[HPforGrownups] Re: More about the wizarding world and empire...

[Pen Robinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 50964


On Tuesday, Jan 28, 2003, at 23:29 Europe/London, Tom Wall 
<thomasmwall at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> In a secular society, you are just as likely to
> have immigrants as you are to have third, fourth,
> fifth and so forth generations of immigrants, some
> with adapted names, some with their native names.

I'm not sure what being secular has to do with it.  Could you explain?

> I guess what I'm getting at here is that I just
> don't see what all this fuss about names is for.
> I believe that Rowling simply made a mistake.
>
> It's just as likely to have Potters, Grangers,
> Malfoys, Patils, and Changs in Britain, as it
> would be to have Costas, Menendezes, Nkrumes,
> Vladoviches and Muhammads.

Actually, you are a heck of a lot *more* likely to come across Potters, 
Grangers, Patils and Changs (I exempt Malfoys from that list) in 
Britain than to find Costas, Menendezes, Nkrumes, Vladoviches and 
Muhammeds.

Surnames over here, while they are becoming more varied, are still a 
*lot* less varied than surnames in the USA.  I like reading the end 
credits for American TV programmes - compare the range of names from 
those to the names at the end of a British programme.  What a contrast.

> Although frankly (and the reason I said it was a feeble
> defense,) I'm not sure that exonerates her... she could
> be putting more of an effort in to, y'know, indicate
> diversity at the school.
>
Why?

Pen