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

[f13tch3r]

I love that you picked this scene to discuss because I also believe it is a scene that was easy to overlook but will have great impact for the future. I think it is one of those scenes where after all is said and done we'll see how much of a clue JKR gave us here. However, my interest in it was not for the reasons you mentioned so I'll not discuss it further.

The significance you gleaned from that scene was not on my radar but I like that you pointed it out and I think that hatred is Harry's greatest weakness. But only because he becomes reckless. He loses control and focus. He'll need to let his cool thinking, Slytherin side come thru to see him prevail. But that's the thing about Harry, isn't it? He needs balance

Brilliant!

[mary_j_59]

This was a terrific analysis, and I *did* notice the Mundungus scene, and was troubled by it, the first time I read the book. Harry was extremely disturbing to me throughout this book because of his lack of thought, lack of analysis, lack of sympathetic imagination (he *has* got some of that, feeling pity, in this book, for both Tom Riddle and Draco, but he consistently tries to suppress/deny it), and lack of mourning for Sirius. And I do think his repression of the mourning process is what causes these other symptoms

[tunxeh]

I think it's very clever for JKR to have chosen the Harry-centered point of view she did; among other things, it hides how scary Harry can be. But to me, he's scary not so much in his anger and out-of-control emotions - I trust his love to win over those darker emotions in the end - but his competence: his strength, magical ability, fast reactions, and good instincts (the one here to go for the wand rather than his fist, for instance). He fought Voldemort to a standstill back in GoF, and partly it was luck that he had a brother wand, but luck doesn't explain his ability to control the effect once the wands locked. The scene here with Dung (and the fight with the DE's at the end of HBP, where only Snape can touch him) again display that competence, once one pays attention. Good catch.

[woman_ironing]

I think we shouldn't get worried about the supposed negative aspects of Harry's personality. He is a human being not an angel. (And even angels have been known to do the wrong thing!) Why shouldn't he be upset and angry about Mundungus nicking Sirius's stuff, angry enough to be violent? Why should we expect him to be in control of his feelings at all times? Maybe you could say that Harry doesn't need to be after trying to be good or stopping being evil; he needs to be true. If you take the Felix Felicis incident, the truth is that it is both a lighthearted lucky day and the manipulation of Slughorn. You could say that the incident has a dual nature, but it doesn't mean it is in two separate, opposite parts; it's still one thing. Harry has to be able to do this, and perhaps has to be able to understand that he's doing it too. The "darkness", the "inner Tom Riddle" is just Harry.

And, lo, Voldemort disappeared in a puff of smoke!

What worries me-

[mary_j_59]

isn't the supposed negative aspects of Harry's character. It is his judgmental nature, his thoughtlessness, and his inability to see and accept the negative aspects of his own character. In my experience, accepting one's own imperfections is a great help in forgiving those of others, and Harry does have to learn to forgive. My sister, when we were discussing this, said that in many ways, Harry, Sirius and Snape were the same character. Harry needs to see this. (Sirius differs from the other two in being an extrovert - we both said simultaneously that we would have *hated* him in high school - but the similarities between the three are greater than their differences

[beyond_pale]

Exactly: Harry is a human being not an angel.

And it is his essential humanness ("Harry, suffering like this proves that you are still a man! This pain is part of being human&mdash") that makes him more than the sum of his parts, and a match for Voldemort. And what's wrong with exploring those moments of human weakness, and trying to find strength inside of them?

I don't expect him to be in full control of his emotions all the time; I mean, I certainly am not, and wouldn't want to be around anyone who had that ability. In fact, it's probably best that Harry experience the full range of as much feling as possible in order to prepare him for battling Voldemort.

I'm not "picking on" him, I'm merely trying to illuminate what I see as a very real and valid concern. I had a bad-gut level reaction to this scene, on a purely visceral level, and was trying to translate that strong emotional response into something that could be laid out logically, and find out if other people were as affected by it as I was.

[woman_ironing]

Sorry, I didn't mean to give the impression of being exasperated or thinking you were picking on Harry. I thought your essay was really thoughtful and interesting, and your replies to comments too. I just wanted to make a case for Harry being fine as he is and not needing to become something else in order to be worthy of vanquishing LV. Plus I love Harry when he's scary, or a bit cross!