Pre-Hogwarts education and the Weasleys

[naama]

No: HPFGUIDX 7724

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Rita Winston" <catlady at w...> wrote:
> 
> I really believe that MOST wizarding folk are not as ignorant of 
> Muggle culture as the Weasleys are.

I'm not sure what you base this on. In GoF a lot of the wizards at the match don't know how 
to use matches, and practically all of them (except Crouch) wear odd assortments of muggle 
clothes. I should say that most wizards do not even know about eklectricity. Its Arthur's 
enthusiasm combined with ignorance that make him so (endearingly) ridiculous. 

> 
> 2) Arthur's fondness for Muggles is a patronizing kind of fondness. 
> For example, when explaining the Muggle-repellent spells around the 
> World Cup stadium in GoF, he remembers to follow up his remarks 
> about Muggles with something like "Bless their little hearts". When 
> he asked Harry about electricity and telephones, his commented was 
> "Amazing how they've been able to get along without magic."  
> 
> Thus, from him to send his CHILDREN to be educated by Muggle would 
> be like an American business person in a Third World country who 
> admires the local people for their folk songs, their handicrafts, 
> their friendliness to strangers, sending hisir children to be 
> educated by the local people in folk songs, handicrafts, food 
> gardening, forest hunting instead of sending them to a school that 
> would teach them the courses required for college admission, like 
> chemistry and calculus.

It would be the classical example of the anthropologist going native.

Naama