Official Philip Nel Question #10: Class
Porphyria
porphyria at mindspring.com
Mon Jul 15 06:18:22 UTC 2002
No: HPFGUIDX 41210
Greetings, Fellow List Members. Porphyria here, taking over the reins for
#10 in our series of discussion questions from Dr. Philip Nel. This week,
the issue is class.
The way I see it, class is one of those fault lines along which the HP
series is inherently conflicted. While the novels explicitly condemn
bigotry and prejudice, they also make certain assumptions which replicate
the very conditions for elitist ideas: Wizards are by nature more
powerful than Muggles and Harry himself must be 'the chosen one' in order
to conform to genre conventions.
Dr Nel's question asks:
***
Do the novels critique or sustain a class system? Are 'wizards,' as Pico
Iyer suggests, 'only regular Muggles who've been to the right school?'
Because Hogwarts is available only to those privileged enough to be
wizards, is it an elitist school? Or, because Malfoy's snobby attitude is
not presented sympathetically, are the books really anti-elitism?
***
Great question! This brings up a whole pile of issues, but for starters,
here's the link to the Iyer article the question references (NYT articles
are available free with registration):
New York Times: "The Playing Fields of Hogwarts" by Pico Iyer (10 Oct.
1999)
http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/10/10/bookend/bookend.html
Pico argues that the quirky customs, uniforms and subjects of the
exclusive Hogwarts replicate that of British private academies, whose own
peculiar culture makes them seem to have the "sinister clannishness" of a
secret society "designed to train the elite in a system that other mortals
cannot follow." In short, Wizards=the elite, Muggles=everyone else.
With that in mind, let me also recommend this article:
Voice of the Turtle: "Harry Potter and the closet conservative" by Richard
Adams (31 May 2001)
http://www.voiceoftheturtle.org/reviews/books/richard_potter.shtml
Adams discusses how the HP series espouses a mix of both progressive and
nostalgic ideas. Hogwarts is racially diverse and coed, yet recreates the
old-fashioned dream of conservative Britain through its many allusions to
the stereotypical British public school, notions reinforced by the
quaintly anachronistic Wizarding culture at large. He too points out the
inherent superiority of Wizards to Muggles and how this reproduces a
conservative world view:
"[It] is Voldemort who is reacting against the status quo acceptance of
Muggle blood. The conflict between them is not between a rising middle
class and a declining gentry; rather it is a civil war among a ruling
class over how it treats its members, whom it admits into the ruling class,
and how it treats a lower form of life, the non-magician Muggles."
Piqued yet? Here are some of my own questions which I hope can refine the
discussion a little:
1. What can we say about the Muggle/Wizard distinction? Is it
fundamentally elitist that Muggles are incapable of becoming Wizards?
2. Is there anything wrong with the books' depiction of Muggles? Do they
unfairly bear the brunt of hostility? The Dursleys are a satire of the
petit bourgeoisie -- social climbers. But isn't Harry a social climber? Is
Hermione? Do the books associate sadism and pettiness with the middle
class via the Dursleys? What about the books' attitude towards Squibs? Do
we find Filch more or less sympathetic when we discover this about him?
3. Is Hogwarts an elitist institution? Does its resemblance to Eton, with
its cliquish houses, weird sports, funny uniforms and symbolic,
honor-based competitions replicate the elitist values of the British
Empire, critique them, or even satirize them?
4. Is Harry a member of the elite, even among Wizards? In which ways is he
privileged by birth, inheritance, exceptional 'natural' talent or special
treatment from powerful benefactors?
5. Is there an inconsistency in the way that the books treat the problem
of Blood vs. Choice? On the one hand, I think most of us would agree that
Dumbledore explains the moral of the books to Harry in CoS: "It is our
choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Yet the text also stresses the power of blood relations in character
forming: both the Weasleys *and* the Malfoys mention that their entire
family was sorted into the same house and the books are rife with examples
of students who take after their fathers, Harry included -- and he might
even be the heir of Gryffindor. How do we resolve these contradictions, or
can we?
6. How do the books explicitly explore the problem of bigotry and elitism?
I'm always amused at Draco's multifarious reasons for condemning his
opponents: Ron is poor, Hermione is Muggle-born, Hagrid is a servant, and
Harry, heaven forbid, keeps the wrong company. But Draco isn't the only
one guilty of this vice; the whole culture, including our good-Wizard
representative Ron, has set ideas about "creatures" like werewolves,
giants and house-elves, not to mention Muggles and Squibs. How do the
books portray these attitudes? Is there any prejudice that is sympathetic,
such as Dumbledore's aversion to the Dementors? What about the whole
category of "Dark Creatures," to which Lupin belongs -- is it a problem
that "Dark Creatures" should even be a category? Do the books' genuine
attempts at criticizing elitism confront or ironicize the ways that they
also support elitism? Or do the books' progressive views simply clash with
their conservative ones?
7. The Wizarding World is downright antiquated in many ways. For one thing,
the books' have a suspicion towards newfangled technology: we are meant
to look down on Dudley for his video games and multiple TV sets, and to
find charming the fact that Wizard "technology" seems to be modeled on
that of early 20th century Muggles (trains, quill pens, communication by
post, etc.). But the WW also adheres to an old-fashioned set of values:
Wizards embody the Warrior Ethos with its 'death-before-dishonor' idealism
and they embrace adult responsibilities such as marriage, parenthood and
career as early as their late teens. Do you agree with Richard Adams that
the WW's resemblance to Great Britain at the height of its Empire align it
with the bad old days? Is it at odds with the books' explicitly
progressive attitudes in other areas?
Threads of interest from our archives, organized by category:
HARRY AS THE ELITE
Bexis suggests that Harry is one of the Elect:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/29022
ANTIQUATED WIZARD SOCIETY
Elkins defines the "Warrior Ethos:"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/34421
Tabouli discusses cultural fossilization and Wizards as an elite society:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/35129
ATTITUDES TOWARDS MUGGLES AND WIZARDS
David discusses the Hogwarts Quill and what it means about the nature of
Wizards:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/28590
Eric Oppen discusses Wizard attitudes towards Muggles:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/30531
Emily is perturbed by the books' depiction of Muggles:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/30990
Tabouli wonders about the problems of Wizard/Muggle intermarriage:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/33667
ATTITUDES TOWARDS CLASS AND PREJUDICE
Catlady remarks how the Malfoys seem to be the landed gentry of the series:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/5911
Marianne wonders if class matters for the characters:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/29398
Philip Nel himself begins a thread by asking why some characters care
about mudbloods, halfbloods, purebloods while others don't:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/30485
Philip Nel continues by discussing how Rowling's take on prejudice does
not just include the bad-guys:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/30524
Elkins points out Hagrid's subversive bigotry:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/33950
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/40837
Eileen discusses class issues in Magical Britain:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/37420
Hana discusses prejudice in the WW:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/38228
MAGICAL EDUCATION
Christian Stubø begins a thread discussing whether all children with
magical ability must go to Hogwarts:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/13000
Catherine speculates on work after Hogwarts and wonders if maybe some
people flunked out:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/26415
Joywitch replies, no they didn't:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/26681
Cindy counters that there is a job hierarchy:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/26691
And Mary Ann muses about Filch:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/26702
Zoe Hooch begins a thread by asking if all wizards go to school:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/37389
Vince wonders about the magical education system:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/40596
Have fun!
~~Porphyria
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
More information about the HPforGrownups
archive