The Vanishing Glass, reviewed
Reviewing the second chapter of Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone
Summary
To paraphrase J.K Rowling, nearly 10 years have passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on their front step. To illustrate the passage of time, she (what I’m guessing is Rowling’s pronoun of choice, given social discourse) presents the fixation and ornamentation of the Dursley household on Dudley’s growth from a large pink beach ball of a baby, into a fat boy. You could say that he aged like a Twinkie, but Dudley probably ate the Twinkie before it could age.
Rowling spends much of this chapter describing the miserable conditions of neglect and abuse in which Harry Potter is living and uses Dudley’s birthday celebrations as an indicator of it – a day where normal families would distribute care and attention equally to all children regardless of whose birthday it is. The chapter ends with Harry casually dialoguing with a snake leading to a series of extraordinary events that defy the laws of physics for which even the zookeeper could not provide an explanation for.
Reaction
Where the hell does Harry Potter get the self-esteem from to talk back and express sarcasm to his aunt and uncle? He has spent his entire consciousness being sat on by them – both literally, and metaphorically. Especially considering that the only thing he likes about himself is a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead – probably because it made him feel special and different. What a hipster-doofus.
Based on how he’s been treated, every answer Harry gives to something the Dursleys say should be either “yes” or “not yet”. Imagine how big of a prick he would be with this innate self-esteem if he had even semi-supportive guardians. Dudley is a real one; he knows that little boys can’t cry when their boys are around. However, for some reason, he’s able to count to 36 confidently but unable to add 2 to 36. Clearly, Rowling hates the person Dudley is based on and just wants to make them look unnecessarily stupid.
Also, how the hell does the Brazilian boa constrictor know any Portuguese if it was bred in captivity in the United Kingdom? Get real, Rowling…
Review
As the chapter closes, Rowling coalesces Harry’s misery and existential dread with powerful catharsis. The people he lives with treat him horribly, refuse to offer him any sense of self or connection to his family, and proactively deny any flourishing. The build-up to this is excellent, starting from the only information Harry has of his parents is that they died in a car accident and that if Harry himself suddenly died, virtually nothing about number 4 Privet Drive would change. Except that Uncle Vernon would have fewer things to complain about.
The transition to the summary was powerful with Rowling planting the seeds of Harry’s longing for connection back to the beginning of the chapter when he was dreaming about the flying motorcycle that he arrived on. It’s these seeds that make the peculiar interactions that Harry reminisces about with witches and wizards that he does not know, more meaningful.
Lastly, the relationship between Uncle Vernon and Dudley, in this chapter, seems strange and difficult to believe. Aunt Petunia would want to believe she bred a perfect child, and that Dudley could do no wrong. However, Uncle Vernon is stern and presented to avoid showing weakness. And yet, he continuously caves to Dudley’s whims (good publication) and offers no counterbalance to Aunt Petunia “babying” their child.
