'Clue to his vulnerability' (Coming to a conclusion )

[carolynwhite2]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:

>From Harry's example we find out a magical person doesn't have to be
perfectly well behaved to have an untarnished soul! What seems to be
remarkable about Harry is how many times he's been in contact with
pure evil and never succumbed to darkness. He's been touched by the
curse-that-failed, had his thoughts invaded by Voldemort, been
possessed, partially soul-sucked, etc. From a WW perspective, I
think we're meant to see his still-pure soul as a Very Big Deal.

Whether you buy this idea is another matter.

Carolyn:
Well I don't. In fact, codswallop [I took your advice and opened a 
bottle..Miss H on the rampage, you have been warned <g>].

There's nothing remarkable about Harry. Quite a lot of people/and non 
humans in the WW have been in touch with what laughably passes 
for 'pure evil' (mostly incompetence, actually) and seem to emerge 
relatively unscathed. Take Ginny, Dobby, Slughorn, Dumbledore, 
Dudders, Mad-eye Moody, even Draco to some extent. 

And you've conveniently side-stepped my point. Harry doesn't always 
do the right thing, and to a certain extent he does submit to 
temptation on numerous occasions. As do numerous of the other 
supposedly good characters in the story. And every adult reader is 
fascinated by this, because that's what really happens. Things get 
mucky, despite best intentions.

Further, as has been pointed out repeatedly, he doesn't make too many 
magnificent 'right' decisions on his own. All sorts of people help 
and advise him, and actually rescue him on numerous occasions. Left 
to his own devices, he isn't too reliable.

In fact, I would argue that if he is meant to represent the blinding 
white light as compared to Voldie's black void, then this really is 
stunningly bad writing on her part. It's like a pair of childish 
cartoon cutouts; no wonder everyone is riveted by Snape instead.

Since I still have (somewhat battered) hopes that she is trying to do 
something a bit more complex, my reading of her Harry character is 
just of a well-observed teenage boy, nothing more, nothing less. And 
that his so-called heroic decisions to fight the good fight are 
nothing more than an inevitable outcome of DD's expert manipulations. 

Jen: 
I don't know if the specific incidents are so important as the
magical clues we have about Harry. I already mentioned the Mirror of
Erised incident, and gaining courage from the phoenix, which is
something only granted to the 'pure of heart'. Another symbol is his
white stag patronus, symbolizing purity and creation. I guess I'm
saying his soul isn't there *doing* things to prove itself, it just
is.

Carolyn:
But I say, so what if his badges say he is on one side or another? 
Frankly, all it amounts to is that he's gonna be collateral. Look at 
the millions of children that have died in conflicts around the 
world. I don't expect that they had black little hearts either, but a 
lot of good it did them.

What I'm getting at is that there seems to be a conflict between much 
well-written gritty reality in the stories, and the alleged soppy 
fairy tale morality underpinning it. 'A quest, a quest..' said Sir 
Cadogan, before tripping over and failing to pull his sword out of 
the ground. Very Monty Python, very JKR, very mordant humour - and 
then we are supposed to switch tone and gear and believe in a 
gallant, plucky little lad with his heart full of goodness overcoming 
the biggest baddie of all time. Aaah, sweet...

Jen:
See, you may not think that stuff as important, but I think it's
going to save Snape's butt, because it will prove his Nature in a
way Harry's biased POV could never do. JKR has very carefully hidden
clues to Snape's soul from Harry and therefore, us. We don't get to
see his greatest fear, or what he sees when looking into the Mirror
of Erised. If he has an animagus form, we don't know what it is, and
his patronus form is a mystery. 

Carolyn:
Just because we don't know what makes Snape tick is not an argument 
in favour of the black and white soul show, per se. In fact, his very 
complexity throws the Harry/Voldy cardboard cut outs into sharp 
relief. Somehow, he has escaped her simplistic morality (if it is so 
simple, as you claim), and stalks the pages in all his shades of 
greasy grey and black. His very opaqueness gives hope that there's 
something more interesting afoot. Not much hope, I admit, as she 
appears as worried about him as the worst fluffy on HPfGU, but 
perhaps..

Carolyn
Who has also found some Green & Black organic choc in the cupboard, 
so is fully caffeinated..