Comments | rj_anderson: Reading HP Aloud -- OotP Chapter 1

rj_anderson

Reading HP Aloud -- OotP Chapter 1

Aug 12, 2003 22:30

I read Books 1-4 aloud to my husband just a couple months after GoF came out -- he enjoys the stories but doesn't read for pleasure -- and tonight we finally started on OotP. I have great fun doing this, because it appeals to the buried actress in me: I try to do as professional-sounding and nuanced a reading as possible, including all the voices ( Read more... )

hp, ootp, theories

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wahlee_98 August 12 2003, 19:41:30 UTC

This is about the same reaction I had to Harry's emotional state on the second read-through. His reactions seem almost unconcious-- what he's thinking mentally has very little bearing on the way he's acting and the emotions he has. They surprise even him sometimes. Definitely seeing evidence of Voldemort's channeling his own frustration into Harry without either of them realizing it.

rj_anderson August 12 2003, 20:13:44 UTC

His reactions seem almost unconcious-- what he's thinking mentally has very little bearing on the way he's acting and the emotions he has.

Yes, exactly. The anger and hostility's not rational -- in fact it's often counter-rational. He's feeling what Voldemort's feeling at the time, and although it's easy for him to put it down to his own hard circumstances, it really doesn't have anything to do with him.

The other thing I noticed is that right from Chapter One, Harry is muttering about his own rights and his own glory in a way he's never done before. "Hadn't he done...? Hadn't he been the one to...?" It's a very Voldemort kind of way of looking at the world -- "everybody had better give ME the attention that I deserve!" A little bit of self-pity under the circumstances would be natural, but not a solipsism this full-blown, I think.

I think that's part of what scared me ... necessaryspace August 12 2003, 21:08:37 UTC

... how egotistical Harry became in Book Five. A lot of the accomplisments he kept yelling about to Hermione and Ron occured b/c Hermione and Ron helped him. W/out those two, Harry probably would have died the first year, and Voldemort would now possess the Sorcerer's Stone.

Mostly, it scared me b/c, w/ that attitude, Harry would lose the very people he needed to survive any future battles.

But that does answer my question of where all that "look at me!" stuff was coming from. I hope that you do a review like this for every chapter. =)

Re: I think that's part of what scared me ... sff_corgi August 12 2003, 23:41:53 UTC

That reminds me of something which perplexed me -- here he's all 'I did this, and I did that, and they should remember how sturdy I am...'

Then in the first DA meeting, it's 'But that was just a coincidence, and I had help, and that was an accident....'

You know what I mean? It's like he couldn't make up his mind exactly how studly he was.

Re: I think that's part of what scared me ... rj_anderson August 13 2003, 04:45:23 UTC

Well, I think the DA meeting was one of the times when he wasn't Under the Influence. I'd need to look at the chapter (or possibly the whole book) again to see if a reason for this is given, but even if it's not explained, it might just be a time at which Voldemort's feelings were not so strong, or he was bending his thoughts on someone else. Or perhaps that being surrounded by friends who are looking to him for help strengthens Harry's own personality and reminds him of what really matters.

Re: I think that's part of what scared me ... necessaryspace August 13 2003, 09:58:51 UTC

Exactly. Half the time, he seems to be believing in all his own hype (ironically, he acts exactly how Snape always accuses him of acting: like he's better than everyone else). When he's not acting like that, he just keeps saying, "oh, I'm so lucky."

He basically only uses the egotism to get what he wants, but when other people call him on it, saying he could really help, he backs off.

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