Big = bad: these traces of grossophobia in Harry Potter
Throughout the seven pounds which constitute the original series, we actually meet the repeated amalgam scheme of size and wickedness.Vernon Dursley is a tyrant towards Harry and who, in addition to having an ugly character, is so big that he has no neck.
Dudley, his son, is constantly spoiled by his mother, to the point of obtaining an equally imposing build ... His heaviness is treated as a physical manifestation of his spoiled nature, to the point that Hagrid, in the first novel, decides to stick to himA small tail-of-Cochon with buttocks.Anecdote with harmless appearance, except when this representation becomes redundant.
Me, big and bad
Almost every mention of Vernon or Dudley is associated with a reminder that they are large, generally to describe what they look like when they are cruel towards Harry, made menu by negligence of treatment since his presence in the Dursley family.
Another notable example is that of Marge, Vernon's sister - who made her first appearance in the prisoner of Azkaban - whose weight seems intimately linked to her unpleasant personality.An exasperating character for Harry who, unable to control his anger, manages to swell her like a ball and fly away...
In the same way, the characters of Crabbe and Goyle, the acolytes of Malfoy, or the terrible Dolores Umbrage, reinforce this tendency to correlate a significant size to a personality which rarely evokes sympathy.
What to shake households, as is in particular the case with Laura Wheatman Hill, who explains: "I have history of eating disorders that I deal with in a professional as an adult, and I want my children to bereleased from the 'diktat of thinness''.It is difficult to transmit this lesson when I read a series of books in which Rowling repeatedly lowers his big characters ”.
Indeed, difficult to deny a certain redundancy on the part of the British author, in any case with regard to a large majority of her overweight characters.What about the rest?
A little nuance ...
It seems important here to take a step back, and to dwell on other characters in the various Harry Potter novels, who, despite a somewhat disadvantaged physique - and again, it is a question of taste -, haveNothing raw or torturers.
Let us mention in particular Molly Weasley, mother of seven children, who moves by her sweetness and her generosity towards Harry.Although some will say that she is only a mother hen a little too severe at times, Molly never acts in a terrible or cruel way to be considered a nasty.
Another character who stands out as a kind of kindness is Rubeus Hagrid, a significant character in his nature as a half-man.There is indeed one of the most popular characters in the series.He is a generous great man, honest, helpful and animal lovers - nothing that inspires fear or hostility, therefore, unless you have megophobia, of course.
What about characters with a fluette and whose personality leaves something to be desired?The Malefoy family, for example, does not seem to suffer from any overweight.It is the same for Petunia Dursley, thin, equipped with a neck twice as long as the average.And what about Severus Snape, a threadlike man hidden under his black clothes?
Finally, we would almost tend to forget the real villain of this story of wizards ... Voldemort, formerly Tom Jedusor, who has nothing of Bibendum.On the contrary, he evokes by his attitude the appearance of a snake, with an angular face and a slender silhouette.Strangely, then, his ability to torture and kill all the innocent people who cross his way has nothing to do with his physique - however, he remains the great antagonist ...
Sources: Insider, Lady Geek Girl, The Mary Sue
Photo credits: Jessica Fadel / Unsplash
