The Dursleys and Being Nice and Civil

[lealess]

No: HPFGUIDX 145701

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at y...> wrote:
>
> I'm sure Ron and Hermione have every intention of being polite, 
> civil, and even helpful to the Dursleys. I'm sure they have every 
> intention of being nice unobtrusive undemanding guests, and I'm sure 
> that's how things will stay as long as the Dursley's remain even 
> marginally polite. However, I don't expect any marginal politeness 
> on the part of the Dursleys to last for long, and I don't think Ron 
> and Hermione will fancy it when the Dursleys try to bull and 
> intimidate them the way the do Harry. Nor do I think Ron and 
> Hermione will tolerate any continued ill treatment of Harry.
> 
> The Dursley don't really have to be NICE to be treated civilly in
> return; in fact, polite indifference will do. But if they try to 
> bull or intimidate, or whine and cry,  and you know they will, they 
> won't get far.
> 
> Just a thought.
> Steve/bboyminn
>

Actually, I do think that the Dursleys will get their comeuppance, and
it will fit into the other scenarios we have seen.  Hermione's not one
to hold back, for one thing.  She can be self-righteous and has been
shown to act to protect Harry without any other thought.

If the Dursleys are uncivil, they will get slammed for it because
Harry's friends will feel it is their right to do so.  Is it right,
though?  In the morality of the books, frankly, it is.  How many
characters are ethically "straight," examining actions beforehand,
questioning them, and explaining their consequences afterwards? 
Arthur is really the only one I can think of who does this.  Remus
prevaricates, Molly fulminates, Dumbledore obfuscates.  The Ministry
is corrupt, families are horribly flawed, adults will put children
into dangerous situations or neglect them.  Power is everything.  The
wizarding world is remarkably Hobbesian.

If the Dursleys are set upon by Death Eaters and saved by the superior
magical children, perhaps some readers will cheer: that will teach
them.  How did they feel when Dudley was attacked by a Dementor?  I
was horrified for him.  It wasn't poetic justice.  It was another
example of the "not nice" aspects of the Potterverse, the kind of
thing that spawns endless "dark" fanfiction, the stuff that has me
shaking my head wondering why people want to lovingly examine the pain
and brutality which is all too prevalent in real life.  I appreciate
that Rowling presents the "not nice" aspects of life in her books, but
I wonder if she simply accepts injustice and cruelty more than wants
to change them.  Arthur's Muggle protection laws, Dumbledore's
detachment, Remus' reason, Molly's scolding: all of these seem to be
ineffectual.  We are left with something called "love" which appears
to me to be sacrificing oneself more than acting with generosity
towards others in everyday life.

So, I am not naive about how things happen in the HP books, and what
is likely to happen.  I just don't completely accept the what I
perceive to be the limited ethics underlying the books.

(I love the twins, by the way, not for their pranks, but for their
anti-authoritarianism.  But by pranking and creating a righteous
excuse for it, they become a kind of authority of their own, one which
can't be legitimately countered.  Vigilante justice has consequences,
often not the ones intended.)

lealess