Dahl and the Dursleys (was:Re: Cruel, Mean, and Nasty/Follow the Owls...)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 158896

> >>Magpie:
> Oh, I definitely used Dahl-esque to mean sort of reminiscent but   
> not Dahl. I was responding to the idea that the Dursleys were      
> cartoon characters rather than real characters, or like the other 
> characters. The Dursleys aren't the villains, after all.  They    
> just set up Harry having a sucky life. 
> <snip>
> But they're still obviously bad on their own level. Not because   
> they're horribly abusive, but because Harry's got to have no      
> family.  I can accept them as one of the downsides to Dumbledore's 
> plan for Harry, but I don't think they're a good thing or having   
> no weight whatsoever (particularly since Petunia seems to have    
> become a bit more real).
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh good. <g>  I do agree they're *reminiscent* of Dahl, and 
definitely cartoonish.   The reason I picked this particular nit is 
that it goes towards (IMO) just *how* bad the Dursleys actually 
are.  I agree, they *are* bad, and they certainly go towards showing 
Harry's sucky life.  But they're not as bad as say, Aunt Sponge and 
Aunt Spiker are.

IMO, I think JKR was walking a pretty fine line.  She needed to have 
Harry unhappy, so that (as Magpie said in the part I snipped) the WW 
seemed that much more attractive, but not *so* miserable that 
Dumbledore looks like a complete ass for sticking Harry there in the 
first place.

Personally I think she succeeded.  Not because the Dursleys are 
actually *good* for Harry in some sort of backward way (I don't see 
that they are, actually) or that they don't count at all.  But 
because they aren't *so* bad that it becomes worth risking Harry's 
life to keep him out of their home. 

And it's not that I think Dumbledore is a hero for coming up with 
this plan.  Or that putting Harry with the Dursleys was great all 
around.  I think it sucked, I think Dumbledore realized it sucked, 
but it was, unfortantely, the best plan available.

> >>Ken:
> No, I think the Dursleys would be the neighbors from Hell. I have 
> very broad tastes in music. Vern, Petunia, and I might even enjoy 
> some of the same music but as soon as they heard me listening to  
> Buddy Guy or Easley Blackwood I would become persona non grata and
> there would be no redeeming myself with them.

Betsy Hp:
Well, exactly.  Which is why I don't think they'd be the worst 
neighbors ever.  They'd judge and ignore, and you'd not care a bit 
because... come on!  It's Vernon!  Would you really *care* about his 
opinion?  (Personally, I'd worry if I did something and they 
approved. <g>)

> >>Ken:
> They are unbending and incapable of relating to anyone who is not 
> exactly like they are. Once young Dudders got old enough to start 
> treating his neighbor's yards like his own there would be the     
> suburban equivalent of nuclear war because Vern and Petunia        
> certainly would not reign him in.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Hmm, I hadn't thought about that angle.  Yeah, Dudley could become a 
bit of a neighborhood menance.  But Vernon and Petunia are so weak 
in and of themselves that they wouldn't intimidate the neighborhood 
into doing things their way (I see Hyacinth as a much stronger and 
agressive personality than Petunia).  Which is why I don't seem them 
as the worst neighbors ever.

> >>Ken:
> I'd do fine next to the Weasleys, twins and all, though.

Betsy Hp:
Right.  Until your pets went missing and your daughters turned up 
pregnant...  ::Casts a weary eye at the evil!twins::

> >>Betsy:
> > Now a *Dahl* version of the Dursleys would be your worst        
> > nightmare.

> >>Ken:
> I do not know this Dahl of whom you speak. 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Roald Dahl was a children's book author.  He wrote "James and the 
Giant Peach", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", "The BFG", and 
much, much more.

He's a bit contraversial amongst child educators I've heard.  He 
tends to write in a black and white fashion (good are good, bad are 
bad), and his bad character are *really* bad, but in a very 
cartoonish way.  His dry sense of humor is similar to JKR's, I 
think.  When I was a kid I *loved* his stories.

(Check him out on Amazon.com and use the "Search Inside!" feature to 
get a taste of his style.)

Betsy Hp