Reading HP Aloud -- OotP Chapter 1

[rj_anderson]

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 and accents. (It's probably a good thing I've never listened to the HP audios, as they'd only make me self-conscious, or else mess up my personal catalogue of character voices.)

An especially good thing about reading out loud is that it forces me to read and notice every word, which I wouldn't ordinarily do. Close reading also yields new questions and insights, and I hope to share those here on a semi-regular basis -- though I can't guarantee I'll cover every chapter. But I can make a start on it, at least:

CHAPTER ONE: DUDLEY DEMENTED

I noticed something about Harry in this chapter that I hadn't the first time around. Sure, he's still suffering grief and anger over Cedric's death and Voldemort's return; and of course it's natural for him to be upset that Ron and Hermione seem to be having some sort of mysterious fun without him. But to me it looks as though even at that, Harry's reactions are a bit extreme.

The reckless, violent turn of his thoughts as he's sitting on the swing, for instance, when he's hoping Dudley and his gang will take him on so he can humiliate Dudley and hex the others. This is not the Harry we've seen before -- and though he does remember he's not supposed to practice magic and thinks better of the scheme, it's only after he realizes that Dudley and his friends aren't going to come his way in any case. Also, the description of the satisfied, cathartic feeling he gets from mocking and threatening Dudley later on rings a warning bell for me.

I don't think this is just fifteen-year-old Harry finally acknowledging a lot of pent-up anger: that's part of it, no doubt, but it doesn't account for all of it. I really think this is Voldemort's spirit of viciousness and cruelty expressing itself through Harry, and that cloud of evil influence hangs over Harry from the beginning to the end of the book. Even after Voldemort's direct influence has gone, the aftereffects still linger, and then of course there's Sirius's death, and Harry's realization of his own grim destiny, colouring the world an even deeper shade of black. So I don't think it'll be until Book Six that we find out what Harry, on his own, is really like.

I'm not saying that I think Book Six Harry is going to be a happy, sunny guy. I'm quite sure he'll continue to have significant emotional struggles, and to express his anger and frustration. But I don't think we'll see quite the same narrow-minded, self-absorbed, venomous and aggressive Harry -- I think his perception of the world, and the needs and feelings of those around him, is going to open up again somewhat. And I for one am looking forward to that.

On the other hand, it really is clever what JKR has done with the Harry-POV narration in this book. Once more she shows herself adept at filtering the reader's perceptions through a distorted lens, without ever making it too obvious that she's doing it. Only in retrospect, or on a second reading, does it become evident that Harry is under a baneful influence and that his view of the world is even more skewed than usual as a result.

Comments, anyone?

Comments

I think that's part of what scared me ...

[necessaryspace.livejournal.com]

... 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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.livejournal.com]

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.