Grief and Vengeance: A close-reading of 'Silver and Opals'

[beyond_pale]

I'm pleased to have this opportunity to pinch-hit for Chapter 12, "Silver and Opals," in part because, here, as also was the case in the chapter I summarized earlier, the important advancements of the novel's (and series') major plot occurs behind-the-scenes, while those aspects that I feel are most crucial to Harry's development are easy to

Comments

[sylvanawood]

It's a very well thought out essay, I think. To link Harry's development to that scene with Mundungus is brilliant. I didn't like the development I saw in Harry since OotP -- not all of it can be blamed on raging hormones.
I started to wonder when I read the prophecy. How can Harry's task be to kill if his greatest weapon is love?
You show Harry's potential for violence in that scene, I never saw it that way before.
The Harry we love is still there, though. He found some compassion for Draco despite all his actions in the end.
You're right with the weakness, but I think in the end, he'll chose love and forgiving over hatred and revenge.
With the little exception of Voldemort, perhaps. How Harry is going to kill him, without hatred and without losing the love -- will be interesting to see.

[beyond_pale]

definitely, and thank you for your very kind words. I'm certainly hoping the compassion will reign, yet we've seen very little evidence of, or at any rate great resistance to, any compassion for Snape on Harry's part, even after the Worst Memory, and this troubles me deeply, particularly in this context.

[anna_kat]

what is Harry's potential for vengeance?

None. Bellatrix and Snape, who are both intimately familiar with vengeance, told us so when they mocked him for his inability to cast unforgiveables. He was almost insane with hatred and grief, both times, and still couldn't cause them harm. Whatever true harm he causes (see Draco and the sectusempra) is unintentional.

Hermione has a great potential for vengeance and has already acted on it with Rita Skeeter and Dolores Umbridge. (Not that I blame her, though.) Harry is way too hot-headed to plan revenge. All of his confrontations with whoever it is - Draco, Snape, Mundungus - are spontaneous and he never, ever attacks anyone without immediate prior provocation.

But then I do not read the scene with Mundungus as Harry wanting revenge. I read it as Harry being almost beside himself with grief, exactly like in Dumbledore's office. He confronted an adult wizard who by no means is a shy little wallflower unable to defend himself.

Will he be able to sublimate his aggression into a useful

[rogueravenclaw]

You make a good point. Harry's rage IS NOT planned. He merely looses himself, and, although he may still be mad, he does not have the capacity for violence once he finds himself again.

Perhaps Bellatrix's and Snape's tauntings help ground him back into reality. In essence, they are offering themselves up to Harry (granted, they do it because they don't believe he is capable of an Unforgiveable), mirroring DD offering himself up to Harry in OotP.

Harry is capable of violence, so long as he looses himself long enough to commit the crime.

[beyond_pale]

anna kat, you are the optimistic voice in my head!

I certainly see Hermione as vastly deified by fandom, and not particularly deserving at all of most of the laurels that have accumulated at her feet; she is a deeply manipulative and ruthless person, despite her heart being in the right place, as they say. Not many people are willing to acknowledge her cruel streak. I definitely concur that Harry is not a planner at all (with the exception of the Felix Felicis feint, but that was more about how well he knows his best friends than about this ability to plot). And this is not a weakness on his part, because Voldemort IS a planner, of Byzantine proportions, with a tendency to depart from the plan at the first sign of success, which has a tendency to swing things in Harry's favor far more often than not.

And Harry patently was not seeking revenge on Mundungus at all; one of the reasons I drew in material from Order was to demonstrate how repressed his emotions are regarding Sirius. While he does not-and cannot-blame Mundungus for Sirius

[aquahaute]

Your icon is awesome.

[jedibix783]

I never thought of the scene with Fletcher as being the most chilling -- mainly because I was really upset about the stealing of Sirius's things too -- but after reading your essay I can see it and connect it to the other scene where I think Harry shows a lot of cold-blooded, scary intensity

[beyond_pale]

It is questionable how much of Harry's actions under the effect of the lucky potion were his volition sui generis, but yes; that encounter is disturbing on a number of levels.

And of course, the MiniMag does arrest Mundungus for housebreaking before the novel's end, but does that compensate for Stan Shunpike's arrest? For both of Hagrid's? for the slandering of Harry and Dumbledore?

[rogueravenclaw]

Great essay! I skipped right over that!

Another thing I found interesting after your recap of OotP:
DD offers Harry the same thing he offers Draco at the end of HBP: a chance to inflict harm upon DD. I find it interesting that Draco's progressive seems to be one step behind Harry's. When you think about it, HBP-Draco is in the same boat as OotP-Harry. Draco becomes familiar with the DEs (in OotP, Harry learns about the Order), Draco is dealing with the absence of his father (in OotP Harry is angsty because of Cedric's death), and Draco is also very emotional throughout HBP (CAPSLOCK!Harry).

Anyways, I just found that interesting.

[beyond_pale]

I always get so excited when my email tells me that you've replied to anything I write!

That's a really intrieging parallel to draw, between Draco and Harry; in really like it, and psyched I could indirectly catalyse something so cool!

[rogueravenclaw]

*feels special*

That's funny, because I always get excited when one of your essays shows up on my flist, :)

I'm not exactly sure what it could mean, but I'm excited. I have about three half-baked theories bouncing around in my head right now after a long period of essaylessness (it's a word, I swear).

You're a regular enzyme, ;P

[mysterymeg]

Hm. I don't really agree with the assessment that this is the scariest Harry moment. Honestly, in his place I would have done the same thing. Is it awful of me that I can relate to those feelings?

--Meg