Chapter 27 Padfoot Returns

[Mike Schubert]

No: HPFGUIDX 10208

--- In HPforGrownups at egroups.com, "Carole Estes" <lrcjestes at e...> 
wrote:

> Questions for discussion:
> 
> 1. What do you think the quote above says about the wizarding 
culture.  I
> was uncomfortable when Sirius so casually referred to inferiors and 
equals.
> I know he was speaking in reference to house elves and wizards, but 
what
> might the pecking order of the wizarding world be.  Are house elves 
on the
> same rung as hippogriffs in the world of magical creatures.  Are the
> inferiors simply non-humans or are there inferior humans as the 
Malfoys
> believe.  And does Sirius believe there are inferior humans?

I was actually planning to post something similar to this. Basically, 
I was wondering about racism (and other -isms) in the wizarding world. 
We don't really see any examples of people being judged on the color 
of their skin, but is that because of a lack of racism or because of 
open-mindedness on Harry's (and the narrator's) part? We see LOADS of 
classism (notably the Malfoys), and I'm just wondering if the ilk that 
the Malfoys hang out with would judge people not only on their 
wizarding background and wealth, but on their culture and race (and 
sex and etc.) as well. One tends to think they would, but we see 
really no examples of that in Malfoy's speech (in fact, he seems very 
pleased to have the Durmstrang students sit at the Slytherin table). I 
believe there's also a comment somewhere where Draco mentions that his 
father had considered sending him to Durmstrang as opposed to 
Hogwarts. Now, this would seem to suggest a certain tolerance on the 
Malfoys' part towards other cultures, don't you think (even if 
Durmstrang IS famous for its Dark Arts teaching)? So is there racism 
in the wizarding world? And if there isn't, do you suppose JKR left it 
out without any particular reason, or left it out deliberately?
Also, can we see peoples' treatment of house elves as a comment from 
JKR ABOUT racism? It could be a rather thinly veiled attempt on her 
part to point out the monstrosity (which is a tough word to spell) of 
prejudice. For instance, the Sirius quote about the inferiors. Now, I 
personally took that as a reference to Master/Servant relationships 
(perhaps better named "Employer/Employee"), not a division based on 
skin color, class, or whatever. But it could also quite easily be said 
that these house elves are being judged based on the "color of their 
skin", and that it's become so commonly accepted that even a person as 
good-natured as Sirius could accept it (although, on that, I have a 
hard time believing that Sirius could/would accept something like 
that). What does everyone think? I hope all this made sense... Maybe I 
should have put it all in a seperate post as I was originally planning 
to. Ah well. 
 
> 2. What do you think of Ron in this chapter.  Was he coming across 
as trying
> too hard to impress everyone, between the other students with his 
tall tale
> about battling the merpeople and trying to discount Hermione's 
observations
> during the cave discussions.

That's tough. I always feel bad for Ron being overshadowed by 
everything Harry does (and indeed, everything Hermione the Brilliant 
does). Based on that, it's hard to begrudge him a little... 
elaboration when something finally DOES happen to HIM. He's only 14, 
he was feeling naturally jealous, and the way I see it, that jealousy 
could manifest itself in a lot worse ways than his telling some 
inflated stories.

> 3. What about Hermione.  Is she showing more maturity than typical 
of her
> age?

I think so, yes, but I also think that we've come to expect that of 
Hermione. If she DIDN'T show extra maturity, we would be confused.

-Mike