Race in HP

[flying_ford_anglia]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6758
From: flying_ford_anglia
Subject: Re: Race in HP
Reply To: [Yahoo! #6756] Re: Race in HP
Date: 8/13/00 5:24 am  (ET)

<<I don't know if she is doing it intentionally.We might be reading more
into it than there is.....after all she's not even American(is she?)she
may be trying to make their(HOUSE ELVES)dialogue more child-like than
anything, and it may just be coincidence.>>

JKR makes points against prejudice without citing recognisable minority
groups. By using analogy, she is, I suggest, able to address moral
issues without dragging the books into a political morass. You're right,
JKR not American, and I doubt very much that she intended a direct
reference to black oppression of the type seen in early America. I think
she uses the House Elves more as a commentary on the old-style British
class system. One or two hundred years ago, there was a distinct servant
'underclass' in this country that was lacking in education, poorly paid
and given very little in the way of personal freedom.

I remember, from one interview, that JKR chose the name Hermione because
it was unusual (and not very 'young'). She was conscious of the fact that,
because Hermione was such a bookish type (particularly in the first
book), any girl with the same name might get teased mercilessly. So,
she avoided common names and went for one that, as it turned out, many
people couldn't even say (!!). The point I'm making is that she is
sensitive to the sensitivities of her readers and conscious of people
identifying with characters and situations. She leaves many characters
blurred at the edges, so that we can use our own imagination to ink them
in. What's interesting is when she does reveal more, the details often
challenge our conceptions. In GoF, we learnt that Angelina Johnson is
black, and there was a hint that Professor Sinistra is a woman, but many
of us may have assumed otherwise based on the first three books. I think
there's a lesson in that, too.

Neil