Is Dudley...slow?

[madlysarcastic]

No: HPFGUIDX 117782


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "ericoppen" <technomad at i...> wrote:

> I've sometimes wondered if a lot of Petunia's attitudes couldn't be 
> explained by saying that Dudley's...slow of wit.  What I think is now 
> called a "special-needs child", although the PC authorities may have 
> come up with fresh euphemisms. 

Maddy says:

I don't think he is mentally defficient. He's not the brightest bulb
in the box, but I don't think it's anything serious.

I think because his parents spoil him, give him everything he wants,
whenever he wants it, make excuses for him, are unable to see anything
he does as wrong, or unacceptable and always think well of him no
matter what he does, nothing he ever says or does is challenged. His
parents don't try to challenge his way of thinking, his behaviour or
ever challenge him intellectually. I sometimes think that those we
believe are "intelligent" are that way because they've spent much of
their lives thinking, asking questions, or have been encouraged to
think and ask questions. And the Dursley's haven't done either with
Dudley. What ever Dudely wants, goes.

They tend give him whatever makes him happy, not what is for his own
good. Making him read a book once in a while, instead of watching tv
would probably be for his own good, but Petunia and Dursley would
never do such a thing, unless the need was very dire. Such was the
case with Dudley's diet. It was an unavoidable fact that there weren't
uniforms his size at Smeltings, so they couldn't ignore the fact that
Dudley was overweight unless they were to have him switch schools or
something.

I think his parents' attitude of letting him do whatever he wants is
what makes him feel like he doesn't have to do math problems, or
whatever a school assignment may be, and what makes him feel like it's
perfectly alright to bully and beat up other children.

Take for instance, in PS/SS when he's struggling to figure out how
many birthday presents he's got:

(from page 21, PS, Bloomsbury/Raincoast)

'And we'll buy you two presents while we're out today. How's that,
popkin? Two more presents. Is that alright?'

Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work. Finally he said
slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty ...'

'Thirty-nine, sweetums,' said Aunt Petunia.

'Oh.' Dudley sat down heavily and grabbed the nearest parcel. 'All
right then.'

---

Petunia doesn't encourage him to figure it out for himself, but
provides the answer for him so he doesn't have to work it out. For
someone who's struggling in math, it's better to show them *how* to
arrive at the correct answer, rather than just telling them how to do
it. It looks like "hard work" because he's out of practice. He's
probably not forced to do math problems very often, so he's not used
to them, and doesn't have a good idea of how to go about them, even a
simple one.

So I think Dudley, like most people, has the potential to be
intelligent, but has always been given everything he wants, including
excuses not to work hard at school, or develop his intelligence.

Although, that does not explain *why* the Dursleys are so intent on
spoiling their son rotten.


=)
Maddy