The trouble with Harry

[mooseming]

I never really *got* Harry. Oh I know what he's supposed to be but I 
never actually connected with him. As the books progressed I sensed 
(imagined?) that JK was increasingly, even desperately, trying to 
make me believe in him. Often I found his behaviour inexplicable and 
his motivations confused.

When we first meet Harry in PS he is, in DD words,  "modest, 
likeable and reasonably talented
.an engaging child". Is this 
believable? I have met people who have survived the most unpleasant 
childhood experiences to become grounded, sociable and loving 
individuals but never without a great deal of effort and personal 
insight gained through an explicit desire not be what they appear 
destined to become. They have turned to books, films or real life 
role models to find the inspiration to recreate themselves. 

In PS we see nothing of this, Harry has no friends, no adult mentor, 
no vivid internal life (as far as we are shown). Harry's abuse at 
the hands of the Dursleys is not presented for pathos but comedy. I 
have no problem with this, PS is not meant to be social realism it's 
an adventure story. Nor is it a tale of personal growth, Harry 
doesn't embark upon his journey to the magical world where he finds 
his better self, he arrives at Hogwarts fully functional, complete 
(as it transpires a little more than complete). It need not have 
been this way, the childhood classic `The Secret Garden' is a story 
about a child who relearns how to engage with others following a 
personal tragedy but PS is not that kind of book. Nor are CoS or PoA 
they are jolly romps through the wizarding world, all be it with an 
intriguing backstory. Neither is GoF until that explosive scene in 
the graveyard. When Cedric dies everything changes - except Harry.

The problem stems, in part, from writing the books primarily from 
Harry's POV. Harry has to `carry' the story. It's his actions that 
drive the narrative. Hence in OotP instead of spending time 
contemplating, addressing the impact of events in GoF Harry is 
forced (by the author) into a rather incongruous trip to the MoM so 
we can get a preview of the place in preparation for the denouement. 
In terms of character development for Harry it does nothing. Yes we 
are told of his frustration with his isolation, inactivity and the 
dismissal of his testimony but this is nothing new to him or to us.

Similarly at the end of OotP Harry is confronted with Sirius's death 
but this is summarily dismissed in HBP by Harry when he says "But 
while I was at the Dursley's 

I realised I can't shut myself away 
or - or crack up. Sirius wouldn't have wanted that, would he?" Nor 
would the author because she needs Harry to be telling *the story*.

Harry reminds me of d'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers, he is 
essentially the juvenile male lead. In Dumas' book the darker more 
complex issues are met be Athos, Porthos and Aramis and rightly so, 
to burden one character with everything  would be asking too much of 
him.

In HP Harry not only has to carry the action but also the main 
themes of choice and destiny. All too often JK has to choose between 
the narrative and the meaning and invariably either the narrative 
wins or we get a conflicting, confused message. Harry is the boy who 
lived, Harry has his mother's eyes, Harry is the `one' in the 
prophecy, Harry is DD's successor, Harry is a lost boy like Snape 
and Voldy, Harry is a HRX, Harry is the inheritor of the Hallows, 
Harry has to choose between HRX and Hallows, Harry has to sacrifice 
himself, Harry has to kill Voldy. Harry, Harry, Harry
it's all too 
much.

As the HP series progresses JK appears to have increasing difficulty 
in getting him to juggle the responsibilities she has laid upon him. 
In OotP instead of  exploring the strange connection he has with 
Voldy he expends his energy hunting the `weapon'. In HBP he is 
subjected to endless pensieve scenes providing Voldy's backstory. In 
DH the hallows are sprung on him and he gallops through their 
significance leaving his companions and the reader bemused.

We never know which stick Harry is grasping, let alone which end! 
(Hum stick/wand there might be something in there!). Harry can use 
Crucio and Imperius because he's human or the narrative requires it, 
but he can't use AK because its our choices that define us. He can 
tell Lupin to return to his wife and child because it's the right 
thing to do (and necessary for the plot) but accept Lupin and Tonks 
fighting (to the death) and abandoning Teddy because sacrifice is an 
important theme. He can accept that the prophecy isn't inevitable 
whilst repeating it to himself like a mantra.

Why, oh why, did she wheel Neville on as an alternative, additional 
proposition only to wheel him right off again in such indecent 
haste! Ah the missed opportunities of Snape, Draco and Trevor. If 
only JK had been willing to share some of the glory around but then 
Gryffindor always win the house cup don't they?

Regards
Jo

Who has almost stopped obsessing about the wand thing and would like 
to pass on a joke from TOL

Message #174211


Harry is...well he's Indiana Jones!

Daring, clever plans, made up on the fly, impossible to injure,
always getting away from the bad guy at just the right moment - Harry
is a cinema hero. And I have to say, when Harry finished exploring
Snape's memories in the pensieve? And he's laying on the floor? I had
this instant image of Harry saying "Death...why'd it have to be
death?"

va32h


Which is a much shorter, and funnier, version of what I'm trying to 
say!