Race & HP

[plinsenmayer]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C6983
From: plinsenmayer
Subject: Race & HP
Date: 8/16/00 10:14 am  (ET)

Hi:

Sorry -- I've got a build-up of some things that I more or less just
want to comment on briefly so .... it's a hodgepodge message.

Neil wrote: <<<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 agree completely. JKR is British -- it's not *always* about us Yanks
after all. My own feeling was that she was making a statement about that
underclass of Brits from an earlier time period (Dickensian). I definitely
did not see any correlation between the House Elves & African-Americans
in the US.

Neil again: <<<She leaves many characters blurred at the edges, so that
we can use our own imagination to ink them in.>>>

I especially like that about her writing style.

Neil: <<<Regardless of the reader's interpretation of the whole thing
(which, as Rip
says, is a matter of personal perspective), the point is that Hermione
will not tolerate, and will challenge, injustices.>>>

Again, I agree. It really added dimension to Hermione's character in my
mind. My in-laws said that Hermione & her causes in GoF reminded them
strongly of me (they already thought she was very much like me with her
reliance on books & intellect -- the stands against injustice really
clinched it for them).

But, unlike Neil, I don't agree that it could have been cut. Then again,
I tend to believe that JKR doesn't include even the smallest detail in
her earlier books without some design or plan. It seems to me that it
all turns out to be important for one reason or another later on down
the road (at least so far).

Penny