Philosopher's Stone Chapter Three

[urbanman1984.livejournal.com]

Well here it is everyone - a prolonged pause in the action

PS Chapter Three

 

*Dudley has flattened Ms Figg.  I bet Harry was pleased.

 

*So Harry’s longest ever imprisonment in the cupboard took from Dud’s birthday to shortly before his own?  So about a month.  But then, given JKR’s maths, it could really be any length of time.

 

*Following on from the discussion about the previous chapter, it really is the case that Harry does not have a victim’s personality.  If he really found Dudley intimidating he wouldn’t be able to answer him back like this.

 

*Hmm the cake was stale though... bet Harry wishes Dud had killed the old squib outright.

 

*Smeltings boys wear ridiculous uniforms and have sticks of wood for attacking each other which is supposed to be good training for later life.  Sound like an all boys version of Hogwarts much?

 

*I presume Harry was just being a smart alec when he goes “I didn’t realise it had to be so wet.”  Otherwise he would seem dumber than Dudley.

 

*Harry could have read the letter quickly when he was in the hall, but no – he had to ensure that this chapter is really drawn out and the plot suspended for its duration. 

 

*It is evident that the Dursleys have received no communication from the magical world since the letter that Dumblesnore dropped off with Harry on their doorstep.  Evidently they infer from McGonagall’s letter that somebody from the magical community – they don’t know who - might now have them under surveillance and it changes their whole approach towards Harry completely.  Not only do they move him into a bedroom, but they don’t even attempt to favour Dudley anymore.  So the merest hint of magical intervention is sufficient to prevent them from keeping Harry downtrodden.  It is highly likely that Dumblesnore’s first letter gave them permission, perhaps even recommended, that they keep Harry downtrodden.  If he didn’t want them to do that it would have been very easy to check up on Harry on a regular basis in a way that Vernon and Petunia would notice.  This letter’s defining feature is that it is from someone magical besides Dumbledore.

 

*Dudley’s a right little slob :p  Nothing like Harry of course.  Oh wait... *remembers later in the series* Well Dud never reads anything, unlike Harry... *remembers all the rest of the series again* I’ll stop trying to compare Harry favourably to Dudley.

 

*Animals have a harrowing time around Dudley.  But I recall agreeing with another member of deathtocapslocks who pointed out that JKR wasted an opportunity to make Harry more likeable than Dudley by making him kind to animals. 

 

*The Smeltings stick certainly gets put to good use here.

 

*It’s just as well Vernon is referring to Hagrid *although he doesn’t know it* with his ironic remark about the delivery person’s mind working in strange ways.  Hagrid really is dumber than Vernon and bizarre to say the best of it.

 

*Dudley becomes a lot sharper in this chapter, asking Harry the question which is perplexing us all; “who on Earth wants to talk to you this badly?” Compare to chapter two, when he could not count.

 

*A minimum of intervention from the magical community also prevents Dudley from being indulged or spoiled in any way.  Vernon doesn’t even put up with his unconventional packing methods anymore.

 

*A generic seedy hotel!

 

*Hagrid’s line of thinking dictates that if Harry doesn’t receive a letter by one delivery, then the solution is to send twice as many by the following delivery.  If a character with even rudimentary intelligence had been in charge of delivering the letter then this chapter would have been very short indeed.

 

*Dud is now the one supplying the spontaneous witticisms.

 

*Dud only remembers the days of the week because of TV, but Harry can’t keep track of them at all. 

 

*So nothing has progressed in the way of plot during this chapter, but the location has shifted from Privet Drive to a hut on the rock in what seems like a different genre...

 

*Again, if Dudley were a successful bully, or if Harry had a victim’s mentality, Harry would not be prepared to wake Dud up simply to annoy him.

 

*Hagrid’s here!  Brace yourselves everyone...

Comments

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

"Similarly, the main conflict in the series is an attempt by the main characters to preserve the status quo regarding muggleborns against those who would seek to change it (i.e., Voldemort), which would again seem to be a somewhat conservative position to take"

So people who support the Labour party aren't supposed to rise up against an ultra racist murderous dictator? yes Voldemort wanted to change the status quo regarding muggleborn, but not for the better.

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to suggest that no member of the Labour Party can ever try to defend the status quo; I just thought it interesting that there are very few examples of characters trying to change things for the better. In fact, I think the only major example is Hermione's SPEW thing, which is portrayed so as to make Hermione look rather bossy and unwelcome -- a bit like Jessica Mitford's attempts to rescue the working class, now that I come to think about it.

(BTW, does anyone know why Hermione gets so upset about the house-elves, who seem perfectly happy with their situation, but not make any effort to challenge the fairly serious psychological torture that goes on at Azkaban?)

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

"(BTW, does anyone know why Hermione gets so upset about the house-elves, who seem perfectly happy with their situation, but not make any effort to challenge the fairly serious psychological torture that goes on at Azkaban?)"

What would be the point in that? JKR would have only used this serious moral issue to fool the world that her series is really really deep and mature. Only to have the issue resolved in the last book by someone complaining that the Azkaban prisoners don't get enough vegetables in their diet, and that should change at once!!!"

(Yes I'm angry at the cowardly and idiotic way that JKR decided to ""resolve"" the house elves issue in DH)

[for-diddled.livejournal.com]

"(Yes I'm angry at the cowardly and idiotic way that JKR decided to ""resolve"" the house elves issue in DH)"

Did she even try to resolve it? I seem to recall that the subject was simply dropped after Hermione unaccountably lost interest, never to be mentioned again.

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

Well according to some sycophants, Ron saying that the house elves shouldn't be ordered to fight the wizard's wars (in the Ron/Hermione kissing scene at the end of DH) was a brilliant and satisfactory conclusion to the house elves issue.
The problem with that is:
1)Ron is only one member of the wizarding world.
2)That wasn't even what STFU was about. So Ron thinks that house elves shouldn't be ordered to march into the battlefield- fine, good for him. But how are the wizard supposed to treat the house elves in peace times? was Hermione right or wrong in the end? we didn't get an answer to that, and not even an attempt of an answer.

[montavilla.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that Ron had always been for elves being able to make their own decisions. If you look at how Ron actually treats elves throughout the books, it's always with respect and kindness. The only time he's even somewhat anti-elf is when he disagrees about interfering with Winky and Crouch, Sr., which could be construed as condoning elf-abuse.

Or it could be recognizing that the elf/master relationship is complex and that Hermione is being ignorant and judgmental.

And yeah, Ron realizing that you shouldn't order slaves into a battle is hardly the most enlightened stance. But it's better than Harry's, who all for it.

[lissa2.livejournal.com]

"That wasn't even what *STFU* was about"
Bwahahahhahah... I've only just now noticed this typo.