Harry as Spoiled Rotten

[mamadeb]

I just read post where someone said she didn't like Gryffindors, which is, of course, a matter of opinion.

But someone responding to her post said that Harry was a spoiled rotten brat, and, well.


I don't get it. I really don't get it. I mean, I'm not saying people have to like the character, but "spoiled rotten brat"? Brat is a matter of opinion, but "spoiled rotten"? The boy who lived in a cupboard until he was almost eleven? (I have to say, when I first saw "The boy who lived", I thought of it as meaning, "The boy who did nothing but live. Didn't hope, didn't dream, didn't care. Just lived." And, you know, that pretty well describes his pre-letter life.)

He was made the youngest Seeker in centuries and given a fancy broom. This is special, but A. he didn't ask for it and B. it wasn't personal. That is, McGonagall had a hole in her House Quidditch team roster. She needed it filled or there would be no Quidditch cup, and I'm guessing none of the second years qualified enough. She looked out a window and saw one of her Gryffindors flying spectacularly, and took action. It happened to be Harry. If it had been Neville or Dean or Hermione or Lavender who was doing that sort of flying, it would be one of *them* on the team, not Harry. If, on the other hand, there had been a decent Seeker on the team already, Harry probably would have lost some points. As it was, he managed to lose more points with McGonagall than Snape ever took off. Because he does get punished for his actions when he gets caught. And he doesn't protest those punishments, either. Not even in book five, when he should have.

He gets punished for Dobby's actions both at home and in the Wizarding world. He doesn't get punished in PoA for similar actions because Sirius escaped and he needed to be kept safe. And, yes, I do think that was because he was Harry, but *Harry* didn't ask for or expect such treatment. He expected to be expelled and wasn't even going to protest it. Because, you know, spoiled rotten kids never protest fair treatment.

When it comes to GoF - the only reason he got special treatment at all was because of Barty, Jr, and he'd have been extremely happy to not have gone through the Triwizard at all, thank you very much. He didn't want to do it in the first place.

As for OotP - he's left alone with those relatives of his after a major trauma - seeing a friend die, seeing Pettigrew maim himself, seeing his own blood being used to resurrect Voldemort and then fighting him, and let's not forget the ghosts of his parents and taking Cedric's body back to Hogwarts. And how is he rewarded? By being threatened with expulsion for saving his and his cousin's lives. Is he over the top? I'm surprised he didn't scream and shout so much in earlier books. In fact, he's remarkably nonviolent given everything - just loudness until the very end, and then he took all his anger and grief out on nonliving objects.

Comments

[vass]

Dudley is the real example of a spoiled brat, and Draco, for all his faults, is not a bad in that respect as Dudley.

Completely true. And Dudly's treated as revolting, funny, and actively a bad guy (at least for a Muggle.) Which gets to me, because Dudley is as much a victim as Harry. He's acting exactly the way his parents are encouraging him to act, and he's reaping all the bad consequences. He's never had *any* instruction in how to act like a decent human being, his parents actively encourage him to behave badly (his father praising him in front of him for demanding more presents) and as far as we know there's no one there to help him if he *did* want to do good with his life. His life and future *suck*, and no one inside or outside of the narrative cares.

Not that I have Gigantic Hot-Buttons about spoiled children or anything. :-D

And I agree with you about Draco, too. He's getting the sort of conflicting messages that will fuck him up all his life, and no one on the Good Side is going to give a hoot for that. If you disregarded morality or safety and just looked at emotional health, the best thing Draco could do would be to take his father's word for everything and do his very best to live up to Lucius in everything he does. No wonder he hates Harry so much. Boy's the centre of the narrative, whatever he does winds up right eventually, and he's an orphan too, lucky Harry.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Basically, HP is a good place to learn about bad parenting. Compared to the Dursleys and the Malfoys (and possibly the Blacks and the Snapes), the Weasleys *are* a model family. At least, the kids aren't spoiled or abused - and even they have apparently lost one son to outside forces. (I'm warming to the idea that Percy is working undercover, but as it stands, he's rejected his family as much as Sirius rejected his.)

And, yes, Dudley has been damaged as much as Harry has been - but there are some positive signs. He kept to his diet both at home and at school, and boxing, even if the boxer is relying on brute strength, requires training and discipline. Which means Dudley has learned to achieve real goals.

You know, I do wonder what sort of life either boy would have had if Vernon and Petunia had been, well, different people.

[batyatoon]

I was just yesterday talking to someone about how screwed up poor Dudley has been. His whole life, his parents have had no clear idea of who he is or what he's like; they've been interacting with a picture in their heads of the Perfect Son. They don't address his flaws because they don't see them. And that means they don't see him. Dudley's got nothing. And at some level he's got to be aware of that.

And the person I was talking to about it suggested that that's what he saw when he was attacked by the Dementors.