The Dursleys Misunderstood?

May 19, 2016

Posted by: James

Actor Interviews, HP Cast, Shaw

Fiona Shaw, known to fans in the Potter Universe as Mrs. Dursley, brought to light an interesting thought on the family we love to hate while giving an interview to the RadioTime. Fiona Shaw said,

I was always very pro the Durlseys, I liked who they were, because they’re just trying to do well in life..”

The extraordinary thing about the Dursleys is not only are they normal and ordinary and therefore full of the fantastical fears that people who are normal and ordinary are full of, and dread events happening and find that a lot of events happen, but they’ve also got the vulnerability of people…

This begs the question, were we all wrong about the Dursleys? It is of course true that us mere muggles face a set of fears the wizard community does not. Does this however explain away all the mistreatment Harry got at the hands of the Dursleys “fear”? I do think that normal muggle family taking in a young and powerful wizard wanted by the most fearsome of evil beings that graced the earth would have things to fear.

The Dursleys are only afraid of what people might think of them, Fiona Shaw backs up that thought by saying,

Maybe they were slightly trying to top their neighbours, maybe there was a bit of that, certainly Petunia was, but that would be an act of imagination, but just a limited imagination and maybe not a generous imagination.

The Dursleys do not fear a gruesome death because they can’t fathom fearing a wizard. To the Dursleys wizards are not an equal to “normal” people. We know the Dursleys fear crazy people remember their reactions to Sirius Black when he was just an escaped con “he could be coming down the street right now” they were even scared of Sirius when he was Harry’s Godfather, that was probably again not fear of pain but embarrassment that their neighbors may see him.

The Dursleys treated Harry badly because he was a tie to family they resented not feared. Vernon saw Harry as the kid that could link him to “wierdos” and Petunia wanted more than anything to be a witch when she was young and the sight of Harry was a sharp reminder that she never got that wish. The Dursleys had hatred in their heart for Harry, not fear of impending doom. The thing is they do have a reason to be mad, but it’s at the situation not Harry. Remember the Dursleys didn’t ask to be Harry’s guardians that was forced upon them by an unknown entity.

Maybe Fiona Shaw is right about the Dursleys having an actual reason for the terrible way they treated young Harry Potter. The Dursleys were just not nice people, they enslaved Harry, let Dudley bully everyone, and they relished at the chance to flaunt their status in life. Fiona Shaw in her RadioTimes interview even goes so far as to say that Harry misunderstood their intention, saying, “I think a lot of children have that experience of their parents who they find boring, old-fashioned, nerdy.

What do you think? Are we all tragically mistaken about the Dursleys or are the just mean nasty people?





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