Considering all the stress and shit he goes through that could naturally make Harry snap, Harry remains good in canon despite many motivating factors which strongly suggest he should turn out dark/evil. Personally I think he has far more things pushing him to be dark/evil than Tom Riddle ever had. Hell all Snape needed was bullying in school to turn out like he did. Perhaps it is more ooc that Harry is good.

 

Not everyone who goes through traumatic situations breaks.
In fact most people don't.
People are different after all. Stuff like this is a risk factor. Soldiers that have live combat experience are multiple times more likely to develop ptsd than normal people, but that doesn't change that more than 80% dont get PTSD.

Harry is simply a person not inclined to break, he is innately good natured and has a strong personality.

 

Because he's not a pussy.

 

1. Because he's a children's books hero.
2. Because he wasn't written by a 2020s Tumblr dweller who thinks anyone who breaks a nail needs therapy.

 

That was kind of the theme of the whole series, right? Harry himself seems to worry about it an awful lot.

 

Yeah he gets shit on in the books way too much. His life get worse and worse and even worse book by books. I would appreciated it if he broke several times and maybe cruelly kill some of his enemies in vengeance, or hurt his friends in anger when they turned on him, hell turned on Dumbledore for all the shit he puts up with every year at school with, hiding things from him, making him live with dursleys etc. It would have made him flawed and realistic. Would have said Hey your main character isn't a idealistic superman. Maybe went down a dark path but redeems himself in the end. Like I said he was too idealistic given the circumstances he faced.

 

I think people tend to underestimate Harry's strength of character. He is portrayed, for all his faults, as incorruptible, and that may not work for some, but that is what makes him interesting to me. At his core, he is a hero. A better man than both Dumbledore and Voldemort.

 

Isn't there a scene in DH where Remus is like the fuck are you using disarming spells against Death Eaters and Harry is like I don't want to hurt anyone and Remus berates him saying it's a war and you got to hurt the enemy. So even other characters have a problem with his morals lol. Or even the fact Ron keeps backstabbing him regularly and Harry is always like It's cool mate let's be friends again.

 

So it's not a question of "Why didn't Harry break?" It's that you specifically wanted him to break. Odd, considering your expressed distaste for darker themes, per your post in the "disturbing things" thread.

 

It's just a fact he is basically a teenager I just find it hard to believe teens are equiped to handle stress and trauma like HP did. Hell even adults find it difficult deal with. For comparsion in the Stormlight Archive one of the MC Kaladin has a similar arc to Harry in that when it becomes too much the guy just breaks down, is scarred for life, gives up on life goes through deep depression, almost commits suicide and finds himself again. We didn't see anything like that. No matter how bad it got he just shrugged it off and moved on. In the end of the 4th book he is literally tortured, his friend is killed in front of him. I'm sorry but isn't he just 14 or 15 by then? It's difficult to believe things like this don't break him or scar him enough to change him.

 

I mean, it's a little to odd to make judgements about the realism of one fictional character's mental resilience by comparing it to another fictional character's reaction to trauma, no?

I think your logic is very fixated on "trauma -> pathology in the mind -> PTSD-like symptoms." But I think while this is a very possible pathway, your mistake is applying it to everyone. People react differently to trauma, no matter its severity. Some people have developed PTSD from watching videos. Some people fight a war and come back completely normal.

So I think to answer your question, Harry didn't "break" simply because he is more psychologically resilient. This is not unrealistic for people in real life.

 

This is fanon.

 

Don't you know? Not talking to your mate for a few weeks while in school and storming out of a room to cool off are "repeated betrayals of a back-stabbing back-stabber".

 

He didn't break because his books weren't written by Alan Moore.

...of course then Moore did throw him into League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, at which point saying Harry broke would be...understating it a bit.

 

How is anyone ever meant to recover from the cold shoulder? It's a face worse than a thousand cruciatuses.

 

Yeah, I've got to admit I don't know how Harry could forgive a betrayal of trust. You know, like someone suspecting an attempt on his life and immediately going behind his back to involve a teacher rather than tell him about it because they had that little trust in his own judgment.

...Hang on, I'm being told that Hermione is the one who did that, not Ron. Ah, well. Nevertheless.

 

Perhaps but the guy keeps having jealous fits and keeps turning on him fairly regularly. I wouldn't want to be friends with people like that never mind best friends.

 

I would recommend being more understanding in future if you have any hope of getting friends of any kind.

 

Honestly making such a huge issue over the Triwizard champion thing, not believing his best friend shows what a huge twat Ron is, never mind the abandoning his friends in DH. I'm not even going to go on about his friendship with Hermione where he constantly seeks to hurt/belittle/fight with her all the time. Making a huge issue out of Viktor, his jealousy and suspicion about the nature of his best friends Harry Hermione relationship. Luna was far better friend to Harry than Ron ever was.

 

"You've repeatedly risked life and limb for me over the years, but when you came with me on a batshit insane mission to hunt down the world's most dangerous terrorist on our own, without support, a plan, or any idea what we were doing, in hostile territory, while being hunted by that terrorist, you only stuck with me for several months and only risked your life three times in that period for me, so you are a trash tier friend."

- Pikachu

Reminder: any normal friend would not have even gone with Harry in the first place. Normal friends are not willing to help each other hunt terrorists. To be honest you're lucky if I offer to drive you home from a party.