GOF Chapter 3: The Invitation
Jan. 17th, 2011 09:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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deathtocapslockThis is the obligatory Dursley chapter, in which we are treated to the home life of this family and learn how inferior they are to wizard families.
Dudley takes up a whole side of the square kitchen table. Ahem, I doubt a square kitchen table (as opposed to a dining room table) was designed to seat 8 people, 2 on a side. His parents excuse away his teachers' accusations of bullying. As opposed to the Weasleys who never receive reports making such heinous accusations against the twins (we'll see the school does occasionally owl their parents, but I don't see any awareness that some of what the twins do is bullying behavior). (This starts the theme of parents dealing with wayward sons in this book.) Dudley is forced into a diet of fruit and vegetables rather than his favorites. From the descriptions we get of the food Harry eats at Hogwarts I get the feeling Harry's favorites are closer to Dudley's than to the health foods, nor does he limit his intake. But somehow Harry remains thin, regardless of whether he gets starved by Petunia or stuffed by Molly or the House-elves.
Changing the food choices of the entire family is a good thing! However adjusting Harry's serving size to Dudley's (perceived?) emotional needs isn't. I don't begrudge Harry for working around a diet he doesn't need, but then I also sympathize with Dudley who does. Changing eating habits of years is hard.
This is also the place to say Dudley must have grown up as an emotional wreck. Knowing that his parents were capable of such physical and emotional deprivation of someone in their care - what if he ever failed to please them? I think a big part of his misbehavior is both making sure his parents know he *isn't* Harry as well as wanting the reassurance that they still love him, no matter what anyone else thinks.
Of Harry's 4 sources of help only one sends food he appreciates. Odd that even Hagrid managed to send an edible birthday cake. But how edible is it (or any of the others) 3 weeks later?
Harry is surprised that the Weasleys wrote directly to the Dursleys. Vernon is embarrassed that they didn't know how many stamps to use. But really, how hard is it to find out? Didn't they go to the post office to buy the stamps? What does it say about the exchange rate between Galleons and pounds that a family so poor finds it reasonable to spend on so many stamps for one letter? Molly's letter sounds as if she is trying too hard to make the Quidditch World Cup sound special and to make Arthur sound important. And of course she doesn't have enough imagination to realize that sending a letter by owl isn't normal for the Dursleys.
Harry is offended on Molly's behalf when Vernon calls her 'dumpy'. Since Molly likes Harry nobody is allowed to notice she is overweight.
I must say that the scene where Harry threatens Vernon with Sirius looks a lot less humorous now that I have seen Harry enjoy torturing a man for punishment, and Sirius engaging in Muggle-baiting.
If I am correct in my understanding that Ron is claiming that he and Molly wrote their respective letters at about the same time, then I am impressed with the UK post. Molly's letter arrived on Saturday morning. Pig arrived the same morning. Considering the speed of owls elsewhere, it looks as though Ron's letter was sent earlier that morning. So a letter got delivered the morning it was sent?
I am less impressed with the Weasleys. They plan on taking Harry regardless of the Dursleys' consent. One could argue that eventually Molly and Arthur realized their sons were not exaggerating when they said Harry had been imprisoned and starved, but seeing how Arthur views the treatment of Muggles, both in this book and in COS, I doubt this made a difference.
Harry is happy specifically because Dudley is suffering and he isn't. The seeds of the bully of HBP and war criminal of DH.
Dudley takes up a whole side of the square kitchen table. Ahem, I doubt a square kitchen table (as opposed to a dining room table) was designed to seat 8 people, 2 on a side. His parents excuse away his teachers' accusations of bullying. As opposed to the Weasleys who never receive reports making such heinous accusations against the twins (we'll see the school does occasionally owl their parents, but I don't see any awareness that some of what the twins do is bullying behavior). (This starts the theme of parents dealing with wayward sons in this book.) Dudley is forced into a diet of fruit and vegetables rather than his favorites. From the descriptions we get of the food Harry eats at Hogwarts I get the feeling Harry's favorites are closer to Dudley's than to the health foods, nor does he limit his intake. But somehow Harry remains thin, regardless of whether he gets starved by Petunia or stuffed by Molly or the House-elves.
Changing the food choices of the entire family is a good thing! However adjusting Harry's serving size to Dudley's (perceived?) emotional needs isn't. I don't begrudge Harry for working around a diet he doesn't need, but then I also sympathize with Dudley who does. Changing eating habits of years is hard.
This is also the place to say Dudley must have grown up as an emotional wreck. Knowing that his parents were capable of such physical and emotional deprivation of someone in their care - what if he ever failed to please them? I think a big part of his misbehavior is both making sure his parents know he *isn't* Harry as well as wanting the reassurance that they still love him, no matter what anyone else thinks.
Of Harry's 4 sources of help only one sends food he appreciates. Odd that even Hagrid managed to send an edible birthday cake. But how edible is it (or any of the others) 3 weeks later?
Harry is surprised that the Weasleys wrote directly to the Dursleys. Vernon is embarrassed that they didn't know how many stamps to use. But really, how hard is it to find out? Didn't they go to the post office to buy the stamps? What does it say about the exchange rate between Galleons and pounds that a family so poor finds it reasonable to spend on so many stamps for one letter? Molly's letter sounds as if she is trying too hard to make the Quidditch World Cup sound special and to make Arthur sound important. And of course she doesn't have enough imagination to realize that sending a letter by owl isn't normal for the Dursleys.
Harry is offended on Molly's behalf when Vernon calls her 'dumpy'. Since Molly likes Harry nobody is allowed to notice she is overweight.
I must say that the scene where Harry threatens Vernon with Sirius looks a lot less humorous now that I have seen Harry enjoy torturing a man for punishment, and Sirius engaging in Muggle-baiting.
If I am correct in my understanding that Ron is claiming that he and Molly wrote their respective letters at about the same time, then I am impressed with the UK post. Molly's letter arrived on Saturday morning. Pig arrived the same morning. Considering the speed of owls elsewhere, it looks as though Ron's letter was sent earlier that morning. So a letter got delivered the morning it was sent?
I am less impressed with the Weasleys. They plan on taking Harry regardless of the Dursleys' consent. One could argue that eventually Molly and Arthur realized their sons were not exaggerating when they said Harry had been imprisoned and starved, but seeing how Arthur views the treatment of Muggles, both in this book and in COS, I doubt this made a difference.
Harry is happy specifically because Dudley is suffering and he isn't. The seeds of the bully of HBP and war criminal of DH.
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Date: 2011-01-18 04:45 pm (UTC)Also unlike Mr. Malfoy, who has high standards for his son and doesn't hesitate to point out when they aren't met, even in the presence of strangers. Or unlike Dumbledore, who insists that Harry is a fount of love and forgiveness, even when that's clearly not the case.
"But really, how hard is it to find out? Didn't they go to the post office to buy the stamps?"
And doesn't Mr. Weasley work in a department which deals specifically with Muggles and Muggle objects?
"What does it say about the exchange rate between Galleons and pounds that a family so poor finds it reasonable to spend on so many stamps for one letter?"
As we said on a previous thread, the Weasleys are poor enough to angst about it and come across as poor woobie underdogs, but not poor enough to actually be inconvenienced in any serious way. That's a very specific level of poverty.
"Harry is happy specifically because Dudley is suffering and he isn't. The seeds of the bully of HBP and war criminal of DH."
Maybe he's got to save up all his love to defeat Voldemort at the end of DH, and can't afford to waste any on Muggles like Dudley? :p
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Date: 2011-01-18 09:21 pm (UTC)Thank you. For all his failings, I maintain that Mr. Malfoy is in many respects a decent parent (not perfect, but decent, he tries), and this is one of those times. Although I'm not exactly a fan of the Amy Chua approach to parenting, setting clear (and reasonable) standards and holding children to them is IMHO an important part of parenting. This is part of Dudley's problem: his parents have never given him a clear, coherent standard to live up to, so he acts out but is also insecure.
Word about Arthur's job. And the Weasley's poverty level is indeed quite specific: just enough to induce sympathy from (Good(TM)) characters and the reader, without actually posing a blatant enough symptom of societal ills that the heroes could be taken to task for not thinking about it or for the claim at the end that everything is hunky-dory now that Voldie is gone to immediately ring hollow to even the most uninvolved reader. It's there to gain them sympathy, not to point to any flaws in the WW.
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Date: 2011-01-18 10:51 pm (UTC)Both in COS and in this book there are instances of Arthur failing to hold the twins up to Molly's expectations, possibly his own as well. Combined with his use of his job to break the law in several instances, his approach is one that both enables the twins in their misdeeds and teaches his children disrespect of rules and laws, as long as it's fun.
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Date: 2011-01-21 01:30 am (UTC)It's so weird how people talk about how the books promote tolerance and acceptance, considering the ways the heroes abuse defenseless people and take away their free will.
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Date: 2011-01-21 01:38 am (UTC)You'll note that Lucius never got Snape to put Draco on the first year quidditch team- apparently only Gryffindors disregard the rules like that. (or long-entrenched tradition; even if it wasn't a hard-and-fast rule, it was accepted that first years cannot join the team)
And he refused to indulge the boy's whims and buy him what he wanted, telling him to instead pull his socks up and work harder if he wanted a reward.
And to Draco's credit, he wound up knowing the difference between right and wrong and being unable to kill someone- while Harry blithely Crucios Amycus.
doesn't Mr. Weasley work in a department which deals specifically with Muggles and Muggle objects
What a joke. He still doesn't know how to pronounce electricity, obviously he's not trying hard enough. If he really was putting in the effort to learn his field, he'd be questioning Muggle-borns. Sure, Hermione doesn't volunteer that much info, but if he specifically asked her to put aside an hour or so to help him with stuff, she'd be happy to help. And there have to be other Muggle-borns at the Ministry. But I guess it doesn't occur to him to ask them to help him understand their own culture. Or they're too ashamed of their background. That's def plausible.
ETA. I read this secret the other day in the HiH Owl Secret Post ostensibly from Draco saying he 'teases Weasley because I wish my family loved me as much'- and I'm like, wtf? O.o If Draco's wand broke, you can be sure he wouldn't go the rest of the year without a functioning wand. And I love when Harry notes Draco's weekly care package from his parents! And Lucius isn't the one setting a crappy example for his kid and showing that violence is the way to solve conflict, that bashing someone is a first resort. *shakes head*
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Date: 2011-01-21 02:03 am (UTC)At the very least have them show him how to get a library card, so he can check out books on our culture for himself...
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Date: 2011-01-21 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-21 08:59 pm (UTC)It's ironic that the boy who grew up in a Death Eater family finds himself incapable of murder and is extremely uncomfortable with using the Unforgivables, while the boy who grew up on the Light Side relishes in using them. I think that in an earlier post, someone commented that it would be interesting if somebody else wrote a fic of how Draco ended up being the savior of the wizarding world, while Harry became Voldemort's heir.
/He still doesn't know how to pronounce electricity, obviously he's not trying hard enough. If he really was putting in the effort to learn his field, he'd be questioning Muggle-borns./
I know that Arthur's inability to pronounce electricity and general cluelessness regarding the Muggle world are meant to be humorous, but Muggles are his *job.* He's not supposed to be in his department just because he's *interested* in Muggles; he's supposed to be there because he's a genuine expert who knows what he's doing. I'm interested in East Asian cultures, but does that alone automatically make me qualified to be a professor of East Asian studies? Of course not.
/If Draco's wand broke, you can be sure he wouldn't go the rest of the year without a functioning wand./
Well, Draco is an only child, as opposed to being one out of seven, and his family is rich. Still, you have a good point there.
/And Lucius isn't the one setting a crappy example for his kid and showing that violence is the way to solve conflict, that bashing someone is a first resort./
Well...Lucius is a Death Eater and he did take part in the Muggle-baiting after the Quidditch World Cup. So, maybe he doesn't tell Draco that bashing *wizards* is a first resort, but he does show that Muggles are not worth such consideration.
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Date: 2011-01-21 11:21 pm (UTC)He's not supposed to be in his department just because he's *interested* in Muggles; he's supposed to be there because he's a genuine expert who knows what he's doing.
Thank you! Too many people say 'but Arthur loves Muggles', like that makes it okay that he's so incompetent at his job! But I can see the WW being like, 'Ew, Muggles! Cooties! I don't want to deal with it...oh, this chap is bonkers, he loves them, well, give him the job!'
(Isn't he the one that's supposed to fix Muggle-related problems, if someone screws up, he comes up with a Muggle fix-it to cover up the situation? So if he doesn't actually know anything useful about Muggles, how can he do that?)
Draco is an only child, as opposed to being one out of seven, and his family is rich
True that. But I just wanted to point out how his family supports him on both a practical and emotional level. More than I can say for Molly 'Passive-Aggressive' Weasley.
Lucius is a Death Eater and he did take part in the Muggle-baiting after the Quidditch World Cup
Again, point- but Draco grew up without the DE influence til Voldy's return, when he'd already grown up quite a bit. And the Muggle-baiting was in GoF, but Arthur was setting a bad example as early as CoS.
And yes, I know there was the whole 'releasing the basilisk' thing, but I don't know if Draco knew about that. Although there's the rub- because I can't work out why Lucius would release the bloody thing when there's every chance his kid might be in danger!
You know what bugs me, though? When people talk about Draco 'wussing out' in HBP, like it's a bad thing he couldn't bring himself to kill someone! IDEK. O.o I mean, this was a huge thing for his character- his morals were put to the test, his life was in danger, his family was in danger, but he still couldn't kill another person. And they act like it's a weakness! *headdesk*
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Date: 2011-01-21 11:29 pm (UTC)Although I don't know... I'm not surprised that the twins and Ginny wouldn't tell Molly, but Percy? He had to have noticed, and you'd really think he'd write to his parents about it. Maybe they did know, after all.
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Date: 2011-01-21 11:48 pm (UTC)Seven hundred galleons! Most of it's gone on this trip, but they're going to buy me a new wand for next year.
*eyeroll* I don't want to sound like an elitist snob or anything, but...THEY WONDER WHY THEY'RE POOR? They just HAD to fritter it all away on a family trip for several people to Egypt and waste it all in one go? I mean, they have every right to go on vacation, but if they're struggling for clothes and such, you think they'd budget a bit better, FFS. I'm not saying they deserve poverty, but when they get this windfall and don't save it and use it wisely, it bugs me.
I think Ron should count himself lucky that at least they saved enough for his wand.
Percy? He had to have noticed, and you'd really think he'd write to his parents about it. Maybe they did know, after all.
Oh, yes, def! My point might still stand, then! Because you know Percy is that observant and conscientious, he would bring it to their attention.
It's just such a stupid plot thread, though. Ron not having a usable wand for a whole year, like, wtf was he doing in class? It's not like a textbook that you can share with the person next to you.
Although since they had spare textbooks, you think they might have a few spare old wands. Considering how it wound up being ultimately unimportant whether the wand chooses you or any of that now-defunct garbage. If a kid selected a wand from the stores, it probably counts as 'winning it' off the previous user. *eyeroll*
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:29 am (UTC)But they didn't even have to go that route...in HBP we see Dumbles telling Tommie that there's a fund set up at Hogwarts to help poor students get their needed supplies. If the Weasleys really couldn't afford to buy Ron a new wand, then why didn't they avail themselves of that fund?
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:42 am (UTC)I really don't want to offend anyone, but this thing about being proud and not accepting 'charity', I will never get. If you can't afford something and you really need it, why not just accept if someone not totally repulsive is offering? Of course if it's someone who's gonna lord it over you, that's a totally different matter, but otherwise, why let pride stand in the way?
But I can see the Weasleys refusing to avail themselves of any hand-outs 'coz they're an ancient pureblood family and have standards, kthxbai.
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Date: 2011-01-22 02:04 am (UTC)Also... Ron's the one who makes the most noise about being poor. Well, he's also the one we hear the most from, but the twins don't complain -- they're strongly focused on making money, but they don't complain about their current situation. Percy doesn't complain. *Ginny* doesn't complain.
I don't think we've heard Arthur or Molly bemoan their poverty, either. Molly complains about Arthur's lack of ambition, which could be an indirect way of mentioning it, but all in all, they manage.
That isn't necessarily just a flaw on Ron's part, because he probably got more hand-me-downs than anyone else in the family, including Ginny. Still, the Weasleys may not *be* quite as poor as Ron's complaints and Draco's insults would lead us to believe. Not at all well-off, of course, but perhaps not so poor that the fund was a possibility for them.
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:05 am (UTC)Also, why didn't McGonagall, as Ron's Head of House, let his parents know he could do with a new wand?
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:08 am (UTC)(that moment in CoS where Minerva rushes off to get Harry when Hermione's petrified...and then absent-mindedly includes Ron as well as an after-thought...wow. Nice)
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-01-21 11:33 pm (UTC)The sad part is that you may be right. That could very well be a reason for why Arthur still has his job.
/You know what bugs me, though? When people talk about Draco 'wussing out' in HBP, like it's a bad thing he couldn't bring himself to kill someone! IDEK. O.o I mean, this was a huge thing for his character- his morals were put to the test, his life was in danger, his family was in danger, but he still couldn't kill another person. And they act like it's a weakness!*headdesk*/
Oh, don't get me started on that. Yes, and what a wimp Draco was for actually *crying.* Because, you know, it's not like he'd been under a lot of stress the whole year for the simple reason of his parents' *lives* depending on him being able to murder another human being. Boys should never cry; it just makes them girly! And yes, what a coward he was for still not being able to kill Dumbledore, even though he had a good reason for doing so. No, in order to be a brave, valiant man, Draco should have constantly hexed people like Harry did and thrown around the Unforgiveable Curses 24/7. I guess that Draco was being "brave" when he threw the Cruciatus Curse at Harry. Because apparently, if you don't like to kill or torture people, then you're a wimp, and not, you know, a normal, decent human being. *sarcasm*
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:46 am (UTC)Yeah, it makes sense, doesn't it? Considering the WW and the lack of correlation between having qualifications and getting a job. Just being interested is enough. (*glares at Hagrid*)
I actually think people might've had more respect for Draco if he HAD killed Dumbles. But 'choking' and then crying about it, wooooow, look at dem haters! It's like, here's Harry, Chosen One, determined to kill Voldy. And there's Draco, his DE equivalent, who can't kill his Voldy equivalent. EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT EVEN THE SAME THING AT ALL AND THERE ARE TOTALLY DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES. But I think that's why people judge him so harshly, because they're holding him up against Harry's shining example. *eyeroll*
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Date: 2011-01-22 03:23 am (UTC)(Isn't he the one that's supposed to fix Muggle-related problems, if someone screws up, he comes up with a Muggle fix-it to cover up the situation? So if he doesn't actually know anything useful about Muggles, how can he do that?)
Do we know which way it went? Did Arthur get the job because he liked Muggle stuff or did he fall in love with Muggle stuff because his job got him somewhat acquainted with it?
As for how he covers up situations - well we see what he does - Obliviates anyone who noticed anything amiss.
Again, point- but Draco grew up without the DE influence til Voldy's return, when he'd already grown up quite a bit. And the Muggle-baiting was in GoF, but Arthur was setting a bad example as early as CoS.
Bad example regarding Muggles too - he was Obliviating them right and left as early as COS. (But wizards are allowed to marry Muggles if they have nobody else to marry, so he's an all-around swell guy, all for 'tolerance'.)
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Date: 2011-01-22 03:33 am (UTC)Like I said, it might just be what I picked up from fanfics, but that's what's in my head when I think about Molly's attitude. Her disappointment in him for taking this dead-end job because he was enchanted by quaint Muggle objects instead of climbing the ladder.
Don't get me started on Obliviation, such a despicable thing to do, really. *glares*
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Date: 2011-01-21 05:17 am (UTC)Which is further evidence to me of what a self-pitying brat Ron is. He gets a mountain of Christmas presents every year, and he certainly doesn't starve at home. He has his own bedroom, decorated just how he likes, and he seems to have quite a few personal possessions. And yet he hates "being poor".
Ron comes across to me as being just as petty and shallow as Draco in this respect. For him, money = status. Being content with what he has must never have crossed his mind.
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Date: 2011-01-22 03:51 am (UTC)But yes, even when what he has isn't obviously undesirable he complains about it. His owl is an example that comes to mind.
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Date: 2011-01-22 01:06 am (UTC)*thumbs up*
Although we have Ron being inconvenienced severely in GoF! Apparently Molly didn't know any charms to change the color of his robes! Couldn't even remove the lacy stuff to save him some humiliation. O.o I can buy a guy not wanting to rip stuff off- heck, I have no sewing skills or anything, I wouldn't even do that myself, for fear the garment would fall apart after- but Molly, house-wife extraordinaire, can't at least do that for him?
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Date: 2011-01-22 03:07 am (UTC)