One of the main themes of the Harry
Potter series is the battle between good and evil, and the blend between the
two as well. Two of the main villains in this book are Draco Malfoy, a wizard
boy born into a long line of Slytherins, and Dudley Dursley, Harry’s muggle cousin. There are many traits
that Dudley and Draco share that make them “bad” characters, but there are also many
distinctions between them.
The
first time Harry meets Draco, JK Rowling writes “Harry
was strongly reminded of Dudley”
(77). This comes after Draco says to Harry “I don’t see why first years can’t have their own (broomstick). I think
I’ll bully Father into getting me one and
I’ll smuggle it in somehow” (77). This trait is what particularly
reminds Harry of Dudley, which is being a bully and being spoiled. This is
Rowling’s way of showing that you
should not be a bully, spoiled and you should be generous with others, through
two of the main villains. Dudley bullied Harry profusely throughout their
childhood, and when Harry goes to Hogwarts, he is then bullied by Draco. This
is an important similarity between the two characters.
However,
there is one important distinction between Dudley and Draco, which is that
Dudley is extremely ignorant and Draco is very smart and cunning. Through this,
Rowling is saying that it is bad to be ignorant and rude, but it is also bad to
use your intelligence to trick people and make fun of them. Rowling uses these
characters to show moral flaws of people and to teach the young children that
read the series how not to act.
I find it interesting how the characters at Hogwarts who are actually the most like Dudley are Crabbe and Goyle. Like Dudley they are large. When Harry first sees them he observes, “Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean” (108). Also like Dudley they prefer to use their brute physical strength in conflicts, even though they are wizards. At the Quidditch match when they fought Neville they didn’t use their wands, instead descending into a “whirl of fists” (224). The trait that most defines Dudley, Crabbe, and Goyle is their lack of intelligence. Goyle is described as, “almost as stupid as he was mean” and Harry, Ron, and Hermione are actually surprised he passed his exams (307). Crabbe isn’t shown to be much smarter. However, Dudley is the leader of his gang, while Crabbe and Goyle are followers, serving as bodyguards to Malfoy. This leadership ability seems to be the one trait Dudley has that the two wizards lack. Instead, Malfoy is a gang leader of sorts. This makes sense, as he is far more intelligent than his henchmen, which is why it is surprising that Dudley is the leader of his. It is unlikely that Dudley would be willing to submit to someone like Malfoy and would probably beat him up instead.
ReplyDeleteWhen you consider magical ability, wealth, or even body type, Draco Malfoy and Dudley Dursley couldn’t appear to be more different. Dudley is a muggle, clueless to magic, and Draco is a wizard and a member of a pure blood family. Regarding wealth, Dudley lives in a very normal, plain house while the Malfoy family is very wealthy. Despite their differences, in many ways, these two characters are very similar. In fact, a connection is made between the two characters when Harry first meets Draco in Madam Malkins’s Robes for All Occasions shop and is “strongly reminded of Dudley” (77). I agree that what makes Draco and Dudley similar is their spoiled characters and mistreatment of Harry. Both characters seem to have their own reasons to dislike Harry and are not afraid to express it. Dudley grows up with Harry and witnesses his own parents’ mistreatment of him which may be one reason he treats Harry so poorly. Draco, on the other hand, is envious of Harry and sees him as a threat to his own success and popularity at school. As you mentioned, I wonder if Rowling intentionally placed parallel bullies in both the muggle and wizarding world to demonstrate the moral flaws of people and to serve as a lesson for children reading the series.
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