race [book differences?] / Dean Thomas-Tom Riddle

[GulPlum]

No: HPFGUIDX 40300

rosie wrote:

> The character that really caught my attention, 
> though, was Angelina Johnson. In the US hardcover GoF, when she 
comes to 
> breakfast after putting her name in the goblet (Ch 16 pg 261), she 
is 
> described as a "tall Black girl." I don't have my other books with 
me to 
> double check, but I don't remember her being described this way in 
any of 
> the other books.

Quite right. That's the only time her ethnicity is mentioned.

> Is this true of the UK editions, too, or is it yet another 
difference in the 
> American versions? 

It's there in the UK edition as well (page 230).

> If it's so important that we know her race (otherwise, 
> why mention it?), then why wait until the fourth book before 
telling us. 
> It's not as if Angelina was some minor character that Harry 
occasionally 
> passed in the halls, but didn't really know. She was a member of 
his house 
> and a fellow teammate on Gryffindor's Quidditch team.

Most of the times Angelina is mentioned are during matches. This 
time, the Narrator introduces her to us, and so perhaps this is the 
first time JKR has had the opportunity to mention the fact non-
obtrusively. I doubt any character's racial makeup actually has a lot 
to do with the plot but I suspect that by Book Four, JKR had had a 
few comments more than she'd have liked about the fact that on the 
whole, her characters at least appear to be "too white". As one of 
the morals of the books is that purity of blood (or lack of 
the "right" blood) is irrelevant, she may well be trying to underline 
the fact that Muggle ethnicity is irrelevant to the wizarding world. 
Although, perhaps interestingly, we've not had any non-white 
Slytherins yet...

Also, this goes back to Dean Thomas. Despite being Harry's roommate, 
we know nothing about him to date (UK readers don't even have the 
statement that he's black), so I assume there's more to come. Under 
the circumstances, not having anything about Angelina isn't all that 
strange...

> Do the books point out the races of other characters? I only seem 
to 
> remember references to the black students (All three of them, I 
think - 
> Isn't Lee Jordan black? I'm suddenly drawing a blank...) 

>From recollection, he's not specifically stated to be black, but he 
is described as having dreadlocks. Whilst objectively white people 
could have dreadlocks, it's a rarity and it can therefore be assumed 
that he's black. 

Meanwhile, some 
> people have suggested that Parvati and Padma Patil might be Indian, 
based on 
> the Hindu inspirations for their names. 

"Patil" is a bit of a giveaway. :-) I have no idea what the Indian 
population is like in the USA, but over here (and especially in very 
Asian areas like the one I live in), the Patils and Patels are all 
over the place, anmd one doesn't need to think twice about where 
they're from. :-)

Cho Chang's name suggests an 
> Oriental background. And yet, I don't remember any passages stating 
that 
> "Harry had a crush on Cho, a pretty Asian girl." 

Strangely, another linguistic difference. :-) The immediate 
interpretation of "Asian" in the UK would be Indian/Pakistani. 
Chinese/Korean/Vietnamese (and that general area) = Oriental, 
Japanese = Japanese. It's probably got something to do with our 
colonial past.

>It just seems a bit awkward 
> to specifically draw attention to the black students, but not to 
mention any 
> other races.

The others have fairly obvious names (Seamus Finnigan could have one 
ethnic origin and no other!) :-) so as there aren't any 
obviously "black" surnames, the characters' ethnicity needs to be 
mentioned. As it happens, I personally always assumed Angelina to be 
black simply because I've known about half a dozen Johnson families, 
and they've all been black. :-)

> "P & P, who were Indian, as in they were from the country 
> of India, not Indian in the American sense that they were Native 
> Americans..." <g> (and, yes, that was written sarcastically)

Why do I get a cold shiver down my spine fearing that Scholastic 
would be *extremely* likely to say something *just* like that?

davewhitley said:

> Didn't Riddle buy his diary in the Vauxhall Bridge Road? If so, I 
> think it unlikely that he would have been on his way from Kings 
> Cross or Diagon Alley to an orphanage in West Ham. Though of course 
> he could have been based in West Ham or nearby and had other 
> reasons to be in that area.

Interesting. I'd not thought about that one. Assuming that JKR 
doesn't just throw that address into the mix without a reason... I 
used to live in that area and I'm trying to think what's there, or, 
more to the point, what would have been there in the mid 40s. 

A couple of hospitals, for starters, and a couple of "posh" 
schools... And there's a little side street off it called "Dean's 
Place"... :-)

The road leads from Victoria train station towards the Thames 
(Vauxhall Bridge, logically enough). :-)

Perhaps he was in Victoria Station for some reason? Perhaps he was 
going to, or returning from, Little Hangleton for a particularly 
fateful trip?  I don't think we've had any indication whereabouts it 
is, but if it's in the Home Counties, Victoria would be the London 
train terminus...