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

[night-train-fm.livejournal.com]

I fail to see how the Malfoys are particularly "well-mannered". Draco throws around the wizard equivalent of the n-word, Lucius insults Hermione's parents and sneers at those with less "wizarding pride" than him, and Narcissa just acts as if everything around her smells awful.

'laughable and sad bc he thinks he could be good enough for Lily'

IMHO, the 'sad' part was that he was deluded enough to think he could be friends with Lily and people who thought she was subhuman...and that he could still be friends with her after calling her the aforementioned n-word-equivalent.

'vulgar yobbos, such as the Weasleys'

So the Malfoys are "well-mannered" and the Weasleys are "vulgar"? Ah, Weasley-bashing, how I adore thee.

[pearlette.livejournal.com]

So the Malfoys are "well-mannered" and the Weasleys are "vulgar"? Ah, Weasley-bashing, how I adore thee.

Yes, the class issues emerging in the thread are quite an education, aren't they? :D

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Um - yes. This began by pointing out that the upper-class Malfoys get away and get to rebuild their lives, while the homely, abused, unloved working-class guy literally gets it in the neck.

And the Weasleys are not lower-class. They are just poor.

My two cents.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

That feud totally always does! There's usually two versions of it. In one the Malfoys are delightful people with impeccable manners and the Weasleys are dreadful and vulgar, because they're lower class. In the other the Malfoys are dreadful and vulgar *and therefore must not truly be upper class* and the Weasleys are delightful and therefore must be the true upper class family.

I think what the books show is that the Weasleys have good and bad qualities personally and their tastes run from pleasantly homespun to yes, a little vulgar (the Twin's flashy dragonskin outfits, Ron's hideous dress robes). The Malfoys personalities are beyond vulgar (Death Eaters, setting up children to be killed, oversensitive, vicious etc.) but their money and name are respectably old and their fashion and decor is tasteful (without being completely conservative).

[pearlette.livejournal.com]

There's usually two versions of it. In one the Malfoys are delightful people with impeccable manners and the Weasleys are dreadful and vulgar, because they're lower class. In the other the Malfoys are dreadful and vulgar *and therefore must not truly be upper class* and the Weasleys are delightful and therefore must be the true upper class family.

I am betting this discussion doesn't go on amongst British fans. We, er, have a lot of class baggage, whereas Americans don't, but I can tell you straight away that no British reader of HP would regard the Weasleys as upper class.

I think what the books show is that the Weasleys have good and bad qualities personally and their tastes run from pleasantly homespun to yes, a little vulgar (the Twin's flashy dragonskin outfits, Ron's hideous dress robes). The Malfoys personalities are beyond vulgar (Death Eaters, setting up children to be killed, oversensitive, vicious etc.) but their money and name are respectably old and their fashion and decor is tasteful (without being completely conservative).

Yes, I agree.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I remember one presentation of that theory where the two families were explicitly compared to American types that did not fit in any way.

I think there's always been a more general speculation about the Malfoys being arriviste because Draco talks too much about money etc. I think some of the evidence is exaggerated--Lucius accused of jingling gold in his pockets at the Ministry, for instance, when it's more like Harry hears an ominous, subtle clink of gold to indicate bribery. Or Lucius accused of building hospital wings named after him when he's more said to give money behind the scenes to the right people. (Or my favorite, someone once claimed Draco's dress robes were gaudy and in bad taste because they made him look like...a vicar?)

Really, the only reason I'm confident about saying that the Malfoys are truly supposed to be an old monied family is that we're flat-out told this by characters. They don't seem to be generally respected or well-liked (Longbottom trumps Malfoy easily-and is certainly the more British name!) but it's not because they're new money.

[mary-j-59.livejournal.com]

Well, they certainly don't read as lower class! As far as class status goes, they are in line with the Dursleys, at least. They have lots of property, and come across to me as very much like the Bennets in Pride and Prejudice