CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 3, The Burrow

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 188753

> CHAPTER DISCUSSION: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
> Chapter 3: The Burrow
> <snip excellent summary>
> 1. How did the beginning of this chapter, combined with the end of the previous chapter, affect your impressions of the Dursleys and their treatment of Harry?

Carol:
Obviously, locking a twelve-year-old in his room is worse than making a ten-year-old sleep in a cupboard under the stairs. The Dursleys are moving from neglect to abuse here though I'm not sure I thought about it the first time through. Their treatment of him still seemed like the stepmother's treatment of Cinderella, even down to a bedroom locked from the outside with a key. (The scene from Disney's "Cinderella" of the stepmother dropping the key into her pocket and patting it keeps popping into my mind; in the U.S., our bedrooms lock from the *inside* and they don't have keys, just gadgets you can use to pry open the lock if you accidentally lock yourself out of your own room.) The other image that stays with me is the bars on a second-story (er, first-storey in British English) window. Clearly, Vernon is serious about preventing his escape and wouldn't put it past him, apparently, to fly away--or jump fifteen feet without injury--a magical escape either way. (If Harry can make a pudding hover, as the Dursleys clearly think he can and did, they'll need to take extra precautions to keep him in his room.) But the bars also suggest a prison and may have been intended in part for the psychological effect. But, of course, I didn't think about any of that as I read it the first time. I was enjoying this children's book without taking it seriously.
> 
2. Why do you think Vernon tried to prevent Harry's escape? If he feels Harry is such a burden and freak, why not let him go?

Carol:
Maybe Petunia reminded him of her promise to take care of her sister's child or Vernon is vaguely aware of how young Harry still is. More likely, he's afraid that the neighbors will talk (or report him and Petunia to Social Services) if Harry runs away. If he were seventeen rather than twelve, of course, they'd let him go.
> 
3. What did you think of the Weasley rescue and the flying car?

Carol:

I was trying to imagine the logistics. How can Harry, Ron, and the trunk all fit in the backseat? And I was interested in personality differences between Fred and George (and already liking George a shade better). I don't remember what else I thought. It was just fun; I wasn't taking it seriously.

> 4. Fred and George know how to pick locks by Muggle means. Did you think anything of the fact that they could do this, or did you think it could possibly come up later?

Carol:
It still seems odd that they would know those tricks. They must have learned them from a Muggle-born friend (Lee Jordan)? I didn't think about it coming in handy later.
> 
> 
> 5. What did you think of the Weasley home and the family dynamic?

Carol:
Like everything else in the book (especially Dobby!), the Weasley home seemed over the top. I suspected that the ghoul would play a role later (nothing like "The Ghoul in Pajamas," though!) I like the adult Weasleys (though I've never found yelling to be an effective form of discipline). Then, again, asking your mischievous boys how well the car you've illegally tampered with flew is no deterrent to their behavior, either.
 
> 6. What did you think of Molly's alternating behavior, yelling at her sons, then being sweet and loving to Harry?

Carol:
A bit exaggerated, but Harry is innocent and her sons have engaged in risky, illegal behavior to rescue him. I think that when she realizes that he *needed* to be rescued, she becomes less concerned about the means they employed to bring it about.
> 
> 7.  What did you think of the de-gnoming process: funny, cruel, gross, anything beyond just a humorous scene?

Carol:
Mildly cruel and not funny. But the gnomes aren't sympathetic, so I didn't let it bother me. (Vanishing kittens, though, or turning turtles into teakettles--JKR doesn't seem to think of animals (or whatever gnomes are) as having the capacity to feel pain (unlike house-elves, which can suffer physically and psychologically).
> 
> 8. We learn about Mr. Weasley's job and his obsession with all things Muggle in this chapter. What were your feelings about his fondness for muggle things, and the fact that he enchanted a car via a loophole in Wizarding law?

Carol:
It's hard not to like Mr. Weasley despite his faults. He's like a lot of hen-pecked husbands who tinker around in the garage; he's just a wizarding variation on the theme. Of course, he bends the rules to do it, but so do a lot of JKR's characters. I sometimes wish that she'd make following the rules more attractive instead of leaving it to pompous Percy.
> 
> 9. From this chapter on, the burrow becomes one of Harry's favorite places, and the Weasleys become his favorite family. What do you think draws Harry so much to this quirky home and family?

Carol:
Love, fun, and a sense of belonging. The only other complete family he's ever seen is the dysfunctional Dursleys. Harry knows that having enough money, a nice, clean house, a fancy car, a well-kept yard, and all the toys and clothes you could want doesn't make a family happy.

Thanks, Sherry, and great job with the summary and questions!

Carol, joining the discussion again after a two-month semi-absence