dudley demented

[merrymelody]

I wasn't sure as to the posting guidelines, really. Is it okay to post our own interpretations, or should we stick to comments? I put this up by itself, since it looked too long to fit elsewhere.

Comments

[fyrdrakken]

Two things I must argue -- above, when you referred to:

Harry merely glanced at the front page before throwing it aside these days; when the idiots who ran the paper finally realised that Voldemort was back it would be headline news, and that was the only kind Harry cared about.

With the following comment:

And of course, Harry Potter must be mentioned on the front page. If he isn't, why he can't be in the paper at all!

I didn't get that from the above passage, that Harry was looking for news about himself specifically, so much as he simply wanted acknowledgement of the fact that Voldemort was back and the wizarding world needed to get its head out of the sand regarding that fact.

The other thing:

And what were Ron and Hermione busy with? Why wasn't he, Harry, busy? Hadn't he proved himself capable of handling much more than them? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered, and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed?

I think the problem I have with this is it so completely contrasts with how he's later presented at the DA's formation. Now he's angry at Ron and Hermione because he's the hero and they're just sidekicks, that he's the one risking his neck and being ignored as his 'reward' (and that's another thing that irritates -

I saw this not so much as the hero/sidekick thing as a response to Ron and Hermione being in on a secret when Harry himself was reduced to watching Muggle news for snippets about what might be going on in the wizarding world. Part of this may be my own kneejerk response to unwarranted secrecy that leads to stupid decisions on the part of those who were kept uninformed and to people making decisions on the behalf of others "for their own good" -- but my interpretation of Harry's tantrum here was his recognition that Ron and Hermione don't exactly have more call to be informed of the way matters stand than he does, between his past experience and the way he's a confirmed high-priority target of Voldemort. He's being kept in the dark by the people who are trying to protect him and they don't exactly have the kind of track record at Voldemort resistance (at least as shown via Harry's POV in the first four books) to create a lot of trust in their ability to keep Harry safe without his awareness of what's going on. He's being treated like a child and an innocent when (to his way of thinking, at least) he should have proved to their satisfaction that he's past needing or deserving that sort of treatment.

[merrymelody]

He simply wanted acknowledgement of the fact that Voldemort was back and the wizarding world needed to get its head out of the sand regarding that fact.

And if it includes a interview with Harry that can be blown up on the wall, and Harry can be a 'hero in the Gryffindor common room' and flattered in lots of letters, so much the better?

He's being treated like a child and an innocent when (to his way of thinking, at least) he should have proved to their satisfaction that he's past needing or deserving that sort of treatment.

Different strokes and all that. I've no doubt your intepretation is exactly what the author intended.
I just think it's interesting, the use of the word 'reward'...
I think the problem is that Harry, like everyone when they're that age, is desperate to be seen as an adult. Especially Harry, since he's never really had much of a childhood, and has been forced into adult responsibilites before his time, while the people keen to protect him now were absent or helpless.
But he is still a child, he can't help that, and he's going to see things from a child's view point (Wah, someone pay attention to me! Where's my reward?) and express himself in stupid ways (all the shouting and violence in later chapters) which obviously damages his credibility and image as an adult.
Basically - I think I understand where he's coming from, I just don't have to like him.

[fyrdrakken]

I certainly agree that Harry is reacting to not being "treated like an adult" (or a hero, for that matter) by becoming the spoiled brat he wasn't as a child, but I'm still not seeing his desperate hunt for Voldemort news as being even in part due to a desire for personal attention as of the first three chapters. Egocentricity will be cropping up in various ways as the book progresses and later chapters might have incidents related to the news that I'm forgetting (aside from the wholly understandable outrage at learning he's been the target of a deliberate smear job in the press while he was out of touch). He's being a spoiled brat and brooding over his heroic qualifications, but I'm still reading that as being the result of a month of having repeated requests for information receiving answers that boil down to, "Shut up kid and let the grownups handle the grownup business."

[fyrdrakken]

but I'm still not seeing his desperate hunt for Voldemort news as being even in part due to a desire for personal attention

Need to clarify here -- by "desire for personal attention" I'm referring shorthandedly to the wish to be hero-worshiped and fussed over. He is in fact wanting personal attention -- from his best friends and godfather, and simply that they stop ignoring his questions and tell him what's going on. Being shunted aside by the last three people he would expect to do such a thing has led to a certain brooding on wrongs and "How dare they ignore ME of all people?!" and the whole attitude problem he shows in the first three chapters.

But I still don't think he's wanting to see articles about Voldemort's return in the papers because he wants to be lionized in print (again).

[merrymelody]

But I still don't think he's wanting to see articles about Voldemort's return in the papers because he wants to be lionized in print (again).

You have a good point. I think perhaps my view of Harry in this chapter is affected by the later chapters concerning the DA and The Quibbler, when his priorities have shifted perhaps more to the desire for lionization (is that even a word?! ;) co-existing of course, with wanting people to know his side.
I do find this part a little amusing, though:

Hermione hurried on, 'Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they - um - they mention you a couple of times a week.'
'But I'd have seen -'
'Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't,' said Hermione, shaking her head.

[fyrdrakken]

Yep, lionization is just as much of a word as lionize is. And after the fun I didn't have in high school where the teacher would ask chapter-specific questions about the book we were currently reading and I'd be clueless as to what happened in the specific chapter because I'd read the whole book in a gulp the first week it was assigned (and also because I've currently got bunches of other things to do in my free time), I've been making a point of not reading beyond the week's chapter. (Well, aside from getting a few paragraphs into the fourth chapter Saturday -- but not as far as the bit you quoted above.) Knowing what's coming is of course affecting all our interpretations of the early stages, though, I must admit.

[merrymelody]

Knowing what's coming is of course affecting all our interpretations of the early stages, though, I must admit.

It's kind of a what came first, the chicken or the egg? scenario - does a character's actions bug you because you know what they're going to do, or do you know what they're going to do because their actions disturb you?

I've been making a point of not reading beyond the week's chapter.

Good idea.
I keep cheating, not because I particularly enjoyed this book, but just because my particular interpretations of texts relies on comparison and contrasting other passages (stupid English classes brainwashed me!)