[HPforGrownups] prejudice in the WW (was: If I had to choose...)

[Hana]

No: HPFGUIDX 38228

Hi, here's my two knuts.

Penny quoted then said:
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>"Well, I thought he must be," she [Hermione] said, shrugging, "I knew he couldn't be pure giant, because they're about twenty feet tall.  But honestly, all this hysteria about giants.  They can't all be horrible...it's the same sort of prejudice that people have towards werewolves...it's just bigotry, isn't it?"
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>Ron looked as though he would have liked to reply scathingly, but perhaps he didn't want another row, because he contented himself with shaking his head disbelievingly while Hermione wasn't looking.
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>This suggests to me that: (a) Ron still has some lingering prejudice against werewolves, Lupin notwithstanding (and don't forget Ron doesn't get another opportunity to interact with Lupin after the Shrieking Shack scene.... and so we don't *know* that Ron does or will do fine with interacting with Lupin after it's confirmed that he is a werewolf), and (b) he doesn't think much of Hermione's thoughts about giants *or* werewolves *or* bigotry.<  

I think that Ron rightly has lingering prejudices against werewolves, and I also think that he doesn't believe in Hermione's thoughts on magical creatures esp. giants and werewolves.  I don't think that Ron's really a bigot, though he has some of the prejudices that seem common to people raised in the wizarding world.  

The interesting thing I find about discussion of prejudice against magical creatures such as werewolves, giants, and house elves is that it seems to be something that people raised in the wizarding world take for granted while those raised in the Muggle world have other views.  For example Ron, the twins, Hagrid hold less than positive views of certain magical creatures while Hermione is usually in their favour and Harry seems to generally reserve judgement.  

>Heidi said: I also think, in degrees, that Ron's been mean and destructive and certainly prejudiced ("Get away from me, werewolf!"; house elves like work; giants are "not very nice".)<

Growing up, H&H would have thought all of the magical creatures were make believe (and probably evil if you think about stories about  werewolves and giants) while the others grew up in an environment where they ~are~ real and have proven to be dangerous in the past.  Sure there are exceptions -- there'd be no Hagrid if there weren't, but when you spend your entire life believing one thing, it's hard to stop without proof to the contrary.

I believe that Ron is basically a logical person at heart.  If he has enough positive interactions with giants or werewolves he will change his opinion, othewise I see him making exceptions for Hagrid and Lupin etc. but not for the general population.  

As for Ron's reaction to Lupin, in all honesty, can you blame him?   ~Ron~ doesn't know that there's a potion that makes Lupin safe from killing indiscriminantly, and it ~does~ happens to be a full moon out -- I'd be scared if I suddenly had the information that my favourite teacher was a werewolf sprung on me like that when I was already in pain from a broken leg and cornered by a wanted murderer -- think about what had led up to the declaration "Get away from me, werewolf!".  Talk about stress.

Now, I'll admit that judging people, or a species in this case, by reputation is a form of prejudice, but how is Ron to know any better?  Werewolves always kill people or turn them into werewolves -- Lupin is the exception to the rule, and only if he takes the potion.  No matter what Lupin in human form thinks, if he were to transform without the potion then he ~would~ kill them all without thinking about it.  The fear is justified, but I think that Ron would be open to trusting Lupin ~except~ at times of the full moon once he had the chance to think about it and if the next time they meet they interact well. 

Concerning the giants, it would be have to be hard for people who lived through Voldemort's first reign of terror to have a positive attitude towards them, and that prejudice would be passed onto their children.  After all, in the earlier struggles against Voldemort, the giants joined ~Voldemort's~ side.  I'll admit that this was most likely caused by prejudice but it becomes a vicious circle -- "we fear and hate you because your reputation says you're deadly" "We joined the enemy because you hate us" "you joined the enemy so we hate you" "You hate us so we'll hurt you" "We fear you because you're dangerous. . ." and so it continues.  The only way for it to stop is to encounter enough exceptions to the rule, or have someone from outside, like Hermione, step in and break the circle of prejudice.

The issue of the house elves, however, is something else entirely and I won't say much other than who's fault is it really?  The wizards who use the house elves like slaves, or the house elves who are content to be slaves (with the notable exception of Dobby who is shunned by his fellows)?. If a law came in saying that all house elves were to be released and paid for their services most of them, judging by the reaction at Hogwarts, would be utterly humiliated and probably pine away like Winky.  Is this really saving them?  I think that until the house elves ~want~ freedom and payment it's pretty pointless to do anything but let them work as they choose.  You have to ~want~ to be saved in order to be saved.

Well, I think that I got a bit further off topic then I'd planned but oh well.

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--Hana




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