On the other hand (was Re: Disliked Uncle Vernon)

[Barry Arrowsmith]

No: HPFGUIDX 92428

JKR dislikes Uncle Vernon? Can this be true?
Surely there's a mistake here somewhere.

Those of you that are regulars to the site are doubtless aware
that Kneasy is a tireless crusader on behalf of the victimised,
the down-trodden and those under the jackboot of the despot.

IMO Vernon is such a sufferer.
Time to take up the cudgels.

Has anyone ever considered the situation from Vernon's viewpoint?
If they have, I can't find it among the past posts (though that doesn't
mean a great deal; a Black Hole is just a sharp intake of breath
when compared to Yahoo!Mort). Even so, you'd think that there
would be a scattering of insightful posts giving support to the one
individual in the series that best represents our own cultural and
social values. Can't speak for those west of  the water, of course, they
will have to soul-search on their own behalf.

We  don't have fat dossier  on Vernon, just a few facts from which we
can base some reasonable suppositions. Family man, wife and one
child, works hard, probably at senior middle management level, sole
wage-earner in the household, lives in the suburbs, a conformist.

See any sign of a monster yet? Neither do I. Though to some that
word 'conformist' is as the cloven foot of the devil. You know the
type - they're the ones that pretend that phrases like "post-modern
irony" actually mean something.

We probably all have experiences of family fights. They tend to be
bitter and intractable, with the participants taking entrenched stances
and only too willing to find reasons to justify their obduracy. Well
surprise, surprise - guess what's happened in Petunia's family. She
and Lily are in just such a situation and this antagonism is passed on
to Vernon, possibly as part of her dowry.

Some claim that Petunia (and by extension Vernon) are exhibiting
some species of jealousy or envy; I don't agree, it's fear. They are
frightened of  magic, it's practitioners and what it can do. Strange
people can change the natural order of the world by muttering and
waving a bit of wood around. Performing cute tricks that may be
entertaining for on the surface, but the implications are terrifying -
there is no such thing as safety and security when a wizard is around.
The Dursleys are only too glad to get away from these horrible freaks
as soon as possible.

All well and good. Young Dudders appears on the scene. Everything
in the garden is lovely and then  - calamity. A bundle on the door-step
one night with a covering letter. Just what the letter said we don't 
know,
but you can bet your boots the Dursley's hearts sank into theirs.

A cuckoo child, foisted on to them by those they most fear. "Look after
him." -  was the additional phrase "or else" plainly stated or just 
implied?
Naturally Harry is not welcome and with his presence their fear returns;
is he going to be like his parents, showing powers that the Dursleys do
not comprehend and so dread? Historically witches and wizards have
had a bad press, they have more or less entered the folk memory as a
bad thing; religious doctrine is even more specific, yet  here they are
with a nightmare under the stairs. A most unwelcome guest.

They give Harry a hard time, well, fairly hard, it's not as if he's 
thrashed
thrice weekly. An old instinct to try to drive out evil by imposing 
virtue?
"Best pretend we know nothing about it" is the attitude they take - 
"with
luck he may not be a changeling after all, and if we forbid all 
references
to this horror perhaps it won't show itself." But one day their hopes 
come
crashing down,  felled by  the weight of a letter through the 
letter-box.

First option -  denial. Nobody seems to have considered that Vernon's
actions might be motivated by concern for Harry. If he had said  "Fine,
off you go to that Hogwarts place, get out and don't  come back" what
would Vernon have lost? Nothing, in fact he might have gained some
peace of mind. "Got rid of the little tyke at last!" But no, he goes to 
great
lengths to save Harry from this aberrant fate and is mocked for doing 
so.

Vernon is by no means a 'nice' man; he's pompous, self-opinionated, a
bully (though he would probably call himself 'blunt-speaking') and not
given to introspection, but he is not evil. He doesn't like Harry and 
is not
hypocritical enough to pretend otherwise, but Harry does live under his
roof and his personal moral code requires him to protect Harry from what
he considers  to be dangers. Hence the reaction to the letters. He 
blusters
and calls magic nonsense, tells Harry to forget it, and live a normal 
life.
Why? Because he saw what  happened to someone who did join the
WW; they were murdered. Like Harry or not, that makes it unacceptable.
  In return, threats. What can he do? It's not as if he could go and 
complain
to someone, who would believe him?
"My nephew is a wizard and his friends have threatened to put a spell
on me."
"Oh  yes, sir? Just breathe into this bag would you sir? George, call 
the
duty psychiatrist, will you?"

I  feel sorry for Vernon, for all  his faults. He's stuck in a horror 
story and
can do absolutely nothing about it. He's pitiable and pitiful, yet JKR 
rates
him as the one she dislikes most in the series.
Doesn't seem fair somehow.

Maybe she's got him lined up to do something really dastardly in the
next book and that's  what she's based her assessment on. That could
do it.

Kneasy