Chapter 2: Nice to Eat With You: Acts of Communion

Acts of communion, no matter what setting, are intensely personal.  The simple act of taking food into your body is personal.  Foster touches on the fact that eating is so personal, we ensure that we're typically around people we are most comfortable with.  When we are uncomfortable with someone, the exchange is awkward and timid.  A great example would be in the contrast of eating styles in the Harry Potter series.  The exchange at the Dursley home, Harry's first home, while eating dinner, is awkward and everyone seems to be on edge.  There is a lingering air of unease and discomfort as one can feel the distaste in the air the characters have for each other.   Foster writes, "Generally, eating with another is a way of saying "I'm with you, I like you, we form a community together.""  Quiet cold families tend to have quieter more uncomfortable meals.  While at Hogwarts, the mood in the Great Hall was exuberent and uplifted.  The complete opposite of what it was like at the Dursley house.  Harry was surrounded by people he felt accepted and wanted by.  Rather than the Dursleys, who Harry felt dejected and like a burden.