(Wow, two posts in one day. Clearly I'm really procrastinating)
It's been a while since I've read OotP (Order of the Phoenix) and as such, I've noticed a lot of new things as I've read it this time around. One of the new insights I've gained concern "Emo Harry" as he's commonly referred to in this book.
The main point is that Harry, especially in the beginning of this book, is severely depressed. First of all, he went through an incredibly traumatic experience, seeing Voldemort rise, and he is then almost completely cut off from his support group. Ron and Hermione do write to him, but there letters are very shallow and carry no information. The exclusion from the only society that made him feel safe and then he is shunted into a place were he is emotionally and verbally abused.
Another thing laying the foundation was the Dememtor attacks. We know that those creatures are a parallel for depression and we also know that they affect Harry on a more extreme level than most other people. So you have those aspects when he is attacked, and you also have the fact that he has no chocolate afterword aka he's not given proper treatment for a person coming out of a heavy depressive episode
Then, we see all the signs of depression. Harry goes through moments of anxious activity, pacing and constantly writing letters and hoping for information; he also has spells of heavy lethargy, lying on his bed all day, unable to even get up to turn the light on as the day becomes the evening. Then we have his moods. When he first arrives in Grimmaud and during his stay there, we often see him swing from unenthused indifference to extreme aggression within a paragraph or two. However, all this is simply laying the groundwork for the self-harm to come later.
When Umbridge gives Harry detention, she makes him carve words into his skin as he writes lines. Allow me to repeat myself. Umbridge causes Harry to cut into his own skin. That is more or less the definition of self-harm. Of course, there are other methods of self-mutilation, but cutting one's skin is the most common method. So we have Harry sitting there repeatedly slicing into his own skin. Yes, he is in detention and being forced to do it, but this is a parallel, not a part of the plot...if that makes sense.
One of the strongest pieces of evidence that this is supposed to relate to self-harm are Umbridge's remarks to Harry and his reaction to the punishment. After his first session, she says, "Deep down, you know you deserve this, don't you, Mr. Potter". Or it's incredibly close to that. I don't have the book on hand, but I'm willing to bet that, if anything, I'm less than two words off on that quote.
Anyway, that's something that can be seen as very indicative of self-harm. People who harm often feel, on some level, that the reason they hurt themselves is because they have done something in their life to deserve this punishment. We also see Harry continue to go back and subject himself to this pain, again like people who harm.
The other big thing that proves this parallel is his reaction to the punishment. His first instinct is to hide what is really going on from Ron and Hermione. The reason for this, he says, is because he is ashamed and he does not want to see the worry and concern in them. Again, relative to people who harm. They often hide their addiction because they are ashamed of what they are doing to themselves and they do not want the people they care about to know of this perceived "weakness".
The final proof I have his Harry's continued denial of his problem. When Ron calls him out and asks what's wrong with his hand, Harry continues to claim "Nothing - It's a scratch", which are quite literally words that I have heard from people who self-harm. The continued shame and denial of his problem, even when his best friend is confronting him face to face is incredibly similar to 'interventions' those who self harm. It's also important to note that once he does tell Ron and eventually Hermione, he feels incredibly relieved and they not only do not abandon him, but they help him to find remedies for his injuries.
Depression is a big theme in the Potter series and especially in this book, and it is my belief that Rowling is using this to make a comment on the stigmas we, as a society, still hold in regards to mental illness and self-mutilation.
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