Hehehe, yes, but your premise relies upon the fact that a) Harry isn't supposed to be in the know, despite being the one person whom the good guys are really relying upon in the war against Voldemort, and b) that Harry is, indeed, a super dumbass.
Fact of the matter is that Harry is supposed to be in the know about the methods of the Order (granted, not at this point, but his complete mistrust of Snape in the later books is still based on the same principle it always was - he's a dickweed to Harry in class.) Now, if Harry were really intelligent, he's just play along with everything about Snape that everyone reading the books has already figured out. And I don't think Rowling actually *wants* the readers to think that Harry is a super dumbass, even if he is.
I just can't take it both ways. Either Harry is intelligent and is just being stupid about Snape, or he's a complete fuck-up. Neither option is going to let me cut the boy much slack.
The third option is that Snape and Dumbledore planned out this whole thing far in advance, anticipating when Harry was going to be stupid and when he wasn't, and relying on Harry's absolute trust of Dumbledore and absolute mistrust of Snape in order to orchestrate six years of a grand scheme in which his anger became so finely honed and directed at Snape - out of a need for revenge - that he could actually hold his own in a battle with Voldemort, despite the fact that Voldemort is far more powerful than he is. And that would be a pretty cool story, but I don't think Rowling is that smart.
Hehehe, yes, but your premise relies upon the fact that a) Harry isn't supposed to be in the know, despite being the one person whom the good guys are really relying upon in the war against Voldemort, and b) that Harry is, indeed, a super dumbass.
On point a) he's obviously not in the know and somebody else (probably Dumbledore) is to blame for that. Whether this is a good idea or not remains to be seen. On the possibility that b) might not be true, I think the evidence is staggering.
And I don't think Rowling actually *wants* the readers to think that Harry is a super dumbass, even if he is.
OK, that's certainly a good point. We're supposed to think Harry is of at least average intelligence and doing as well as the reader could under the circumstances. But I also think we're supposed to think that Harry's judgement is justifiably clouded by his emotions, and that Snape being a mean teacher is really supposed to make it impossible for him to figure out that Snape may be on his side. But as I've noted, the book is written for teenagers and completely unprepared to get deconstructed at the level its actual fanbase is capable of.
Well, if Harry's judgment is supposed to be clouded by his irrational crap-thinking, then isn't Snape allowed the same excuse? I mean, Snape is a total moron when it comes to anything that has to do with Sirius Black or James Potter - he just gets testy and whiny and goes into the same idiotic capslock mode Harry does.
Yes, one can bring up the argument here that Harry is just a child...but really, he's like fourteen in this book and sixteen in HBP. It's pathetic. Snape is being pathetic, too, but he doesn't have the "just a child" excuse, nor does he have the "I am the protagonist" fallback, so his whininess is far more interesting. What made him so whiny? How can he be brilliant at potions, a double-triple-sundae-supreme-agent, a trusted member of the order, an trusted member of the death eaters, and still such a petulant fuck? That intrigues me far more than Harry, the excuse-for-everything deus-ex-machina kid.
I suppose, yeah, we adults overanalyze. And I also assume we'll never get the payback we want. ctually, I am sorta counting on it at this point. I actually get just as much pleasure from these snarky-ass reviews ripping the books to shreds as I do the actual books. Both are fun.
Still, damn, some writers who construct books written for pre-teens manage to do it in some fashion that is not limited to one audience. Adults can read them, kids can read them, all is good. Even Spongebob manages that. One doesn't have to break down why Batman TAS is fucking cool into child viewer/adult viewer distinctions. That's where Rowling is fucking up.
Fact of the matter is that Harry is supposed to be in the know about the methods of the Order (granted, not at this point, but his complete mistrust of Snape in the later books is still based on the same principle it always was - he's a dickweed to Harry in class.) Now, if Harry were really intelligent, he's just play along with everything about Snape that everyone reading the books has already figured out. And I don't think Rowling actually *wants* the readers to think that Harry is a super dumbass, even if he is.
I just can't take it both ways. Either Harry is intelligent and is just being stupid about Snape, or he's a complete fuck-up. Neither option is going to let me cut the boy much slack.
The third option is that Snape and Dumbledore planned out this whole thing far in advance, anticipating when Harry was going to be stupid and when he wasn't, and relying on Harry's absolute trust of Dumbledore and absolute mistrust of Snape in order to orchestrate six years of a grand scheme in which his anger became so finely honed and directed at Snape - out of a need for revenge - that he could actually hold his own in a battle with Voldemort, despite the fact that Voldemort is far more powerful than he is. And that would be a pretty cool story, but I don't think Rowling is that smart.
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On point a) he's obviously not in the know and somebody else (probably Dumbledore) is to blame for that. Whether this is a good idea or not remains to be seen. On the possibility that b) might not be true, I think the evidence is staggering.
And I don't think Rowling actually *wants* the readers to think that Harry is a super dumbass, even if he is.
OK, that's certainly a good point. We're supposed to think Harry is of at least average intelligence and doing as well as the reader could under the circumstances. But I also think we're supposed to think that Harry's judgement is justifiably clouded by his emotions, and that Snape being a mean teacher is really supposed to make it impossible for him to figure out that Snape may be on his side. But as I've noted, the book is written for teenagers and completely unprepared to get deconstructed at the level its actual fanbase is capable of.
Reply
Yes, one can bring up the argument here that Harry is just a child...but really, he's like fourteen in this book and sixteen in HBP. It's pathetic. Snape is being pathetic, too, but he doesn't have the "just a child" excuse, nor does he have the "I am the protagonist" fallback, so his whininess is far more interesting. What made him so whiny? How can he be brilliant at potions, a double-triple-sundae-supreme-agent, a trusted member of the order, an trusted member of the death eaters, and still such a petulant fuck? That intrigues me far more than Harry, the excuse-for-everything deus-ex-machina kid.
I suppose, yeah, we adults overanalyze. And I also assume we'll never get the payback we want. ctually, I am sorta counting on it at this point. I actually get just as much pleasure from these snarky-ass reviews ripping the books to shreds as I do the actual books. Both are fun.
Still, damn, some writers who construct books written for pre-teens manage to do it in some fashion that is not limited to one audience. Adults can read them, kids can read them, all is good. Even Spongebob manages that. One doesn't have to break down why Batman TAS is fucking cool into child viewer/adult viewer distinctions. That's where Rowling is fucking up.
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