[HPforGrownups] Potterverse Racism, & technology (Was: Why do 'purebloods' hate Muggles?)

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 47666

Okay, I'm never going to catch up, so I'll go ahead and accept Chthonia's
challenge:

Chthonia wrote:
> I'm intrigued that no-one has taken up the last point I was
> trying to 
> make:  Given that a major theme in the books is that racism and 
> prejudice are stupid and wrong, isn't this somewhat contradicted
> by 
> the ways character traits seem to run in families in the 
> Potterverse?  Although one might expect there to be family cultures 
> which would make sibling/offspring entry into the same school House 
> more likely, even at eleven years old I'd expect individual
> traumas, 
> sibling rivalries etc to have produced differing motivational 
> drives.  (Should Percy Weasley not have been a Slytherin? ;-)  But it 
> seems that bloodlines do indeed have a significance?

Yes, this has always bothered me, too.  "Another Weasley - I know *just* what
to do with you - Gryffindor!"  (Is this movie tainting, or did the Sorting Hat
really say that about Ron?)  Anyway, 7 children in one family (and their
parents, I believe?) all in Gryffindor, and generations of Malfoys in Slytherin
(this may be over-generalizing on Draco's part - I don't think he would tell a
kid he just met that "all of my family have been in Slytherin, except Uncle
Ralph and Cousin Larry, but they're weird").  This does sound like bloodlines
have significance.  Of course, the Weasley kids have all been brought up by the
same parents and may have gleaned the same basic values from them, but I who
only have 2 children know how different kids are by nature.  I like your idea
about Percy belonging in Slytherin.  He doesn't stick up for himself much
(Weatherby), which I would expect a Gryffindor to do, and he is certainly
ambitious.

Chthonia continued:
> And why is it worse for Draco to call Hermione a Mudblood (CoS pg 86-
> 89, and elsewhere) than it is for Hagrid to say that the Malfoy's 
> have `bad blood' (CoS pg 51)?  I wonder if JKR is allowing us
> to 
> accept all the anti-Slytherin comments only to turn our own 
> assumptions against us later on...

My take on this: JKR is pointing out that prejudice shows up in the most
unexpected places, and that it can be harmful even when it appears to be
harmless.  Here, Hagrid is perpetuating the Trio's assumptions about the
Malfoys.  This is another example of prejudice: one that the Trio (and probably
the readers) share, so it's not challenged the way Draco's "Mudblood" is.  It's
said in a private conversation among like-minded people, which is how
prejudices in real life often fester and get built up and justified.

For this reason, I suspect that Draco will indeed surprise us in later books
(perhaps other Slytherins, as you say, but I suspect Draco in particular). 
Somebody else (sorry, deleted the post) brought up the possibility of a
showdown between Lucius and Snape in which Draco would have to choose between
them, and would probably choose Snape (and thus Dumbledore over Voldemort). 
Another possibility is that Draco will be put in a position to help the Trio,
but they won't take his help because their prejudices about him lead them to
mistrust him.  Much like the way Harry's mistrust of authority figures (due to
his treatment by the Dursleys) usually causes him a lot of trouble.

I'm a big advocate of the idea that HP demonstrates morality by
*counter-example* much more than by example.  The Trio are not infallible,
perfect little role models, like some anti-HP people want them to be if they're
in a children's series; they make mistakes, suffer the consequences, and learn
and grow from their mistakes.  I believe that this is why some of the good guys
also show prejudice in the series - good guys make mistakes too.  This is
prejudice in its more subtle form, and it's important to be able to recognize
it.

My two knuts.
- Sherry


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

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