[HPforGrownups] Men from the Ministry

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 54690

Troels wrote:

>At 18:48 31-03-03 +0100, manawydan wrote:
>>Ministry men like Barty Crouch come across as very much like caricature
>>civil servants of the 1920s

>The matter of the cauldron bottom thicknesses, and Percy's
>general attitude towards his work suggests to me the modern
>Brussels civil servant - the EU variety (there isn't, IMO,
>far from the thickness of cauldrons to the curvature of
>cucumbers ;-)

I think that's right. It's a good example certainly of the ubiquity of the
MoM and what I see as an unrestrained movement towards increased regulation
of the WW - possibly something which was accelerated by the Voldemort
rebellion and the increased restrictions on civil liberties that the
Ministry had to impose at that time - very easy to become _more_
authoritarian, but far harder to let go afterwards, especially in the
absence of any alternative political focus.

But I don't think that the MoM's _methods_ - or their image - are as modern.
When I think of Barty Crouch I get a mental picture of Mr Cholmondely-Warner
from the Fast Show, in line with other "inter-war" images of the WW public
sector. The Hogwarts Express is another one which I forgot to mention the
first time around - it's a steam train!

Cheers

Ffred

O Benryn wleth hyd Luch Reon
Cymru yn unfryd gerhyd Wrion
Gwret dy Cymry yghymeiri