FAT

[Scott]

No: HPFGUIDX 20408

Ebony wrote:
"I've stayed out of this so far, but..."

--And I seem to be de-lurking because of it. 

I agree with Ebony, but I also think that it's very important to note 
that being fat is not what makes Dudley a bad person, but being a bad 
person is what makes Dudley fat. Of course by no means am I saying 
that all bad people are fat (or all fat people bad). They obviously 
aren't. I can however see how some children might make this incorrect 
connection.

Ebony wrote that we all write from life's experiences, but I don't 
think JKR is portraying Dudley as fat because her childhood bully was 
fat. If I wrote like this all bullies in my stories would 
incidentally be named Ebony. All Ebonys obviously aren't bad :-), but 
I digress...Stereotyping in any form is bad, but I just don't think 
that's what JKR was out to do with Dudley.

Peg Kerr (new memeber's if you haven't read her essays go and do so. 
Where is Peg anyway? I hope working on another book...) wrote in an 
essay on Gluttony-

"This has crossed my mind, too, and has made me uneasy, too. That's 
why I was particularly careful in my last 7 deadly sin message (on 
envy) to describe Dudley not as overweight, but as a glutton. One 
description--overweight--is, I hope, a neutral description (although 
our culture tries to load it up with all sorts of moralistic 
baggage). But Dudley is more than overweight; he is a glutton, and as 
such, is depicted as a contemptible character.

"His gluttony leads him to sloth (hey, coming up! Sin No. 7!) and  
selfishness, almost a kind of solipsism. Dudley basically believes 
that the world revolves around him and his appetites, to the extent 
that nothing MATTERS to him unless it has to do with getting his 
needs met. Remember when Vernon took the family and fled at the 
beginning of the first book when the letter(s) from Hogwarts started 
arriving? It didn't  occur to Dudley to wonder much about this 
strange adventure the family was embarking upon--he couldn't think 
past the fact that he was hungry  and had missed five of his favorite 
TV shows. Note how Dudley's gluttony has totally skewed the 
relationships in his family. Dudley's parents totally indulge him, 
and in doing so, they abdicate their parental roles. Vernon's 
attitude is fondly indulgent ("Little tyke!") which leads him down 
the slippery slope of overlooking his son's other faults, i.e., his 
sadistic bullying. Petunia caters slavishly to Dudley's every whim. 
Indulging Dudley's gluttony eventually leads to Vernon and Petunia 
loss of their grip on reality. They can't SEE the extra pounds, just 
as they can't see that their son isn't applying himself in school, 
and his terrible social relationships.

 "And Harry? Well, to him, Dudley is a warning. In my post about envy 
I mentioned that Harry might have started out envying Dudley, but 
Dudley has made such a monster of himself that the idea of indulging 
one's appetites eventually comes to seem quite unappealing to Harry. 
(Which is good, as it may close off one avenue of temptation that 
Voldemort might have tried to use to seduce him: "Want to indulge 
your appetites Harry? Want money? Power? All the coke you can stuff 
up your nose?" "No thanks. I saw what that sort of thing did for my 
cousin. Yuck.")"

--So this obviously isn't the first time its come up. I felt like all 
this applies, but there is even more in the files section. Gluttony 
is what makes Dudley "bad". Yes he is abused, and yes in an even more 
serious way than Harry is. By allowing Dudley to become the glutton 
he is they've denyed him the chance of achieving anything and thereby 
becoming "somebody". Harry if nothing else wants to be more than he 
is, and thereby develops character. It might not work exactly that in 
real life (i.e. being deprived doesn't always make you stronger), but 
it's a lot more likely to make one grow than never being challenged 
or being overly spoilt. 

Over all the important thing to look at in Dudley is not whether or 
not he's fat, but *why* he's fat. If so the weight issue does't seem 
so dire (IMO of course)

Scott