People have theorised
about Claudius in Shakespeare's Hamlet for a long time. While to most
he is considered to be the villain of the play, other feel he may
actually be the hero led astray. While we'll leave that to the
academics, I think the same thing can be said about Vernon Dursley,
Harry Potter's cruel uncle. He made Harry sleep in a closest
underneath the stairs before eventually and generously allowing him
to stay in Dudley's second bedroom.
When most people
discuss Vernon they write him off as a necessity to show the
viewer/reader how Harry is living a horrible life, and that his
escape to Hogwarts a world of magic and awe inspiring things is the
best possible thing that could happen to him, and is in stark
contrast to his miserable life before. But most people do not look
at this story from Vernon's point of view. If they did they would see
that Vernon is actually a good person, and a character that I'm sure
a lot of people could relate to in their own lives. He is basically
Harry's father and despite not showing any outward affection towards
him, he cares, deeply. It hard to tell someone that you love them and
he's dealing with Harry the only way he knows how. His spoiling of
Dudley is merely a way for him to psychologically balance his
mistreatment of Harry. It all probably goes back to Vernon's own
childhood. There is issues with this character, I am not denying
that, but I hope I can show you that there is more to this character
than meets the eye.
1. He's Scared
Vernon
is not a direct relation of the Potter family, he came into their
lives through his marriage of Petunia Dursley. It's no wonder that
would be scared. He was introduced into a world of magic, not just
magic but also evil magic.
“....There's
a Dark Lord? Oh..... ok.... Oh? He wants to abolish all non magical
people? Oh my God, the one who should not be named killed James and
Lily? AND we have to take care of their magic child? Shit.”
They
raised the baby Harry, never knowing what he would grow up to become.
The kid has freaking superpowers! I personally wouldn't want to be
anywhere near him. With this in mind it starts to make sense that his
treatment of Harry wasn't the best.
Vernon
knew a lot of things that Harry didn't and he treated him badly out
of fear, but also out of a sense of duty. He knew Voldemort was going
to try and find Harry. He knew how much Harry would have to deal with
and how incredibly tough it would be for him to survive. So he struck
him in the closet and made him do all the housework, never giving him
a word of thanks. Not because he was cruel, but because he was
training Harry. Basically what i'm trying to say is Vernon is Obi Wan
Kanobi.
2. His Job
Vernon
is the director of a drill-making firm called Grunnings. He is very
successful in his job, and works very hard. At the beginning of 'Harry
Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' Vernon has an important meeting in
his home with some business people. He decides that Harry should just
stay in his room, and not introduce his guests to him. This makes
perfect sense since Harry is freaking magic, and Vernon wants this
particular night to be completely magic free.
So
eventually Dobby the house elf shows up and uses a bunch of magic.
Everything goes shit ways and Vernon puts bars on Harry's window, and
pretty much shuts him off from the rest of the world. Although it may
seem to us that he is using unnecessary force, it makes perfect
sense. Vernon didn't know that it wasn't Harry's fault and he was
trying to show him that magic was not appropriate for this situation.
Vernon's entire career has been put on the line, of coure he is mad.
The
bars on Harry's window might also have more to them than we think,
they could serve a dual purpose, he's trying to stop any harm coming
to Harry. Most obviously attempting to stop Voldemort finding him,
but he doesn't know what else might be after Harry in the wizarding world. He's taking every precaution he can think of and if you ask me
that's noble.
3. He Shows the Patience of A Saint
There
are many points when Harry shows complete disregard for the rules of
magic amongst muggles. He uses his evil devil powers against the
Dursleys time and time again, even causing his aunt to blow up like
blow fish. She blows up to a massive size, and eventually to the
point where she levitates like a helium balloon, floating throughout
London and somehow survive the inevitable drop to her death.
Despite
all of Harry's demonic acts Uncle Vernon still gives him a place to
stay and a hot meal every night. I think Vernon deserves a god damn medal for all he's done. At the end of the day sometimes Harry can
act like a bit of a brat. Every response he gives is sarcastic. Could
you image living with that? Some magical teenager who has the power to kill you with a wand. It's like Vernon is living in 1984, but
instead of Big Brother watching his every step it's a hormonal
teenage boy. Vernon has a whole pile of shit to deal with and on top
of everything he has to sleep with one eye open. Harry's a monster,
who has the power to destroy the Dursleys with the flick of a wand,
and Vernon is showing patience beyond anything I've ever seen for
putting up with it.
4. He Cares
The
only negative thing I could say about Vernon Dursley is probably that
he cares too much. He hid all the letters Harry was receiving from
Hogwarts, Hermione, and Ron. But can you blame him? Harry has almost
died like a million time, he's always going to do everything he could
to stop the death of his nephew. The reason he doesn't like Harry
going to Hogwarts is not because he's a bitter cruel man, it's
because he desperately wants Harry to stay in the muggle world, where
it is safe.
Harry
and Vernon don't see eye to eye very often, much like in any
father/son relationship. Vernon is doing his level best but Harry
keeps pushing the boundaries every single time. He leaves Harry in
perpetual misery to toughen him up, every time he shouts at Harry he
is bringing him one step closer to becoming the super solider that he
needs to become in order to defeat Voldemort.
I
salute you Vernon. Never in the field of human conflict was so much
owed to one man.
