When talking about the coming of age genre a friend of mine mentioned Harry Potter as an example. I found myself incapable of sharing this idea since not only I do not think that the core of the plot of HP is about his growth but I think HP does not portrait any kind of notable growth of the protagonist(s) when compared to other titles of the genre.
On the internet one explicit mention on this topic that I found is given in this article.
In this article, the author says that in the various books Harry finds out that many of the adults he trusted had at some point or another lied to him, through this realization and acceptance he says that our protagonist grows.
I find this rather weak, just because you accepted or realized that people lie doesn't mean you are mature or an active and integrated member of society. On a side note, this article speaks more about the adults than it speaks about Harry, but nevertheless knowing that adults lie doesn't show a change or growth in the protagonist or in how he behaves.
The other explicit mention on this topic I found on Coming of Age in Harry Potter where the authors draw a parallel between the normal experiences of a child in his adolescence and the experience of Harry's adolescence. The parallels are well drawn and believable but what they describe are iconic events in a growing child, what they fail to show are what changes these events bring to Harry. Even the point made about his acceptance into Hogwarts: he learns something about his past he didn't know and this heralds his growth. This event misses the whole point because we are indeed introduced to a meek protagonist who was a victim of prolonged bullying but the resolution to this status is that of overpowering him: he is a mage and thus there is no reason to be fearful of non magical beings. We can extremize this setting to "you are a God Harry", and thus there is no reason to fear mortals. The solution to a life of bullying is not trying to find a connection between the two parties but to tear away Harry from that situation and put him in the magic world.
The coming of age genre usually portraits a protagonist detached from or at odds with either society or their parents or in some cases with themselves, and by overcoming the difficulties in the story the protagonist reconciles with the person or concept of interest. This is better describe in the first parts of this video critic of Brave where Merida is at odds with her mother and through her with society. The video explores some possible more realistic resolutions since the published one isn't really adequate, but my point is about the introduction and the divergences in views between her and the mother.
Since the beginning HP is a story of a hero that will slay his dragon. Since the hero is an eleven year old kid going to school we will have to spectate his stumbling over common life experiences but this story was never about these experiences, it is about going against the final boss. This boss appears in every book minus the third to remind us that this is the epic of Potter "the Voldemort slaying mage" and not his growing up story. In a coming of age story the story elements should be the instrument to talk about the protagonist and not the center of attention.
What suggests HP is a coming of age story? What suggests it isn't? What I am interested in are either further motivations to support my thesis or motivations to disprove it.
