Empathy
crocky_wock said that she thought Harry lacked empathy in another community we're both part of, and it got me to thinking.
There has been a lot of discussion about double standards in the Harry Potter books.
But I'm wondering whether what we're actually seeing is not double standards, or even a portrayal of predestination (born good vs born bad) but rather a complete failure of empathy.
JKR frankly has no problem with bullying, per se. Whether it is right or wrong depends solely on the motivation of the bully-ers and the guilt of the person being bullied.
Fred and George bully Percy. This is okay, because we understand that Percy is too stiff-necked and too ambitious. He not only deserves it, but this is Fred and George's way of trying to "snap Percy out of it." They're not doing it because they enjoy causing Percy pain -- to do that, they'd have to actually understand that they *were* causing Percy pain. They're doing it because it's funny and because they're trying to "fix" Percy. In their point of view, Percy is not okay the way he is. And it doesn't occur to them that Percy might see things differently because if THEY were acting like Percy does, THEY would want someone to "snap them out of it" and THEY wouldn't be hurt by the kind of bullying they inflict on Percy.
Fred and George bully Ron. But in this case, Ron shares their point of view. He really agrees with Fred and George that he DESERVES to be bullied if he gets too far out of line. In fact, no one even identifies what Fred and George do to him AS bullying. They're all just jokes and of course Ron can take a joke.
The Marauders bully Snape. Harry is upset that his father bullies someone without provocation. He is also upset that his father bullies people for the "fun of it" -- ie, in this case, not only without provocation but possibly also people who, unlike Snape, DON'T deserve it.
But he is NOT upset that his father bullies Snape. His trip into the pensieve changes his view of his father, but it DOESN'T change his view of Snape in the least. His father and Sirius were justified in bullying Snape because Snape *deserved* to be bullied, in the same way that Percy deserved to be bullied by Fred and George. The more extreme bullying of Snape was justified because Snape was much worse than Percy.
The Gryffindor, usually Remus, who reflects that the Marauder's bullying might actually have had some negative effect on Snape is a creature of fanfic alone. He or she doesn't exist in canon. Remus can be sorry for what they did because it was not noble or because it was unprovoked, but not because it might actually have hurt Snape. Snape deserved to be hurt.
The kind of bullying Slytherins do is quite different.
First of all, Slytherins never pretend or even imagine that their victims should see their bullying as a "joke" designed to "snap them out of" undesirable behavior. Slytherins bully specifically to get what they want or to hurt people. They bully people who *don't* deserve it, sometimes even by their own standards, but ALWAYS by Gryffindor standards.
Snape's bullying of Harry is not noble because it is never provoked, from Harry's or any other Gryffindor's point of view. Sometimes, of course, it really isn't provoked, but many times it actually is. Harry clearly had done nothing to provoke Snape in his very first Potions class. But most of the time, he does. He reads a newspaper during Potions class, he talks during class, he throws FIREWORKS into a CAULDRON in a classroom FULL of PEOPLE!!! Most of the time, Snape's response is not usually commeasurate with the offense -- he is the adult after all -- but sometimes it actually is.
But more important than the fact that Snape's bullying isn't provoked is that his victim, Harry, doesn't deserve it. Harry is not practicing the Dark Arts. Harry cares about other people and has good friends. Harry doesn't have any pure-blood prejudices. Harry is brave enough to say "Lord Voldemort" out loud. Harry never was and would never even consider being a Death Eater. And even though his recklessness repeatedly puts others in danger, even killing them (Quirrell, Sirius) or severely injuring them (Draco), it doesn't matter because he never *wants* to kill anyone.
In other words, neither Harry nor JKR have any empathy for people who react to bullying or anything else differently from the way they would.
No character ever speculates that someone might feel differently about something than he or she would in the same circumstances.
Gryffindors aren't the "good guys." They're just "regular people."