Lack of re-examination (was:Re: Secrets (Long) OLD POST REPOST)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 186635


> > >>Pippin:
> [Harry] isn't refusing moral responsibility, he's learning that it's something people have to grow into.
> 
> Betsy Hp:
> Just to put that above statement into context (because this conversation is spread out enough that I fear it's easy to loose track *g*) this is in reference to Harry's throwing the cruciatus curse.  Harry throws it to... teach... himself? something? Certainly the one teacher in the room doesn't provide any guidance.  Instead she adds her own Unforgivable to the mix (thereby also choosing to refuse any sort of moral responsibility by using another spell to accomplish her task).  So I'm very, very confused at how Harry, a boy we've already established is not prone to think back over actions taken and evaluate their merits, is learning *anything* in this scene (Except that Bellatrix was right, there is a trick to Unforgivables, but clever Harry has figured it out. *g*)  
> 
> Especially as this all takes place in the closing chapters of the seven book series and Harry has pretty much accomplished all the growing he's going to do.

Pippin:
Huh? There are some  major plot and character developments ahead at this point, namely the Prince's Tale and King's Cross. Harry is about to re-think his whole purpose in life, and to seriously revise his opinion of both Dumbledore and Snape. He doesn't review his own actions in the light of what he's learned, that's left for the reader. Certainly everyone active on this list has done that, though we don't all reach the same conclusions, just as we don't all read the same lessons from history in real life. 

I recently read something that put the whole thing in a different perspective for me. Despite years of testing, it's been difficult to document a link between personality type and aggression, though the idea that there is one goes back to the Greeks and their four humors (on which the four Houses are based, per JKR.) People become aggressive based on their circumstances. Aggression is not a stable trait, it's more of an if-then thing. ("Don't!"  May 18 New Yorker magazine.) 

 You can see what it means for the Potterverse if that's true: despite what a lot of characters think, the Sorting shouldn't tell you anything about which people are dangerous. And guess what, it doesn't. Harry knows that by the end, IMO, and the readers can't help but observe it, though we may be extremely puzzled if we think the link ought to be there and we're trying to figure out what it is.  

Harry barely notices the Slytherins except when he thinks they're being aggressive towards him or the people he cares about. Naturally he gets the impression they're always aggressive towards people like him, and the reader gets that impression along with him. 

But his vision is distorted, as we've known all along. Like Snape, he sees what he wants to see. He even revises his opinions in retrospect, so that the Prince, whom he admired for his wit and could forgive for his occasional savagery, suddenly seems to have grown increasingly nasty. Sirius does the same thing with Pettigrew. Which is another thing about re-thinking -- sometimes people had it right the first time.

Any good Slytherins less conspicuous than the immense figure of Slughorn in his brilliant green pajamas are going to be missed because Harry isn't looking at them. And Gryffindors have this tendency to confuse being brave with being reckless, which the Slytherins aren't inclined to be. Harry does rethink that. He recognizes  that in doing what he has to do, he's  being a  reckless godfather, and  he recognizes Snape for his courage.

But it's very sly that Andromeda, who doesn't rush into battle to save the world, survives to raise Teddy, who might otherwise have ended up with his aunt and uncle, as much a freak in Malfoy Manor as Harry ever was at Privet Drive.

The readers have the choice to regard Harry in the comforting  way that his fans in the WW like to see him, as Harry once saw Dumbledore, as a man who believes in truth and justice and would never abuse his power.  Or we can see him as canon actually shows him to us, as a person who would abuse his power under certain circumstances, just like everybody else. 

So you see, we don't get a moment where anyone thinks -- oh, I've been a bad person, I've got to change,  because being a moral person will not in itself help you to control your aggression. It will help you to see that it should be controlled, but most people over the age of two know that, and most people get better at it as they mature. As I've said before, there's scarcely a Death Eater who isn't shown as a baby in some way.

Pippin