[HPforGrownups] It would have been nicer if Dudley were nicer to Harry.

[liz.treky at ntlworld.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 192501

Hey, does anyone in the group wish that Dudley were nicer to Harry? Do you 
think Dudley's meanness was more because his parents were like that or was a 
lot of it was Dudley's fault?

Corey


I think Dudley acted the way he did because, yes, his parents did, but he 
was also expected to act that way, and lastly that he was, in essence, a 
spoilt brat.

The Dursleys didn't want anything to do with Harry, but had no choice. That 
is gonna breed bad atmosphere and he was always bound to be the reason for 
everything going wrong. Dudley was so young when Harry arrived, he would of 
heard constant moaning about Harry, and that 'it was Harry's fault', that 
this became normal behaviour.
Also, consider if Dudley had been nice to Harry for a moment. What do you 
think Petunia and Vernon's reaction would have been? We could speculate that 
Dudley did try to be friendly, but it was easier to be nasty and stay in his 
parents good books.
Lastly, Dudley appears to have been brought up with very little, if any, 
discipline. Kids like that tend to turn into bullies. So this aspect I do 
not believe was Dudley's fault. He even seemed to grow out of it by DH, when 
he told Harry he didn't think him a waste of space.

Liz