[HPforGrownups] Dudley vs Draco

[tillrules at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 27941

In a message dated 10/19/2001 11:56:36 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
dorothydch at yahoo.com writes:

<< This is the first parallel we see.
 
 Does Dudley hate Harry because his father does?
 
 We see clearly that prejudice is learned at home. Draco and Dudley's 
 prejudices are fostered and perpetuated by their parents. Dursley 
 gives his son anything he wants and makes sure that Harry always has 
 less.
 
 Malfoy, buys the whole team new brooms so that his son can be "better" 
 than Harry.
 
 The sins of the fathers in these two cases squarely falls upons their 
 sons.
 
 Again, we will have to see if these sons make the "right" decisions 
 for themselves.
 
 Dorothy
 
  >>

I'm not buying that it's the parents fault in either case.  At very least, 
the two boys are responsible for being contemptible little jerks.  For 
example, Dudley is portrayed as a bully, not only of Harry, but other kids 
with his gang.  In PS/SS,  Harry refers tohimself as Dudley's gang's favorite 
target, but when describing Piers, says that he held the arms of people while 
Dudley hit them, very clearly implying that he did not only bully Harry.   So 
its not only Mr. Dursley's dislike of Harry which causes the bullying, its 
something in Dudley whih makes him dislike Harry.

Draco's the same case.  He may have learned a degree of the hate he displays 
at home, but it is very possible for a child to break from that.  I grew up 
with parents who lean towards racist, but even by my early years realized 
that racism is wrong and did not continue to look at people that way.  If 
Draco were solely bad because of his father, then he would not be bad outside 
of his father's view, similar to the child who's well behaved at home, but a 
terror outside of it.  

He's out of the house in a place where his father holds very little sway, b/c 
of Lucius's relationship with Dumbledore, and he does not change.  He has the 
opportunity to learn new things and interact with others in a way that could 
overcome whatever racism he learned at home.  But this is not the case.  He 
goes out of his way to stay the way he is.  

Draco is very clearly proud of his father and his ability to affect things as 
a powerful figure and brags about it a number of times.  In fact, he contacts 
his father a number of times in the canon to tell him of events happening in 
the school so his father can act on them (the blast eared skrewts, for 
example or Buckbeak).     In addition, in a conversation with Harry,  which 
has no way of returning to his father, Draco is elated at the return of 
Voldemort.  This is not a kid who is doing things to impress his father or to 
forestall his father's wrath.  He's simply a bad kid.