Chapter Three – The Letters from No One

sun-star · 07-15-2006, 03:44 AM

This chapter opens with the repercussions of the previous chapter’s trip to the zoo. The Dursleys punish Harry by confining him to his cupboard until the start of the summer holidays, by which time Dudley has broken his birthday presents and run over Mrs Figg. We learn that Mrs Figg broke her leg tripping over one of her cats and she’s not as fond of them any more; when Harry visits her, she lets him watch television and eat chocolate cake.

Are the Dursleys are keeping Harry away from school?

Is the picture we are given of Mrs Figg in this chapter fully consistent with her later behaviour when we know she is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, or do you feel JKR has changed the character over the course of the books?

In the summer holidays, Harry spends as much time as possible out of the house to escape Dudley and his gang. Harry has now left primary school, and is destined for the local state comprehensive, Stonewall High, while Dudley has a place at Vernon’s alma mater, Smeltings. The contrast between the two schools provides some comedy, but also indicates once more the Dursleys’ lack of concern for Harry: Aunt Petunia refuses to buy him a proper uniform, instead dyeing some of Dudley’s old clothes grey, while Dudley is bought an elaborate uniform.

Smeltings is a parody of a traditional British public school like Eton. In many ways, so is Hogwarts. Hogwarts has some traditions which are just as brutal as the sticks students hit each other with at Smeltings, such as the punishments students receive from Filch.
What does this suggest about JKR’s view of private education?
Most readers will feel Hogwarts is the more attractive-sounding of the two schools. What are the positive features of Hogwarts which distinguish it from schools like Smeltings?
Public schools like Smeltings and comprehensives like Stonewall High have very specific connotations for British readers. For other readers, however, these references may be opaque. If you did not know much about the British school system before reading this book, how did you react to this part of Chapter 3?

One morning in July, the post arrives, and includes a letter for Harry. As we are later to learn, it looks like most Hogwarts letters, being written on yellow parchment in green ink.

Was this letter delivered by owl? It arrives at the same time as the normal post, yet cannot have actually travelled through the post because it has no stamp.

When Uncle Vernon sees the letter, he snatches it from Harry, who doesn’t get to read it. Both Vernon and Petunia react very badly when they read the letter. They seem to be more afraid than angry, fearing that “they” (who does Petunia mean?) are spying on the Dursleys. Vernon decides to ignore the letter, saying “I’m not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn’t we swear when we took him in we’d stamp out that dangerous nonsense?” Vernon talks about wizards as one might talk about something non-human. He also seems to believe that magic can be “stamped out” of a person.

In your view, why does Vernon hate and fear magic so much, beyond the desire to appear normal? What do you think Vernon’s first encounter with magic was like? How did Petunia explain to him that her sister was a witch? Did Vernon ever meet James, or any other wizards?

Later that day, Vernon visits Harry in his cupboard for the first time, and tells Harry to move into Dudley’s second bedroom, where he keeps his broken toys.

What does Vernon hope to gain by doing this?

The next morning, another letter arrives, and once again Harry doesn’t get to read it. He devises a plan to wake up early the next day and meet the postman before the post is delivered to the house, but Vernon is there before him. This time three letters arrive. Vernon nails up the letter-box (with a piece of fruit-cake) to prevent the letters getting through. The next day there are twelve letters, and the day after there are twenty-four. They arrive under the doors, through windows and hidden inside eggs delivered by the milkman.

What kind of magic is operating here? Are all Hogwarts letters designed to behave like this, or is someone controlling these ones?

On Sunday morning, more letters fly in through the fireplace, and this is the last straw for Vernon. He orders the family to get ready to go away, and they drive off without any idea where they are going, changing direction several times. They go without food all day, and eventually stop in a gloomy hotel “on the outskirts of a big city”. The name Cokeworth suggests they’ve driven north to an industrial city like Manchester (cf. Dickens’ “Coketown”). More letters arrive at the hotel in the morning. After more driving, they end up by the coast. Harry realises that the next day will be his eleventh birthday, and he remembers the presents the Dursleys have given him in the past – a coat-hanger and a paur of old socks.

Why do the Dursleys give Harry birthday presents at all?

Vernon has hired a boat, and despite the rain they row to a hut on a rock out to sea. Vernon is in a good mood now, because he thinks the letters can’t reach them here; Harry agrees, but the thought doesn’t cheer him up. When the others have gone to bed, Harry is left with only a thin blanket on the floor, and can’t sleep. He watches the minutes tick away until his birthday, and hears strange noises outside, above the storm. On the stroke of midnight, someone knocks at the door.

Is there any reason, apart from narrative drama, that Hagrid arrives exactly at midnight? For example, does Harry have to remain with the Dursleys until the very minute he turns eleven, before he can learn he is a wizard?

Other points to discuss:
Is the flood of letters really the best way of telling Harry about Hogwarts? Might it have been better for Hagrid (or Dumbledore or McGonagall) to visit the Dursleys right away, rather than driving them to the point of distraction?

What do you make of the title of this chapter?

Butterbeer · 07-15-2006, 05:29 AM

great chapter title!

just a quick question regarding the set up of the harry discussion projetc ..would it not be best to have a sub forum area within harry potter to put each chapter of the discussion in, similiar to the lotr disc project?

makes it easier to see the whole project as one thing then?

best, BB

jammi567 · 07-15-2006, 05:37 AM

Very well done sun-star, this is brilliant!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

In your view, why does Vernon hate and fear magic so much, beyond the desire to appear normal? What do you think Vernon’s first encounter with magic was like? How did Petunia explain to him that her sister was a witch? Did Vernon ever meet James, or any other wizards?

I think his fear of magic comes from the fear of the unknown, like, you don't know what's coming next, you can't control it. And to the Dursley's, if they can't control something, then they fear it. I don't think that Patunia did say, because that would distroy the normal life she's trying to have. Much easier if we block them out and pretend that they don't exsist. So no, he didn't meet his brother or sister-in-law.

durinsbane2244 · 07-16-2006, 02:57 PM

i do think that vernon has met james, because it said that they hadn't seem them for some time, so yes.

jammi567 · 07-16-2006, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by durinsbane2244

i do think that vernon has met james, because it said that they hadn't seem them for some time, so yes.

maybe they met at Lily and James' wedding (much more likely then the other way round).

durinsbane2244 · 07-16-2006, 07:52 PM

oooh, yes. very good point...although, we have no idea which sister is the elder [between petunia and lily], so we have no idea if vernon was in the picture for lily's wedding...

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by durinsbane2244

oooh, yes. very good point...although, we have no idea which sister is the elder [between petunia and lily], so we have no idea if vernon was in the picture for lily's wedding...

what difference does that make.

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

Are the Dursleys are keeping Harry away from school?

Is the picture we are given of Mrs Figg in this chapter fully consistent with her later behaviour when we know she is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, or do you feel JKR has changed the character over the course of the books?

I think they would keep him off, even if it is to shout at him more. Also, depending when he was locked in, and if we assume they were let out around the second Friday of July (the time many British school kids are let out of school for their summer holidays), then that must have some effect, being all alone for a pritty long time by the sounds of it.

On Mrs Figg, i think she's consistant throught the book, of what Harry sees of her in public. This is important because she says in book 5 that she had to be horrible to make the Dursley's send Harry there, so by the sounds of it, she's normally very nice. I'm sure that if the Dementor attack hadn't happened, Harry would've got to've known her true personality better.

durinsbane2244 · 07-17-2006, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jammi567

what difference does that make.

if lily married james before petunia married vernon, how would vernon meet james at james and lily's wedding? that was my point.

also, we need this stickied...to SGH!

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by durinsbane2244

if lily married james before petunia married vernon, how would vernon meet james at james and lily's wedding? that was my point.

Patunia/Vernom girlfriend/boyfriend at J and L wedding, or vice versa.

durinsbane2244 · 07-17-2006, 02:27 PM

the might not've known each other. again, it depends on which sister is older.

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 02:35 PM

Well, yes.

p.s you should post on that "they'll never say that" thread, like you promiced to. all of them are very funny. in fact:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireth

BRILLIANT! rofl
Keep them coming.

durinsbane2244 · 07-17-2006, 02:38 PM

butterbeer's right, you are quite the little thread advertiser...ha...

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 02:45 PM

Are you going to try and answer a question, or is everyone else going to have to, whilst you just try to say the opposite to what everyone says.

durinsbane2244 · 07-17-2006, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

What does Vernon hope to gain by doing this?

well, the letter was addressed to harry in his own cupboard under the stairs, so maybe he was trying to see just how much they knew, or throw them off...

yeah, i can answer too...

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by durinsbane2244

yeah, i can answer too...

that's ok then.

durinsbane2244 · 07-17-2006, 02:50 PM

well than, mister jammi, can you answer, or just say "that's okay then"?

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 02:55 PM

You know i can bloody well answer questions.

durinsbane2244 · 07-17-2006, 02:59 PM

than why don't you go ahead and answer one instead of saying you can?

jammi567 · 07-17-2006, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun-star

What kind of magic is operating here? Are all Hogwarts letters designed to behave like this, or is someone controlling these ones?

I like to think that this is simply an exceptional case, because 'normal' parents let the children read letters that are addressed to them.

07-15-2006, 03:44 AM	#1
sun-star Lady of Letters Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England Posts: 2,476	Chapter Three – The Letters from No One This chapter opens with the repercussions of the previous chapter’s trip to the zoo. The Dursleys punish Harry by confining him to his cupboard until the start of the summer holidays, by which time Dudley has broken his birthday presents and run over Mrs Figg. We learn that Mrs Figg broke her leg tripping over one of her cats and she’s not as fond of them any more; when Harry visits her, she lets him watch television and eat chocolate cake. Are the Dursleys are keeping Harry away from school? Is the picture we are given of Mrs Figg in this chapter fully consistent with her later behaviour when we know she is a member of the Order of the Phoenix, or do you feel JKR has changed the character over the course of the books? In the summer holidays, Harry spends as much time as possible out of the house to escape Dudley and his gang. Harry has now left primary school, and is destined for the local state comprehensive, Stonewall High, while Dudley has a place at Vernon’s alma mater, Smeltings. The contrast between the two schools provides some comedy, but also indicates once more the Dursleys’ lack of concern for Harry: Aunt Petunia refuses to buy him a proper uniform, instead dyeing some of Dudley’s old clothes grey, while Dudley is bought an elaborate uniform. Smeltings is a parody of a traditional British public school like Eton. In many ways, so is Hogwarts. Hogwarts has some traditions which are just as brutal as the sticks students hit each other with at Smeltings, such as the punishments students receive from Filch. What does this suggest about JKR’s view of private education? Most readers will feel Hogwarts is the more attractive-sounding of the two schools. What are the positive features of Hogwarts which distinguish it from schools like Smeltings? Public schools like Smeltings and comprehensives like Stonewall High have very specific connotations for British readers. For other readers, however, these references may be opaque. If you did not know much about the British school system before reading this book, how did you react to this part of Chapter 3? One morning in July, the post arrives, and includes a letter for Harry. As we are later to learn, it looks like most Hogwarts letters, being written on yellow parchment in green ink. Was this letter delivered by owl? It arrives at the same time as the normal post, yet cannot have actually travelled through the post because it has no stamp. When Uncle Vernon sees the letter, he snatches it from Harry, who doesn’t get to read it. Both Vernon and Petunia react very badly when they read the letter. They seem to be more afraid than angry, fearing that “they” (who does Petunia mean?) are spying on the Dursleys. Vernon decides to ignore the letter, saying “I’m not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn’t we swear when we took him in we’d stamp out that dangerous nonsense?” Vernon talks about wizards as one might talk about something non-human. He also seems to believe that magic can be “stamped out” of a person. In your view, why does Vernon hate and fear magic so much, beyond the desire to appear normal? What do you think Vernon’s first encounter with magic was like? How did Petunia explain to him that her sister was a witch? Did Vernon ever meet James, or any other wizards? Later that day, Vernon visits Harry in his cupboard for the first time, and tells Harry to move into Dudley’s second bedroom, where he keeps his broken toys. What does Vernon hope to gain by doing this? The next morning, another letter arrives, and once again Harry doesn’t get to read it. He devises a plan to wake up early the next day and meet the postman before the post is delivered to the house, but Vernon is there before him. This time three letters arrive. Vernon nails up the letter-box (with a piece of fruit-cake) to prevent the letters getting through. The next day there are twelve letters, and the day after there are twenty-four. They arrive under the doors, through windows and hidden inside eggs delivered by the milkman. What kind of magic is operating here? Are all Hogwarts letters designed to behave like this, or is someone controlling these ones? On Sunday morning, more letters fly in through the fireplace, and this is the last straw for Vernon. He orders the family to get ready to go away, and they drive off without any idea where they are going, changing direction several times. They go without food all day, and eventually stop in a gloomy hotel “on the outskirts of a big city”. The name Cokeworth suggests they’ve driven north to an industrial city like Manchester (cf. Dickens’ “Coketown”). More letters arrive at the hotel in the morning. After more driving, they end up by the coast. Harry realises that the next day will be his eleventh birthday, and he remembers the presents the Dursleys have given him in the past – a coat-hanger and a paur of old socks. Why do the Dursleys give Harry birthday presents at all? Vernon has hired a boat, and despite the rain they row to a hut on a rock out to sea. Vernon is in a good mood now, because he thinks the letters can’t reach them here; Harry agrees, but the thought doesn’t cheer him up. When the others have gone to bed, Harry is left with only a thin blanket on the floor, and can’t sleep. He watches the minutes tick away until his birthday, and hears strange noises outside, above the storm. On the stroke of midnight, someone knocks at the door. Is there any reason, apart from narrative drama, that Hagrid arrives exactly at midnight? For example, does Harry have to remain with the Dursleys until the very minute he turns eleven, before he can learn he is a wizard? Other points to discuss: Is the flood of letters really the best way of telling Harry about Hogwarts? Might it have been better for Hagrid (or Dumbledore or McGonagall) to visit the Dursleys right away, rather than driving them to the point of distraction? What do you make of the title of this chapter?

07-16-2006, 02:57 PM	#4
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	i do think that vernon has met james, because it said that they hadn't seem them for some time, so yes. __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

07-16-2006, 07:52 PM	#6
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	oooh, yes. very good point...although, we have no idea which sister is the elder [between petunia and lily], so we have no idea if vernon was in the picture for lily's wedding... __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

07-17-2006, 02:27 PM	#11
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	the might not've known each other. again, it depends on which sister is older. __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

07-17-2006, 02:38 PM	#13
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	butterbeer's right, you are quite the little thread advertiser...ha... __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

07-15-2006, 05:29 AM	#2
Butterbeer Elf Lord Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: here and there Posts: 3,514	great chapter title! just a quick question regarding the set up of the harry discussion projetc ..would it not be best to have a sub forum area within harry potter to put each chapter of the discussion in, similiar to the lotr disc project? makes it easier to see the whole project as one thing then? best, BB

07-17-2006, 02:45 PM	#14
jammi567 I'm Eru, and lord of Arda. Join Date: May 2006 Location: southampton, hampshire Posts: 2,609	Are you going to try and answer a question, or is everyone else going to have to, whilst you just try to say the opposite to what everyone says. __________________ Vote for me, Jammi567, in the 2008 Entmoot elections, and you will get many of the things we need: free, unbiased, newspapers; a strong alliance with many countries, so that war doesn't start over someone breaking their nose on a doorframe; etc, etc This forum is lonely. It's new and confused, and doesn't have many friends yet. Help today by joining for free, posting, and posting this message and link in your sig. So please, join and help make it feel welcomed and loved.

07-17-2006, 02:50 PM	#17
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	well than, mister jammi, can you answer, or just say "that's okay then"? __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

07-17-2006, 02:55 PM	#18
jammi567 I'm Eru, and lord of Arda. Join Date: May 2006 Location: southampton, hampshire Posts: 2,609	You know i can bloody well answer questions. __________________ Vote for me, Jammi567, in the 2008 Entmoot elections, and you will get many of the things we need: free, unbiased, newspapers; a strong alliance with many countries, so that war doesn't start over someone breaking their nose on a doorframe; etc, etc This forum is lonely. It's new and confused, and doesn't have many friends yet. Help today by joining for free, posting, and posting this message and link in your sig. So please, join and help make it feel welcomed and loved.

07-17-2006, 02:59 PM	#19
durinsbane2244 Dreamweaver Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Misty Mountains, where the spirits go... Posts: 3,560	than why don't you go ahead and answer one instead of saying you can? __________________ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ---------------- We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; World-losers and world-forsakers, On whom the pale moon gleams: Yet we are the movers and shakers Of the world for ever, it seems. ---------------- Shanti, shanti, shantih...

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Harry Potter Discussion Project/Sign Up	jammi567	Harry Potter	157	10-06-2011 06:27 PM
Chapter 4 -- The Keeper of the Keys	mithrand1r	Harry Potter	38	08-11-2006 04:40 AM
LoTR Discussion Project: Book II Chapter 4: A journey in the dark	Earniel	LOTR Discussion Project	27	09-19-2005 11:24 PM
The Lord of the Rings discussion: Chapter 1, A Long-expected Party	cassiopeia	LOTR Discussion Project	69	01-27-2005 05:28 PM
The Lord of the Rings Discussion Project: Chapter 5 and Chapter 6	jerseydevil	LOTR Discussion Project	30	08-09-2004 07:00 AM