Harry Potter and the Bildungsroman Genre: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Chapter 3

As chapter 3 begins, we learn that Harry isn't the only "strange" person around. There is also Mrs. Figg, who seems a bit eccentric, although Harry can't place exactly why. She, like Harry, doesn't quite conform to "muggle" society, and we will learn more about that later. In any case, the Dursley's seem to naturally group Harry and Mrs. Figg together as people who are too different to fit in.

Not only that, the Dursley's cant comprehend that anyone would want to write to Harry. In their worldview, different is bad and nonconformity has to be suppressed at all expense. As a startled Duddley asks when Harry begins to receive letters from Hogwarts, "who on Earth wants to talk to you this badly?" (40).

So badly do they want to suppress Harry's individuality, the Dursley's drive to a remote shack on a cliff to avoid the letters from Hogwarts.

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Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic, 1997. Print