Are all Slytherins rotten to the bone? etc.

[Flying Ford Anglia]

No: HPFGUIDX 8427

<<<Are all Slytherins rotten . . . ?>>>

Following on from interesting posts by Amy and Heidi on this topic, 
I'm inspired to write something...

I don't think all Slytherins are evil.  In fact, I doubt that any
of 
them in Harry's generation are evil.  True, Draco is a spoilt and 
obnoxious little snide, but his sort of school bully is a coward 
whose attitude invariably comes from his own insecurity and, perhaps, 
loveless family background.  In public, Draco appears to be proud of 
his heritage, and he probably is to an extent, but he is his
father's son, and, IMO, he is heavily influenced and ruled by
Lucius.

[A roll on the drums] I'm wheeling out the `Harry's point
of view' argument once again: Harry's experience of Slytherin
is 
mainly through his interactions with Draco and his henchboys and, 
although many of the other Slytherins are portrayed as fairly vulgar 
in character and appearance this may just be Harry's view of
them, 
coloured by his encounters with Draco (and, by association, 
Voldemort).  Okay, there were some Slytherins among the Death Eaters, 
but should we assume that the children of these people are, without 
fail, as bad as their parents?  Perhaps Slytherins of a certain age 
were drawn to Voldemort because they were part of a close-knit group, 
which included only a few genuine supporters; they were ensnared by 
the `cult' before they knew where they were and lived to
regret it (to me, this what happened to Snape).

There is a tradition in the school of Slytherin House playing up 
certain negative characteristics, and the kids from the other Houses, 
particularly Gryffindor, buy into that "they-a
re-our-mortal-enemy" 
thinking and, perhaps, see villainy where there is none.  How much of 
the generic Slytherin character is real and how much of it embroidery 
for in the name of lore?

It seems to me very unlikely that every child in Slytherin is a 
baddie, even if most of the Dark Wizards are bred there.  We may 
wonder why Hermione – an obvious Ravenclaw – was sorted to 
Gryffindor.  We may also wonder why Cedric – who showed great
courage and strength in the Triwizard Tournament – was sorted to
Hufflepuff.  I'd say it's because the House characteristics
are
generalisations and the children are not fixed, unchanging entities.  

There is a tendency in life to pigeonhole people according to group 
characteristics and then assume that everyone who identifies with 
that group shares the associated traits.  The diversity of the views 
expressed in this group alone should be a good indicator of the error 
of assuming that all `XYZs' are the same.  Having written
Slytherin into a fairly rigid definition, I think JKR now has an 
opportunity to challenge the assumptions she has encouraged and make 
the reader think twice about stereotyping people.

Um, sorry.  This got a teensy bit long.  Did you stay awake?

Neil

PS - sorry about the odd line breaks: I can't get rid of them for 
some reason