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Post by brokenquill92 on Jul 3, 2012 23:46:38 GMT -5
Can Dudley truly be salvaged
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Post by kumainpink on Jul 4, 2012 0:20:55 GMT -5
Honestly, I think he can. All he needs is positive reinforcement. I think he was never allowed to develop personality or character because of his awful parents. It's rather depressing, really.
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Post by Kitty279 on Jul 4, 2012 1:09:01 GMT -5
But he gets ample positive reinforcement, just not for the right things.
If you start early enough, give him clear limits and don't allow him to get away with everything - probably. He needs to learn that he can't have everything, that temper tantrums don't make people give in, but maybe lock him into his room without computer or other distractions, so he learns that's now way to behave. Teach him that Daddy can't take care of everything and that his own actions have consequences he himself has to bear. Then you'd probably make him into a bearable person.
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Post by kumainpink on Jul 4, 2012 1:16:46 GMT -5
Good points, Kitty. And yeah, I do see it happening, if it is caught early enough. Then again, almost anyone can change if given a proper chance or reason to.
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Post by mkatl1 on Jul 4, 2012 1:19:32 GMT -5
I dunno I think his parents coddle and influence him too much but like pink said if he was taken off them at a young age and raised properly with boundaries I think he could.
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Post by Dimcairien on Jul 4, 2012 1:57:12 GMT -5
I tend to think that Dudley got a reality check when he was attacked by the Dementors and also during the time he was in hiding. At least in my head-canon, he becomes accepting of the magical world, though perhaps a bit frightened of it as well.
I also think he rebels against his parents. Not that he hates them, but he hates how they raised him and what they did to Harry.
From canon, we know he's redeemed somewhat as Rowling did say he and Harry's family were on Christmas-card terms as well as the occasional visit.
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Post by kumainpink on Jul 4, 2012 1:59:27 GMT -5
I like that, Dim, and do think that he eventually grew up. It just took him longer.
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Post by viralic1 on Jul 4, 2012 4:33:08 GMT -5
I think he can be redeemed, but it needs to be worked out. I hate it when Dudley just does a complete 180, without even working for it. Yeah, the dementors certainly helped him change, but I'm willing to bet that he had to work to be a better person.
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Silvertongue
Headmaster/Headmistress
I've got Slytherin Pride
Posts: 1,595
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Post by Silvertongue on Jul 4, 2012 6:38:14 GMT -5
I have to agree with viralic here. The dementors definitely triggered something but it was a slow process for his brain to slog through everything and change how he viewed the world. He wouldn't like if his world was turned on it's head and he wasn't all that smart anyway.
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Post by Kitty279 on Jul 4, 2012 6:56:48 GMT -5
And the later it starts, the longer it would take. A 15-year-old Dudley would take much longer than a 5-year-old to change.
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Silvertongue
Headmaster/Headmistress
I've got Slytherin Pride
Posts: 1,595
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Post by Silvertongue on Jul 4, 2012 7:05:20 GMT -5
Oh, definitely. He'd already been brought up with certain ideals and expectations of the world.
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Post by viralic1 on Jul 4, 2012 7:07:06 GMT -5
Oh yeah.
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Post by dracosfairmaiden on Jul 4, 2012 7:34:03 GMT -5
I think he was redeemed after the series. I see Dudley as the Muggle version of Draco: the spoiled sheltered child who was forced to grow up eventually. I liked how in DH Dudley apologized and seemed worried about Harry.
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Post by physicssquid on Jul 4, 2012 8:32:14 GMT -5
I think he was redeemed after the series. I see Dudley as the Muggle version of Draco: the spoiled sheltered child who was forced to grow up eventually. I liked how in DH Dudley apologized and seemed worried about Harry. I agree. I think he did start to change after being attacked by the Dementors, and when Dumbledore told off his parents, he wasgiven somethign else to think about. It may have taken time, but I think eventually he would have come to accept that there were things in the world that didn't conform to his parents' idea of normal, but were relatively normal to the rest of the world. |
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Post by kumainpink on Jul 4, 2012 10:15:38 GMT -5
And that his parents were horribly, horribly wrong.
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Post by G. Novella on Jul 4, 2012 10:25:34 GMT -5
I had a friend who didn't believe that Dudley was abused by his parents. It was the most annoying thing trying to explain how they'd ruined both Dudley and Harry and how things were wrong in the family. She believed Harry was abused, but couldn't understand how sick things were for Dudley.
I always felt bad for him, he never stood a chance thanks to his parents. Had it not been for Harry's involvement in his life and in fifth year, Dudley would have experienced failure his entire adult life.
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Post by Kitty279 on Jul 4, 2012 10:41:48 GMT -5
Well, I guess some can't see how getting everything he wanted is abuse. But when you think how a boy raised that way is going to fail in adult life, at work and everything because he never learned to accept other opinions, to work with others ... No, they didn't do him any favour with that extreme spoiling. It's not the most obvious abuse, but Harry was in truth better prepared for real life than Dudley.
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sherza
Head Boy/Girl
Posts: 705
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Post by sherza on Jul 4, 2012 15:01:58 GMT -5
He wa starting to salvage himself at the end of the books, so yeah, I think he can be salvaged. It'd take some work, but it's definitely possible.
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