Harry Potter...A bland character?

I'm currently re reading The Half Blood Prince, and with every page I read, I just can't help thinking how bland and boring the character of Harry is. I appreciate that there is loads of stuff which makes him so important, but in terms of characterisation, he's nothing short of appaling. Does anyone agree?

Reply 1

Sheen

11

i dont see how he's bland.
if he was such a bland and boring character maybe no one would read it

Reply 2

lamps

OP

Considering he's the protagonist for one of the greatest selling books of all time, he really isn't well characterised. I can't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason he just seems a very hollow character who hasn't been well thought out. IMO of course.

Reply 3

thePhantom

2

i do kind of agree - he's not particularly good at anything. He couldn't learn occlumency, cant control his emotions and is crap at academic stuff ... he's only good at DADA, and for a lot of the stuff he had help ...

lol they can't keep killing off characters just to defend harry, he's gonna have to step up in the next book!

Reply 4

Yezi

9

I totally agree. For a main character, there is just something lacking in him that makes him all that appealing or even likeable! Sometimes his self-righteousness comes off really annoying and one dimentional! There is just nothing interesting in his personality at all.

Reply 5

Galatea

11

He hardly ever says anything in conversations, usually just Ron and Hermione talk. I agree, he just the bland character that everything happens to.

There are characters like this in other books; Oliver in Oliver Twist for example and Arthur Dent in HitchHiker's Guide. They seem to emphasise how extraordinary everything that goes on around them is.

Reply 6

Pezking

1

it makes sense really, i think he's a perfect example of being thrown in at the deep end

he doesn't have a clue what's going on and is taking everything as it comes

to be honest if everything that happened to him happened to you i think you'd find it pretty hard to concentrate on anything other than not going insane

Reply 7

Aeana

10

The way I look at it is... Harry was, in my opinion, most bland in the first book and as the books have continued he has grown up and he's had to deal with a variety of trials. These have added layers to his character as the plot has progressed.

He might not be extraordinary in anything, but I'm sure if his emotions and how he reacts in situations are looked at and studied in detail then people will realise that he is quite a character.

You might not agree but that's just my two penneth :smile:

Reply 8

loggins

17

I definately find him to be a bland character! Totally one dimensional and is overshadowed completely by Hermione and Ron (in terms of personality).

Reply 9

yo-less

2

thePhantom

i do kind of agree - he's not particularly good at anything. He couldn't learn occlumency, cant control his emotions and is crap at academic stuff ... he's only good at DADA, and for a lot of the stuff he had help ...

Well he can't be good at everything, can he?

For the record, I find his bravery and heroism annoying :hmmm:

I go for the unconventional panicky character who's a wuss :cool:

That's hot.

Reply 10

Berto90

11

Maybe the fact that he is not good at everything and he

has no clue what is going on and takes everything as it comes

Is supposed to go towards showing that he is just really a normal teenager, so that the average person can relate to the character.

Reply 11

loggins

17

I'm currently re reading the HBP aswell, and i find his feelings for Ginny, (expressed by JK as the "creature in his chest") cringeworthy! She keeps using the same metaphor over and over, fair enough, use it once, but continuing along this vein really is just tiresome...

Reply 12

Dude

14

You people obviously don't read enough into the books. There is a lot of examples that show how good Harry is at his school work.

Now I believe in a Charms lesson in Book 4, Harry is able to perform a charm (the oppisite of the summoning charm, the one with cushions) that only Hermione could at first. His cushion flew through the air and landed neatly on top of Herminies.

Also right now, he is the only one that can find all the Horcruxes as he has all the information he needs.

Reply 13

Q.E.D

12

Forgetting his academic prowess, he always seems slightly lacking in personality to me, especially in contrast to ron and hermione. But then again, that could be attributed to his troubled past. He also seems fairly emotionless in the first few books, and suddenly changes to a very stroppy teen. Somehow his characterization just doesn't sit right with me.

Reply 14

XxJaninexX

15

I have often thought what if it was ron weasly and the blah blah. But it just wouldnt work. Ron is great but he is rather um specialised i.e poor, big family not everyone can relate. Harry, normal teenage in waaaaay over his head, we can all relate to that. Harry was just a normal boy when he is cast into a world of magic and not only that fame and an evil wizard after him. The contrast between normality and abnormality works really well. Plus, it would be boring if harry was great at everything.

Reply 15

Paddington

1

loggins

I'm currently re reading the HBP aswell, and i find his feelings for Ginny, (expressed by JK as the "creature in his chest") cringeworthy! She keeps using the same metaphor over and over, fair enough, use it once, but continuing along this vein really is just tiresome...

the use of an extended personification for Harrys feelings is indeed a little tiresome, but you must remember this book is written for young children to understand, its main target age being around 12 ish, and therefore it explains easily in a cliche his feelings, but yes to those of us who are older it can be "cringeworthy"

Harry Potter...A bland character?

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