meatandsarcasm: offbeatorbit: meatandsarcasm: aestian: mrsvc:...

meatandsarcasm:

offbeatorbit:

meatandsarcasm:

aestian:

mrsvc:

PETUNIA: You didn’t just lose a mother that night in Godric’s Hollow, you know. I lost a sister. [x]

 #Fuck everything I refuse to believe that Petunia Dursley was a bad person. She was bitter, yes, but she loves her sister okay? She LOVED Lily and it must have seemed like a betrayal to her that her sister left her for this school, this fantastic school that she wanted to go to so badly. And so she grew bitter. As she carried on with her mundane life, Lily’s life was magical. She was intelligent. She was so very talented. She fell in love and got married and everything was lovely but Petunia could never have her Lily back and she could never quite forgive the magic world for doing that. And the day she found Harry on her doorstep can you imagine how fucking painful that must have been I mean she’s been going on for years trying to ignore her sister and then all of a sudden she finds out that she’s DEAD. She’s dead and she’s been killed by the epitome is evil and all she has left is this little baby boy whose eyes are exactly the same startling shade of her sister’s and she both clings to him and also hates him for the reminder of her destroyed relationship with her sister every day and you know what haters to the left Petunia I am so fucking sorry for everything you’ve been through.

#LMFAO I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS FUCKING RIDICULOUS POST  #I swear every time I see it I want to die  #sorry about your luck but the series is sort of about how our choices make us who we are and petunia sort of chose to half starve her nephew and keep him locked in a cupboard under the stairs  #it’s only be the power of literary ~magic that he didn’t end up more fucked up than he already is  #SORRY YOU LOST YOUR SISTER SO THAT MAKES IT OKAY TO ABUSE HER SON???  #reading comprehension and the people showing up on my dashboard who do not have it  #reading comprehension: the gift that keeps on giving  

I think there is a difference between understanding one’s behavior and condoning it.  While I would never condone the fact that Petunia was neglectful of Harry, I can understand why his presence in her life would be…complicated.  Petunia was bitter and terrible to Lily and, in turn, Harry.  But the fact remains that Harry is basically a constant reminder of the world that killed her sister.  It was the world that, I’m sure in Petunia’s mind, took her away and changed everything and, again, KILLED HER.  Petunia’s choice to treat him like garbage instead of like family was a cruel one, but from what we saw in TPT and can just infer from the text, she’s been complicated from an early age.  She’s got a lot of baggage and anger and, I’m sure, sadness somewhere in that mix.  

It’s possible to appreciate Petunia as a character, fucked up and all, and still admit that she’s fucked up. 

I get what you’re saying, and that’s why I think Petunia is pretty interesting. It’s the tendency for fandom (in general) and for people in real life to give too much sympathy for the abuser if they’ve had shitty things happen to them that really upsets me.

I’M LOOKING AT YOU, SNAPEFEN.

Agreed that analysis into a character and trying to understand her/him does not immediately mean that the person doing the analysis is condoning that character’s crimes.  Just straight up opinion on fiction is that I don’t like things black and white—I like figuring out why characters/heroes/villains/the-in-between did what they did, even if their actions can’t be condoned.

And I agree with the very top Petunia meta.  That’s what I feel was going on with her basically.  It does not condone how poor she reacted/what she did to Harry, but it’s interesting to know and ponder.