[HPforGrownups] Re: The Dursleys and Harry: Neglect or abuse?

[annegirl11 at juno.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 115307

Sandy said:
> I bought SS (at a yard sale, for $1) when my child was small, 
> figuring I'd read it in advance and decide when it would be age-
> appropriate. I was really reluctant to read it to him when he got 
> older, because I was so bothered by how badly Harry was treated by 
> the Dursleys. I thought that mistreatment, and Harry's memories of 
> his mother's death in POA (which had me practically in tears) would  
> be very disturbing to a child, but my son has never shown any 
> reaction to either -- I guess both are so out of his realm of 
> experience he really can't understand it...

Yeah, children's authors can put a lot of casual cruelty without
consequence into their books because it doesn't bother kids. Like JKR
said something like, "I'm a children's author, I have to be a heartless
murderer." Kids really aren't bothered by fantasy stories (or fairy
tales) with child abuse, death, etc the way adults are. They don't have
the life experience to relate to it or the abstract thinking required to
sympathize with someone who is in in situation different from theirs.

Which causes problems for the grownup readers, as we've seen on this
list: how to reconcile what's "just fairy tale violence" from what we
should interpret as genuinly damaging to Harry et al.

Aura

~*~
"I have a high self-esteem problem."
- Carson, QE
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