Harry Dresden and his subscriptions of capital-I Issues

[luciazephyr]

Okay, the last post gave me a lot of food for thought and I now have a working theory about Harry Dresden and his hang-ups.

Just to establish what I'm talking about: his chivalry, his heteronormativity, commitment issues, et al. It doesn't explain everything but it does explain a lot.



So anyone who's read the books knows Harry has some issues with women and relationships and sex. He acts chivalrously, having an almost irresistible instinct to protect and comfort women in an alpha male way. He's incapable of short-term, casual relationships and forms attachments easily. He is resolutely heterosexual despite his narration both taking note of the attractiveness of men and describing them in complimentary ways.

After some great discussion with some of ya'll, I think I'm of the opinion that all of these issues stem from certain events in Harry's backstory.

1. He lost his entire family by 6, was adopted, then almost had his mind forcibly invaded by his surrogate father figure.

2. Elaine, his first lover, was made to try and help Justin enthrall Harry, then appeared to be killed, but actually escaped alive and then didn't contact Harry to let him know she was alive for about a decade.

3. When he made his deal with the Leanansidhe, the ritual she put him through had some extremely sexual undertones despite the fact there was no way he could consent, given the blood loss and the glamour.

So the lynchpin of his entire backstory revolves around times he was taken advantage of mentally, sexually, or emotionally. I can see how this could translate into the issues he has in canon. All three events, which are character-defining for Harry, code somewhat as rape in various degrees. They all similarly took away Harry's free will and agency in some way.

Fast forward to Harry's adulthood. At multiple points in the books, sexual moments comes across to Harry in a very repulsive, off-putting manner. For example, in Storm Front, when Bianca bites Rachel, it is written very sexually, but Harry has a nigh-disgusted reaction to it. Sex very often is a Bad Thing in Harry's narrative. The people who offer him sex are often villainous or dangerous in some way (Maeve, Jenny Greenleaf, Lara, the Red Court). For a male character, he's very often menaced in a sexual way.

Let's add this into his monogamy and heteronormativity. Harry can't seem to commit to a relationship that isn't long-term. He clearly wants love and affection, but isn't willing to go for it most of the time. He went, what, four years without sex at one point? Also, being straight appears to be a major part of his life. In the books, he has some major subtext with male characters and has a habit of both noticing and complimenting male appearances with language you wouldn't quite expect from Mr. Chivalrous Hetero Guy. Your mileage will of course vary on whether Harry is a repressed bisexual or not, but that option's there.

So his backstory revolves around being taken advantage of in various ways, he can't do casual relationships, is chivalrous, and reacts badly to sex in general in the series. These issues are likely worsened over the course of the series, such as when the Red Court raped and brutalized him, and Lash using the guise of "Sheila" to compromise his consent in hopes of turning him Dark Side.


I'm thinking this is all related. The reason Harry has such an objectionable view of sex, of gender roles, and the like is because he's been burned so often in the past, had his personal agency compromised several times, and has earned some trust issues as a result.

By seeking out heteronormative relationships, he can place himself in a 'safe' position where he can't be easily taken advantage of. Being the manly guy to the girly girl makes him less likely to be hurt again like he's been before. Not that he wants to dominate his partner, but he doesn't want to be subservient in any way. And of course he's going to only consider relationships with women. Growing up, he probably saw straight relationships coded as "normal," since that is what the world at large reinforces. He's never gotten a "safe", "normal" relationship, so that's what he subconsciously works towards.


So basically, a lot of Harry's issues can be traced back to the traumas that happened when he was 16. That's what I'm currently thinking.


Now, it's 3 AM and I think my stomach has settled enough that I can sleep. I hope this post was even halfway coherent. Sorry if it's not-- blame the late hour.

Comments

[samjohnsson]

...wow. I hadn't thought about the whole youth being a series of rape-events (I'm not willing to half-glass those). It certainly makes his commitment and attachment issues make a lot more sense.

Your mileage will of course vary on whether Harry is a repressed bisexual or not, but that option's there.

So what, if I might ask, is your mileage? Or, since I have an idea what you're writing, how much mileage is there?

[luciazephyr]

My mileage is summed up in this other meta post I did a while ago. I sort of believe all fictional characters are bi until proven otherwise and I have very lofty demands for the "proving" part.

Harry Dresden in particular, right from the get-go, pegged really hard as closeted bisexual, though, for what that's worth. I can see why others would disagree/not get that vibe, but that's my interpretation of the character and it's a factor in how I write him and his sexual issues.

[lightgetsin]

Also, it is implied that something happened to him while he was in the system. Justin got him at ten when his magic popped up, right? But usually magic doesn't come out for another five or six years. And various people have said that violence and trauma can trigger early magic (and I think that there's some lingering idea that trauma-triggered magic is likely to lead to warlock magic).

I suppose it could have been his dad's sudden death, but...

Which is exactly the sort of thing Harry would never, ever mention in the first person narrative.

[luciazephyr]

Oh, I haven't gotten to the mention of something happening to him in the system. That's somehow even worse. D8

I suppose it could have been his dad's sudden death, but...

Holy shit. Wow, um, yeah, especially since didn't Chauncy say his dad was murdered? Or was that just his mum?

He really doesn't talk about it. Readers have to extrapolate from what he doesn't say. A friend of mine only realized the Red Court probably raped him after I mentioned it to her, for instance. You know what things are really bad because that's when Harry stops talking about them.

[lightgetsin]

Mind you, my memory for this canon is not great since I've read most of it only once, and over half of it five years ago. But yeah, he's been told his dad was murdered, though it's unclear whether he believes it. Which doesn't mean his death was violent, necessarily -- he might have just dropped dead of a magic-induced stroke, but that's traumatic enough for a six-year-old.

There's a bit at the beginning of the RpG book where Harry is telling stories to the baby wardens. He has this back and forth with a few of them about how early magic is often rooted in trauma. That's where I'm getting most of this, because I could swear his magic came up really early.

[luciazephyr]

Okay, that is so added into my theory now. Because I honestly don't know why else someone woul kill Malcolm Dresden but to free up Harry from his influence and kick-start Harry's magic. The only other reason I could see is that someone knew what Margaret was doing when setting up her baby to be the super Outsider-killing force of nature and wanted to take him out, but their curse his Malcolm instead. D8 D8 D8

Right, in AAA Wizardry. :nods: God, I love the RPG book. ♥ And yeah, his magic started to manifest at 10 years old, given that's why DuMorne adopted him. And 10 seems a little early.