The redeemed individual in HP

[elanor-x.livejournal.com]

Declaration: I do not agree with all statements made in this article and, as a non-American, am hardly a political expert, so this link does not mean endorsement of any 'non-HP things.'

Why is this article worth reading?

What stood out to me was the interesting reading of OoTF. It has always been my least favorite HP book. After waiting for years for its publication, I remember practically suffering and wanting to shut the book down every time Dolores Umbridge or Harry's anger made an appearance.  Since one of the two, of most often their combination, are ubiquitous in OoTF, you may imagine the 'joy' of reading.

Renee Gorman's interpretation of Harry's evolution in OoTF at last reconciled me to this part of the series.

QUOTE from the article

Harry’s frustration stems from both the fact that he knows the truth and that he is being punished for his virtue: an injustice that is difficult to swallow. But he is also battling with his loss of popularity and celebrity. Though Harry consistently claims to hate the limelight—and though he genuinely does at times—he also secretly prizes his famous persona.

When Harry makes the reckless choice to leave Hogwarts and save Sirius after seeing a vision of Sirius captured by Voldemort, he has the following heated exchange with Hermione, the wisest of his peers.

“OK,” she said, looking frightened yet determined, “I’ve just got to say this—”
“What?”
“You … this isn’t a criticism, Harry! But you do … sort of … I mean—don’t you think you’ve got a bit of a—a—saving-people thing!” she said.
He glared at her.
“And what’s that supposed to mean, a ‘saving-people thing?”

Hermione hits a nerve here. But Harry ignores her warning and charges ahead to try to save Sirius. But, consciously or not, at this moment, Harry is also trying to save his own famous heroic persona. He gets his wish. After Sirius dies and Voldemort flees from a battle with Dumbledore, the truth is revealed, and Harry is once more the apple of the magical world’s eye—but it does not make him happy, after all.

This is partly because of his grief at losing Sirius, but also because that part of Harry that secretly prized acclamation dies along with his Godfather. It is no coincidence that this book is called The Order of the Phoenix because Harry emerges from the ashes of this tragedy a better man. Sirius had to die so that Harry could sacrifice himself for the right reason and finally defeat Voldemort.

Comments

[sunnyskywalker]

Given the standards in DADA classes for the past 30 years, all Harry has to do to look exceptional is achieve basic competence. Which, given the circumstances, probably does indicate some underlying potential, and he's certainly more interested in it than he is in most of his subjects, which probably helps.

But it doesn't mean that he performs brilliantly by any objective standard, just that he is good enough to compensate for the bad teaching and be not entirely terrible.

But why did he give up the DA? His flimsy excuse is that it's because Umbridge is gone and they don't have exams this year or some such. Wasn't he the one who said they had to learn this stuff because Voldemort was back? Do they not still need to practice defense for the same reason? He must have a lot of confidence in Snape's ability to teach DADA... Sheesh, couldn't he even think of a petty reason to keep the club going, like wanting to secretly prove himself a better DADA teacher than Snape?

Passivity and heroism really do seem to correlate strongly for the characters: the less you try to actively accomplish anything, the better you are. Sit back, trust some random person, and do nothing. It's just so weird.

[with-rainfall.livejournal.com]

Very true re: competence.

I think we are meant to read his giving up the DA because Umbridge has left as logical, but yeah, you’d think Harry of all people would have good reason to keep it going. Another example of Rowling’s episodic (and ‘out of sight, out of mind’) approach to her work.

Absolutely! Harry starts passive (a baby) and continues that way more or less from GOF to DH. I’m fascinated by what was going through Rowling’s head. The closest I can get is ‘Christ figure’, but Christ actively promoted a new religion and died in agony, having been abandoned by Heaven/God. There’s not really any emotion in Harry’s death. He feels like he’s going through the motions.

[sunnyskywalker]

Very good points. Harry makes me wonder whether a character can be a proper Christ figure without being a people-person (in actions, not necessarily inclination). Because you're right, Jesus did a lot of recruiting and heavily emphasized having personal relationships with a lot of people. He didn't go, "Well, Apostles, I haven't seen Satan around today, and the Romans were really nice to build this new road, so let's not worry about preparing for the immanent end times. Why don't you go back to fishing for fish instead of people?"