Resolutions/Ron's Cloak/Slytherins are Bad

[sistermagpie]

No: HPFGUIDX 183512

> Pippin:

> > JKR does the same thing. Epic heroes are supposed to represent 
all the
> > values of their culture. Harry is instantaneously recognizable as 
an
> > epic hero, but he's doing something people in our culture aren't
> > supposed to do. It creates a cognitive dissonance, and reminds us 
that
> > Harry is not a real hero, he's a fictional one. But it also 
reminds us
> > that if he were a real hero, we would be unwise to expect  him to 
be
> > morally flawless. The image of a hero is not a hero. 
> 
> Montavilla47:
> That only works if we recognize that the image of the hero isn't a 
> hero.  I'm not sure that most people actually do realize it.  

Magpie:
If we're talking about the author's intention here, then interviews 
can be a little helpful, and I honestly don't see anywhere in the 
book or in interviews that would ever make me think her intention 
here is to make Harry a subversion of the epic hero that's supposed 
to create any kind of dissonance. Honestly, I think Harry perfectly 
represents the values of his/our culture. He has flaws--heroes can--
but okay ones. He's the totally not-racist hero of the plea for 
tolerance story. People within the book comment on his exceptionally 
good treatment of other races and his ability to love. I think JKR 
would consider him a role model in this way. 

The fact that he's really not all that great at it in the opinion of 
some readers, that he would rather kick quasi-Nazi arse than examine 
his own behavior, that he enjoys his Wizard privilege without guilt 
because he didn't personally ask for it...I think a lot of these 
things (along with other things) are just a natural part of 
that. "Not being a saint" is in itself a good thing in modern culture 
and it's not the only way that the story's hero gets to have it both 
ways. Many scenes that bother some readers are, I agree with 
Montavilla, meant to be crowd-pleasers. And I actually would say that 
the Kreacher story may be intended to reflect well on Harry for 
caring about him and nothing more. The fact that he's a slavemaster, 
well, you know those funny House Elves naturally fawn over everybody. 
Many have argued Harry would be insulting Kreacher by not using his 
services. He's just making a sacrifice here. In his world, many old 
arguments in favor of slavery can be true. I don't get the sense the 
Trio has fallen by enjoying their happy home with Kreacher. In fact, 
I'd suggest many would read Kreacher as the one redeemed here through 
Harry and his friends.

I mean, even in talking about Harry's future it all seems to hang on 
his personal superiority. So much so that the world gets much better 
when he's put in a position of great power while he's still in his 
20s. He has, I think, proved himself to have a superior personal 
character in the way he gets angry at people he perceives as bullying 
the innocent, is friends with Wizards who aren't completely Wizards, 
hates Voldemort, and agreed to die. (As Jen even mentioned recently, 
his Polyjuice is pure gold.) When asked about things like his Crucio 
the author gets defensive of Harry rather than using the question to 
underscore this alleged dissonance.

-m