More on Molly

[moorequests]

No: HPFGUIDX 84382

> >  Plump, warm, nurturing 
> > Molly is the opposite of bony, cold, prison-warden Aunt Petunia.
> 
justcarol67:
> Excellent point (but please don't assume that bony women can't be
> motherly!). It's not just Petunia's treatment of Harry that's 
involved
> here. Look how she treats her own son. Imagine her sending him the
> muggle equivalent of a howler, if there were such a thing. She 
doesn't
> discipline Dudley in any way (except for the grapefruit diet ordered
> by the school). Till then she probably sent him sweets--as Draco's
> mother also does.
> 


   Carol:

   Petunia may have the best of intentions when it comes to Dudley, 
but he really grew up as abused as Harry did. Only he was abused on 
the opposite side of the scale. He was overindulged, in almost every 
way, in every whim, and that is worse for many children than to grow 
up as Harry did- underindulged, forced to fight for survival. Harry 
grew up with a keen sense of his own self worth and place in the 
world, but Dudley? He grew up a callous bully, who is afraid of his 
own shadow, who's never had to really fight for anything, and, if he 
was really in danger of death, would die if no one else were around 
to rescue him. If that happened, both Vernon and Petunia would have 
no idea why; or they'd blame it on Harry, if possible. Never would 
they think to question their own indulgent style of parenting which 
left the poor boy without a resource. Dudley in the books is a cruel 
bully, yet I cannot help pitying him, because he never had a chance.

   I think the lessons Roald Dahl tried to teach us in Charlie and 
the Chocolate Factory apply to the Dursleys' job of raising Dudley. 
Too much indulgence= spoiled child. You can spoil a child by too much 
television (Mike TeeVee) too many sweets (Augustus Gloop) too much 
everything (Veruca Salt) or too much bubble gum (Violet Beauregarde). 
And little Charlie Bucket was the only one who had ethics, morals, 
and manners. Somehow those come with the suffering and difficulty of 
a hard life- or else with parents who are too smart to overindulge. 
Getting the right balance is a difficult one, but essential to a 
happy childhood.

 -M.M. 


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.

 -- St. Francis de Sales