Wizard supremacy (was:Re: Nel Question #4: Class and Elitism)

[Tim Regan]

No: HPFGUIDX 125862


Hi All,

Great thread, well done Debbie for kicking it off with such 
painstakingly good piece of list research.

Let me kick off with what I actually believe. Lupinlore wrote:
>>> JKR doesn't explore these questions and I, who am usually very 
hard on the author, really don't blame her <<<

I agree with this. For me JKR seems to clearly stand against class 
systems and shows this loudly and explicitly through her portrayal 
of pure-bloods and through Dumbledore's pronouncements. But she is 
not a consciously political writer and so the books are not didactic 
and the political philosophy within them is far from consistent. The 
portrayal of middle-class suburbia may well be JKR's prejudice 
finding voice in the books. The portrayal of Hogwarts seems to be a 
current cultural prejudice creeping in (a conservative belief that 
the old days were better). Finally I think we see class prejudice 
creep in from JKR's precedents, the other authors and myths she 
borrows from carry their own prejudices.

But here's what I do not get about the class system in the wizarding 
world: why aren't Muggles enslaved? 

Tammy wrote:
>>> Muggles through the ages have proven that they just can't handle 
their beliefs being challenged and changed. Would muggles eventually 
come to understand it? <<<

But I'd like to look at the other side – would wizards tolerate 
muggles. Ellyddan wrote
>>> Powerful wizards like the Malfoys wouldn't hesitate to use their 
powers to manipulate, overpower and subvert the muggle world to 
their own whims if both worlds were united <<<

Exactly.

Wizards and Muggles are both humans, and history teaches us that 
when one group of humans have a large, tangible, and lasting 
superiority over other humans they exploit it to subjugate them. And 
yet muggle society is not totally beholden to the wizarding world. 
Vernon can run a factory making drills, an artefact of little or no 
use to wizards. Why? Why aren't Vernon and all other muggles 
enslaved and carrying out whatever menial tasks wizards do not want 
to do for themselves? Further, if muggles have no value to wizards 
why put up with them at all? History didn't put up with Neanderthals 
for long after we arrived. Perhaps Hagrid would hang on to a few 
Muggles, running naked through the forest, but other that that the 
only reason for them to keep us on is if we are useful. 

But maybe our strength is in our numbers. As Ffred said "Muggles are 
correctly identified by the WW as a threat". Maybe there is 
something in the distribution of magic through the human population 
that prevents wizards' numbers swelling to match numbers of muggles. 
We've repeatedly seen through history small minorities of humans 
wielding power over vast majorities. The way they do it is a class 
or a caste system. But we do not see that played out in the books, 
the muggle world is left largely untouched, but with a few isolated 
acts of violence.

To me this seems implausible.

But don't be glum, in the final analysis muggles are vastly superior 
to wizards: we exist, and one of us invented all of them ;-)

Cheers,

Dumbledad.

PS Quick aside: a_svirn wrote:
>>> After all most of us can't help but identify with Muggles – a 
fact that makes muggle/wizard relationship far more interesting <<<
This is true of many or most adult readers but is it true of kids? I 
think not, and after all, these are kids' books.