[HPforGrownups] Does JKR want us to hate Draco?

[Katherine Coble]

No: HPFGUIDX 129731


On May 29, 2005, at 7:31 PM, Michelle Crowe wrote:

> I'm going to toss my two knuts worth in here. I have been listening to
>  GoF in the car and my attention was drawn to the wood, where HRH come
>  across Malfoy. While he is certainly snotty toward them, he *does* 
> help
>  them in a very important way, and in a way that feels deliberate to 
> me.
>  I don't think Harry or even Ron realizes that Hermione would be in
>  danger from the mob. Malfoy uses ugly language in informing them, but 
> it
>  is clearly a warning.

K:

??????   I think it is clearly a _threat_,  not a warning.   I think 
the author put it there for 2 reasons; exposition and character.   I 
think she meant to show that Malfoy is proud of what was going on and 
very eager to brag that while HRH are running scared and confused, he, 
the great Malfoy, knows exactly what is going on.   I'm sorry.  I don't 
see any graciousness here at all.

>
>  I think if we recast these characters as being from the US South in 
> the
>  50's, we'd see this in a similar way as white/black relations were. 
> <snipped>


>  Having lived in the
>  South myself, I can say that these attitudes still exist, and that 
> those
>  who hold them (the prejudice against blacks, that is) consider it 
> normal
>  and acceptable.

K:

I still live in the US South.  I have done so for my entire adult life. 
  Prior to that I lived in the North.  Please, let's knock of the 
reflexive "the South is a backward place" prejudice by just admitting 
that racists exist all over the United States and are not particularly 
limited to one nebulously defined geographical area.   Also, race 
relations were terrible all over the country in the 1950s.  The South 
tended to be open about it (think white v. colored water fountains), 
whereas in the states without Jim Crow laws there was just an 
understanding.   My father was in school in Philadelphia in the late 
50s and early 60s.  He has always claimed that he saw more racism there 
than he did on trips to Little Rock, AK.

Speaking of which, I've always thought that the entire OotP, with the 
Ministry involvement in Hogwarts, was sort of a bizarre comparative to 
Central High in some ways, with Umbridge being Governor Faubus.




>  They do not consider that they are being ugly or
>  bullying. They are simply stating the truth as they have been taught 
> it.
>  Historically, some did participate in lynchings, but most did not. 
> That
>  didn't mean they thought white kids and black kids should play 
> together,
>  though.

K:  Yeah, that's true.  Then there are the people who are members of 
the KKK.  They gather in secret, wear hoods to taunt the black people, 
burn religious marks in front of their houses and occasionally KILL 
them.   They taunt them using  a foul name that belittles their 
parentage and torture them.  Who does this sound like?

DE & KKK:  A handy chart...

Uniform
1.  KKK--Hoods  ;  DE--Hooded Cloaks

Organizational symbol tattooed on members
2.  KKK--The bloody cross (example here 
http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/groups_kkk.asp);  DE-The 
serpant-tongued death's head (Dark Mark)

Recognizable Terror Mark

3.  KKK--Burning cross in front yard;   DE--Sparkling Dark Mark in sky 
over house

Foul Name for enemies

4. KKK--I won't repeat them, but blacks get the "N" word, Jews get the 
"K" word, etc; DE--mudblood

Execution of persecuted groups

5. KKK--lynching;  DE--Avada Kevadra


I think young Draco is more in spirit as a Jr. Klucker, not some 
genteel Vandy divinity grad who thinks that "perhaps it's best if the 
coloreds keep to themselves."



>  Now, do I think Jo's going to redeem him? I honestly don't know. But I
>  do think there's wiggle room, despite his Inquisitorial Squad
>  participation.

K:  Okay.  Question for all of the people out there who think that 
Draco can still be redeemed.   What is _your_ tipping point?   At what 
point do you think Draco will have crossed the line into full tilt 
boogie?

I'm honestly curious.   MY tipping point was long about book one in the 
Great Hall where he disses Ron.  (full disclosure:  I'm a big Ron fan.)

What act of evil will it take?   Someone mentioned killing the 
younglings yesterday (which cracked me up....).  Seriously, what is it? 
  Will he have to kill a passel of halfbloods and parade about the Great 
Hall in a Buffalo Bill suit of their skins?

>  And a 12 year old wishing someone dead is a lot different
>  from a 17 year old killing someone outright.
>

K:  His age does not absolve him.  Plenty of 12 year olds kill people.  
I know from personal experience.


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