![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rj_andersonI 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?
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?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2003-08-13 05:16 am (UTC)Yes, Harry's shown anger and pride in previous books, but not so much when it came to his own accomplishments. In all the previous books he's been determined ("Nobody's going to do this, so I've got to") but also self-doubting in a lot of ways -- look at his attitude to being in the Triwizard Tournament, for instance, his fatalistic conviction that he's going to make a fool of himself or get himself killed. Ron and Hermione have always had to encourage and support him. And when praised for his heroism he's characteristically underplayed his own importance.
Now, however, he's angry that nobody's acknowledging how important he is or how much he's done. It's a very sudden change, I think -- too sudden to be accounted for by merely turning fifteen. And unlike depression or fear, it's not the kind of thing you could see as a natural outcome of Cedric's death and Voldemort's return. What about either one of those two things would be making Harry think more about himself and what he deserves?
I'm not saying I think Book 5 Harry is 100% Voldemort, or even 50%. Of necessity the influence has to be subtle, or Harry or his friends would notice and question it. As it is, Ron and Hermione are surprised, but they assume Harry's just "been through a lot lately". As does Harry himself.
No, I'd say it's more like 75% Harry and 25% Voldemort, with Voldemort playing on and enhancing parts of Harry (such as his desire for fame and glory) that would otherwise stay well below the surface. Yes, in many ways his behaviour is typical of a fifteen-year-old boy, but not in all ways, and I do think that JKR is telling us right from Chapter One (where she deliberately draws our attention to the fact that Harry's scar has been throbbing a lot lately) that after what happened in the graveyard -- specifically taking Harry's blood -- Voldemort is connected to Harry on a deeper level than ever before.