So last week they released the cover design for the last Harry Potter book, and from everything I've seen, it's a corker. It even made me want to read the book there for a minute - never mind that I quit reading after book four.
Why did I quit reading, you ask? I'll be the first to admit that they're well-written books; if J.K. Rowling knows anything, it's how to spin a gripping yarn. But after book four, I put them down and never picked them up again, and I have yet to regret that decision.
I'm not going to touch the whole "Magic: good or evil?" debate. That's another column entirely. My point is that as a protagonist, Harry isn't really all he's cracked up to be. Greater minds than mine have studied this subject, but I'm going to offer my own interpretation.
Take, for instance, his relationship with the Dursleys. They're nasty people who treat him badly, so what does Harry do when he discovers his powers? Does he react with benevolence? Does he "do unto others?" Does he teach that magnanimity is better than vengeance?
Nope. The reader learns that if someone's horrid to you, you're morally within your rights to resent them, scare them or (in certain cases) inflate them. Harry's behavior toward his one-dimensional relatives shows a childish desire to get even. Is he punished for his behavior? Technically, yes. Do we learn that vengeance is not acceptable? No.
Now we come to authority figures. Avoid a certain area? Oh, that's OK - he's on a mission. Stay in your rooms, there's a troll in the school? Well, he killed it, so that's all right. Contraband items? Book stealing? Grand theft magical auto? No worries. Any punishments he receives tend to be canceled out later. The adults even look the other way or actively aid him, never mind that any other student would probably have been expelled. Again, there are no true consequences. It's every child's anarchist, adolescent fantasy. He's special.
And what do we constantly tell ourselves?
That we're special.
This is not a good combination.
Literature is full of flawed heroes. Frodo Baggins is a failure - he succumbs to the ring. Edmund Pevensie is a traitor and a general pest. Get away from fantasy and there's Elizabeth Bennet (proud and prejudiced) and Silas Marner (miserly and mean). Heck, even Peter Parker - he's got flaws coming out the wazoo. But in these stories, there is always some redeeming quality that leads the heroes to change, to better themselves. Spurred on by the consequences of their actions, they work against their imperfections.
Harry has shown no sign of such effort. His personal journey seems to consist solely of finding out more about his past so he can better face his future. There is no growth, no change and no betterment. He doesn't even try that hard in school - everything just comes easily to him.
He's the person our basest instincts want us to be. He's accountable to no one; he never has to work hard; he rarely has to earn anything. He is the egomaniac's vicarious adventure: Everyone recognizes his innate greatness as a matter of principle. He's the person who gets away with murder. He's the person we hated in high school. So why do we like him now?
As I said, I haven't read the last two books. However, the zeitgeist indicates that Harry is rapidly developing into some kind of messiah, the only person who can stand up to Ol' What's-his-face. He's probably going to go through some trial by fire before he can face him. Usually, such a trial results in the hero's overcoming his selfishness or cowardice or some other vice. I highly doubt we'll see such a thing with Harry. After all, he's already perfect, isn't he? Isn't that why we follow him?
I'll take my chances with the pest and the failure, thanks.
Write to Joanna at jllees@bsu.edu
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