outcomes through; Frodo is seduced by 
the ring and almost fails in his mission, to be ironically saved 
by another victim of its power. On the other side, Draco fails in 
his mission because his conscience comes to his rescue; Boromir 
falls because he tries to take the ring for the greater good and 
realises too late what he has done and dies trying to remedy events.

The real world is also made up of flawed people. We all have 
skeletons in the cupboard; many of us have skeletons which wild 
horses wouldn't drag out of us because of shame, embarrassment 
and guilt. I have in the past criticised the epilogue of DH because
it seemed a feeble attempt to block speculation. We are not told 
what has happened in the years leading up to the nod from Draco 
at the railway station. We do not know what Harry or Draco or many 
of the others have done –if anything – to try to repair matters which 
they mishandled or shied away from back in that last feverish, 
nail-biting, cliffhanging year leading up to Voldemort's downfall.

Which is a pity. Because if JKR had expanded more, we might just 
be having a thread "I'm just wild about Harry" which might have 
been a bit lighter, less soul-searching and more Harry-friendly than 
some of the current batch.