Father figures in Harry Potter: the short version.

[cactuswatcher]

Father figures keep popping up for fatherless Harry.

It's not so much about Harry, but about something else: a set of concerns of a woman about her views of different types of men. It's not the concerns of the average woman or of women in general. It's not even fair to say it's Rowling's concerns. But rather it's the concerns of her mind set, a fictionalized version of Rowlings, as she approached Harry Potter. Let's call this person Woman X


First we have James Potter who despite being the real father, seems to be just a sperm donor. Harry looks mostly like him and inherited his athletic ability from him, but Woman X doesn't care much more about him. It's all nice and well that Lily fell in love with him. But it's Lily who's really important, cause she's **Harry's Mother**!!!!11!!! James could love Harry, but only **mommy's love** could protect Harry from mean old Voldemort. Harry has her eyes which is all most people ever mention about his looks beyond his scar. He has her angelic personality and isn't that roguish, snotty teen his father was. Harry wants to know more about his dad, but except in areas Woman X doesn't care about (sports and so on), Harry is going to be disappointed in what he finds. James is the classic absent dad. Woman X isn't sorry they met, but she's just as happy he's out of her life.

Next we have Uncle Vernon, the step-dad/adoptive father. Vernon doesn't hate Harry. In fact if you read between the lines he's protective of Harry. Vernon even would like to teach Harry how to get along in the painfully normal world. The problem is that Harry's existence is one giant embarrassment. For Woman X, Vernon is the step-dad of the wife's bastard child. In the story Vernon's not married to Harry's mother but the situation is the same. Vernon has his own son that he's going to fawn over at the expense of the bastard child. Woman X is never going to forgive Vernon for not wholeheartedly accepting Harry as his own, though she may soften her heart about the rest of the Dursley family.

Dumbledore seems to be an idealized version of an absent father. He's mostly good, kind, generous and much to be emulated, but he's not around much of the time. The first two years at Hogwarts Harry admires Dumbledore from afar, though the Headmaster rarely says anything to him. In the fifth year Dumbledore gives Harry his official protection in a public way, but literally tries to avoid being around Harry. In the last book when we find out Dumbledore's feet of clay, suprise, surprise, the great regret of Dumbledore's life is that he didn't take care of his sister. Woman X definitely has issues.

Sirius Black is kind of a cross between an ne'er-do-well uncle and another kind of father. He's a daring rake. He's sexy in a bad-boy sort of way. He loves Harry. Woman X really likes Sirius, but thinks he's a little too much of a bad influence when she thinks about it. Harry's better off with him dead.

Snape is Woman X's worst nightmare, a man who would love her with absolute devotion his whole life, but find no love for her child. Though he's not Harry's father in the story and it's pretty clear from her description of Snape that Rowling thinks the idea of Snape and Lily is revolting, it really wouldn't matter if this man was the boy's father or not. Snape is a demanding father, one who genuinely tries to teach Harry the things he's going to have to know to get along. The problem is that he will never be satisfied with what Harry does. If Harry does somehow fullfill Snape's immediate wishes, Snape will go on to more and more impossible demands, because he represents competition for Lily's love that he can never overcome. I repeat, Snape and Lily as a couple was impossible. I think, the insult Snape made is just an excuse. If it wasn't that, there would have been something else that Lily would have used to break off their friendship. But I think it's fair to say that Woman X does love Snape.

Comments

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

Not sure I agree. For one thing James is idolized by Harry for the early part of the series - we hear a great deal about him, we meet his friends, we learn about his adventures - it's not until say Half-Blood Prince that we see the other side of James. It's part of Harry's maturing that he's able to accept the flaws in his father. Lily doesn't get much development beyond her love for Harry and Snape's love for her. Of the rest I think only Sirius was seen by Harry as a father figure, but mainly he was connected to the immature image Harry had of James, Dumbledore seemed more of the classic mentor rather than father.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

Thanks for replying. The only thing you've said I think I should disagree with you on, is that while Sirius may certainly be the only living person Harry looked to as a father figure, there are more men in the story who acted at times like a father to him and I think we can be aware of them in that role as the series progressed even if Harry wasn't.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You left out Ron Weasely's father - MR. Weasely - who I think Harry rather adored and wanted desperately to be part of the Weasely family. Note - Rowlings has both Hermione and Harry marry into that family and promotes it as the most stable and ideal. A counter-point to the Dursley's. It's the Weasely's who rescue Harry from the Dursely's in the books after Socerer's Stone. And he ends up spending Xmas with them at one point - they even give him Xmas gifts.

The Weasely's are also less wealthy than the other father's you mention, working class family. I think a lot of Rowling's message is about classism and very pro-working class.

It's worth keeping in mind, I think, that Rowlings was a welfare single mom when she was writing the books. (at least I think she was single - goes to check - yep single welfare mom - see: http://www.financial-inspiration.com/jk-rowling-biography.html.) With a dead-beat dad, who had not worked out.

[cactuswatcher.livejournal.com]

I thought about men like Mr. Weasley, Lupin and even Voldemort, but didn't include them for one reason or another. I think your evidence is good. And I think Ponygirl's concern about where one ceases to be a mentor and starts to take on parental proportions is valid, too.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I'd exclude Lupin and Voldemort - because neither are really father figures. Lupin at best is a mentor, at worst a creepy uncle. Voldemort is what Harry fears he could become - or his shadow self. Voldemort is always depicted as somewhat juvenile. And think - Tom Riddle bewitches Ginny just as Harry does.

I think ponygirl is right...there is change from mentor to parent. Sirius Black never quite jumps to that point, he like Lupin, remains more in the mentor role. I think the only ones that move to the parental roles are Mr. Weasely, Dumbledore, and well Dursely and possibly Snape. With James Potter being the father forever out of reach. (A co-worker asked me if I thought there was a heavy hint in the last film that Snape was supposed to be Harry's real dad, no, but I think Snape in some respects took on that role and saw Harry as the closest thing he could have to a son. Even if Harry never saw it.)

Hagrid...is protector, or big fluffy puppy dog.