I understand why young sheltered Catherine puts up with these people, but why would James? You would think that he could have found better friends at Oxford. He describes John "as good natured a fellow as ever lived" and tells Catherine that Isabella "is just the kind of young woman I could wish to see you attached to; she has so much good sense, and is so thoroughly unaffected and amiable." Rather than being the protective older brother advising his sister to give these people as wide a berth as possible, he is drawing them both in as close as possible. He seems even more naive than his sister, despite having a much longer and closer acquaintance with the Thorpes. By the end of chapter 7, Catherine at least had already determined that she was not pleased by John Thorpe's manners, and friendship and flattery aside, did not like him at all. What is James' problem?