DD at the Dursleys: Why do people dislike the scene?

[snow15145]

No: HPFGUIDX 158008





Magpie snipped:

That's the way the scene comes across to me, which should probably 
explain why I don't particularly like it. I get why other people do 
like it, this is why I don't like it. Also, I rarely forget reading 
these books that I'm a Muggle, so I'm always going to identify with 
the Muggles to a point in any scene. I don't like this kind of 
thing, so I don't like the scene.

As for it making Dumbledore human, yeah, it's perfectly human. 
But "it makes him human" in fandom is usually used to refer to bad 
behavior or flaws that a person doesn't want discussed as such. I 
mean, all the character are human and so are all their flaws. Which 
I think is also implied by saying it makes him human, like Jesus.

Snow:

Jesus is human when he showed that death affected him by crying over 
the loss of his friend Lazarus
"Jesus wept" (which is by the way the 
shortest sentence in the Bible). Jesus showed human nature to 
inevitable worldly mortality. 

Dumbledore shows his human nature affecting him through his 
controlled but nonetheless childish way in which he approaches the 
Dursley's (the human nature part). 

Dumbledore is deliberately insulting to the persons who were 
entrusted with the care of Harry, who was a blood relative. Being a 
blood relative, Dumbledore gave Petunia the opportunity to act in a 
civilized manner and take care of her sister's child; it was her 
choice to be less than human in her behavior to him. However 
Dumbledore did give her the chance since Harry's mother's blood made 
this sad environment protected beyond Any Powers that Dumbledore 
possessed. 

I've heard you say in most of the posts to this subject that it was 
this particular scene that you are replying to and not the abuse 
issue. My question is how you can possibly see this scene out of 
context by discounting the origin that created Dumbledore's actions? 

This all ties together. If I saw anyone treat someone in such a 
manner without provocation I would have to ask myself why he would 
act in such a way. 

Fortunately for us we know Dumbledore would act a bit less than 
polite towards a family who was given a chance and failed miserably. 
I have no use for such people and feel that Dumbledore was all too 
gracious to them but at the same time realize that anything greater 
than what he did, in this scene, would surely bring him down to their 
level. 

There is a fine line between good and evil and between abuse and 
spoiling a child and yet the Dursley's managed to go overboard in 
both respects. If you are not abusing a child, you might be seen as 
spoiling them but if you are spoiling them, you might just be abusing 
them. I believe this to be Dumbledore's point. 

In the end I would have to say that the scene that occurred was very 
well stated. 

Snow