Uncle Vernon’s attempts to shut outblock, and then run away fromoutrun, the letters can be seen asis an analogy withto people's tendency to try to ignore facts. The tendency to try to avoidAvoiding unpleasant truthtruths is a common human weakness. The idea that if you refuseRefusing to admit something tomust yourself, thenmean it can’tis beuntrue true,and maycan beprovide verysome comfortingcomfort sometimes.in Thethe problemshort-term. is thatHowever, just like the letters that burstbursting out of the fireplace, the truth has a tendency to come backreturn and strike you full force in the face. Unfortunately, this is a lesson that Vernon Dursley never seemsrefuses to learn, as determined denial and brutish ignorance are the key qualitiescomponents ofto his character. This chapter has an enjoyably tense atmosphere, as it is almost as if Harry's true identity and destiny isare rushing toward him, and no matter how hard the Dursleys try to outrun it,. withWith a "BOOM!" on the door, it catches up, and nothing will ever be the same again.
As mentioned in [[Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Books/Philosopher's Stone/Chapter 1|Chapter 1]], there are a few places in the stories where days and dates don'tdo not line up. We have already seen that this book covers events largely in 1991 and 1992. The Dursleys leave Privet Drive for the hotel on Sunday, leave the hotel and drive to the island on Monday (Dudley complains because he is missing The Great Umberto on TV), and so Harry's birthday falls on Tuesday. However, July 31, 1991 is a Wednesday. This trivial error does not truly affect the story in any way, and is included here more as a curiosity than as something for the scholar to concern himself with.
