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

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 186686

> >>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. 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I don't think it's left for the reader, actually.  Certainly a reader *can* go back and reexamine the times Harry may have stumbled, but since the context is never changed (Draco is never recast as a victim in the ferret scene; Harry casting the cruciatus is never written as a moral mistake) I believe they're going against the text when they do so.  I think the reader is expected to just follow along after Harry and adopt his views as their own.  Especially by series end when he has it all figured out.

(I will note, I think it's perfectly reasonable (brilliant even! *g*) to read against the text.  But I think it's a good idea to recognize that this is what's being done.)

And since Harry only reexamines *other* people's lives (he sees and understands the mistakes Snape made; he sees and understands Dumbledore's weakness) but not his own, I don't think Harry actually grows into a man more morally astute than the boy we first meet.  How can he?  He never seriously questions or rethinks his own actions.  Other people are led astray by their obsessions, but Harry has not (per his view, and I think the text's view as well) ever made that sort of mistake.

> >>Pippin:
> <snip>
> 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. 

Betsy Hp:
I agree that canon shows Harry as someone who'd abuse power.  What I don't agree with is that canon shows us this consciously.  I see Harry as very much the wealthy, popular, beloved of the powers that be, type of student.  All the girls and boys want to date him or be him.  I think canon shows this to be true.  I *also* think canon wants us to see, and honestly believes it's telling us, that Harry is a poor, little, under-dog, constantly fighting against the man to get even a modicum of fair treatment. 

It's a fascinating contradiction, but one born of mistake rather than purpose as far as I can tell.  I think JKR feels Harry really is a type who'd not abuse his power, and that she showed us this by having him refuse the Elder Wand (or refuse power).  None of his other problematic moments need apply.  We don't need to reexamine them (as Harry doesn't) because they're not really problems to begin with.

> >>Pippin: 
> 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.

Betsy Hp:
Sure we do.  Snape, Dumbledore, even Ron have their moments when they confess to being bad people and express an urge to change.  Harry doesn't have such a moment, but I think it's because we're not supposed to think he needs one.

Betsy Hp