On Letters (was Re: Hmmm. What's your favourite *now*?)

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 183051

> Geoff:
> Just in passing, I think you meant "empathise".

Montavilla47:
Thanks, Geoff.  That was the word I meant.

As for when or how Harry might have gotten one of the 
letters, I think he had a fighting chance to get one on the
second (the day you didn't mention) when Vernon was
fighting Dudley and Harry was choking Vernon.

I think Harry did show some intitiative, by the way, on the 
third day, when he snuck down to get at the post first.

On Saturday, 24 letters arrived.  We don't know how or when,
so it's hard to know what Harry's opportunities could have 
been.  

But, looking over that chapter, something comes to quickly
to mind.  Dudley was as curious as Harry was, and he's 
a lot more effective than Harry at getting his parents to do
stuff.  I know Harry and Dudley don't like each other, but they
have a common goal.  Working together they probably
could have come up with a good plan.

I'm including this snippet from your post:

> 'On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table 
> looking tired and rather ill but happy.
> "No post on Sundays," he reminded them happily as he spread 
> marmalade on his newspapers, "no damn letters today-"
> Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney as he spoke
> and caught him sharply on the back of the head. Next moment,
> thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. 
> The Dursleys ducked but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one-
> "Out! OUT!"
> Uncle Vernon seized Harry round the waist and threw him into the 
> hall. When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms
> over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could 
> hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls 
> and floor....

May I remind everyone that Harry turns out to the most talented 
seeker in one hundred years at Hogwarts?  This scene is like that 
key room, except Harry doesn't have to snatch one special key--
any of them would do.

Another snippet:

> And finally, when they were at Cokeworth:
> 
> 'They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to 
> their table.
> "'Scuse me but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred 
> of these at the front desk."
> She held up a letter.....
> ...Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand 
> out of the way. The woman stared.
> "I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon, standing up quickly and following 
> her from the dining-room.'
> (ibid. p.36)
> 
> Now, where would Harry get the opportunity to (a) get hold of one of 
> the letters and (b) get it away to read it?

How about he opens his mouth at the hotel and says, "I'm Harry Potter
and I want my letter!"  At the very least, it would cause a stink in the 
hotel and a visit from the manager, who might very well decide that
H. Potter should get his damn letters, no matter what the irate 
gentleman with the red face and child-abusive mannerisms says.

At best, they'd call child authorities and Harry would be taken 
somewhere nice--like an orphanage.

Geoff:
> In other cases, if Vernon gets his hands on the letters in time, he 
> rapidly  destroys them.  Harry is not physically strong enough to take 
> on other of the other two so I feel that suggesting he wimps out
> is grossly unfair. Comparison with the Pevensies is not feasible. Four 
> of them - Peter certainly older and bigger than Harry - could mount 
> a much better campaign of diversions and attack than a small eleven 
> year-old on his own.

Montavilla47:
I agree that the Pevensies are in a better position than Harry.  But Lyra
isn't (unless you want to count Pan as her helper).  Sara (the Little 
Princess) is quite alone in the world, but she manages to do most of 
what she wants through sheer force of personality.  And Dido Twite 
was foiling anti-monarchist bombing plots and sailing around the 
world as an undersized ten-year-old.

And heck, it's the wrong thing to do, but Edmund does manage to
betray an entire country and find his way through several miles of 
wilderness to reach the White Witch's castle at 10 or 11.  I'll bet
he could have stolen a letter on his own.  (Eustace, too.)

Geoff:
> You write, 'I can't quite see other kid characters waiting around that 
> long for Hagrid to come rescue them. ' How the heck does he know 
> that there is a Plan B? He probably hasn't realised that Plan A /is/ 
> Plan A at this point.

Montavilla47:
Exactly.  Harry has no idea that there's a Plan B.  Which is why he 
needed to concentrate on Plan A--getting the darn letter and reading
it!

Geoff:
> I think I must launch it successor the QHBC (Quit Harry Bashing Club).
> 
> To misquote the timeless words of a great American, 'Ask not what 
> Harry can do for you, - ask what you can do for Harry.'

Montavilla47:
You're mistaking my meaning, Geoff.  I admit it is easy to mistake and
it seems like I'm bashing Harry.  I don't mean to.  My post was in
response to (was it Potioncat or Pippin?  I know it was a "P" post), who 
said that JKR was deliberately making Harry into an "Everykid" by 
having him act in a mediocre way.

My contention was that JKR was mainly interested in that passage with
piling on absurdity upon absurdity to create humor, and that the 
reader needs to cut Harry a break in terms of his inability to snatch and
read a letter in order to enjoy the joke.

I then pointed out that there are plenty of "Everykid" heroes and heroines
from classic children's books who would have applied more energy and
ingenuity to getting a letter, instead of letting things get to the point 
where they are stuck on an island in the middle of a storm.

James (from the Giant Peach) and Charlie (from the Chocolate Factory) 
are likewise alone, tiny, abused, and poor.  But they both take every
chance they are given, and Charlie persists beyond all reason in
hoping and trying to get that Golden Ticket.

But, it you relax and let the joke progress, and don't stress about
Harry's not getting a letter, it's a very enjoyable passage.

And, as I pointed out in the very beginning of my post, the only
real problem I had as a reader in getting into PS/SS was with the 
first chapter.  Since reading the later books, of course, I appreciate
that first chapter much more.  When I first picked up the book, I
read halfway through the first chapter, thought it boring and put
it down.  The second time, I got through the first chapter and
became engaged by the second one.

Montavilla47