CHAPTER DISCUSSION Chamber of Secrets Ch. 3, The Burrow

[jerrichase]

No: HPFGUIDX 188760



--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "potioncat" <willsonkmom at ...> wrote:
> > Discussion Questions
> > 
> > 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?
> 
> Potioncat:
> I agree with Carol; this is a Cinderella story and some of the events >are written in fairy-tale measures. Some of it isn't and the back-and->forth nature of the book sometimes jars. So I didn't get too wrapped >up in reacting to the Dursleys, I just took them as bad people who >were in Harry's way.

I think one of the weaknesses of the series as a whole is this "back and forth" nature.  Sometimes the reader is supposed to think deeply and look for connections.  (Mrs Figg and "well spotted", the time turner, Scabbers, why Moaning Myrtle died in the bathroom, the treatment of house elves, for a few.)  In other cases the reader is best off if they consider it to be a fairy tale, or Cinderella Story and don't look too closely.  (Mark Evans, treatment of Garden Gnomes, hitting the Dursleys on the head with wine glasses, the missing 24 hours, etc.)  

So, if for some reason a reader takes seriously a portion that was "just for fun", they can get upset.  Just as if a reader takes something as "just for fun" which is a serious plot point, they get fooled.

YMMV, of course, but this is the pattern I see in the series.

Jerri