Identifying with Muggles in Potterverse WAS: Re: DD at th...; also Jealousy

[Bruce Alan Wilson]

No: HPFGUIDX 158155

Ken:
"Even if they didn't have a culture of their own you would think 
they would study English culture and history. Hogwarts has no art 
classes, no music classes, no literature classes. Hogwarts is like 
the engineering student's dream school, no humanities, just the 
"good stuff"."

BAW:
That we know of.  Rowling, unlike some fantasy writers *cough*David
Eddings*cough* doesn't try to tell us everything about her world, 
but only what is relevant to the plot.  And what about "Ancient 
Runes", "History of Magic", "Arithmancy," and "Muggle Studies"? It 
says that Dean draws well; if there are no art classes, where would 
he have learned? (Raw talent will only take one so far.) As another 
successful fantasy author, Katherine Kurtz, remarked, "Absence of
presence is not the same thing as presence of absence."  (This was 
in response to an inquiry as to why there were no Jews in her 
subcreation when she had both Christians and Muslims--and you can't 
really have Christianity or Islam with out Judaism.  She went on to 
say that if any of her characters were Jewish, it wasn't important 
to the plot, so she didn't bring it up, but that if a story ever 
came out where it WAS important, it would be mentioned.)

Debbie:
"Do you think Petunia would have been so close to the edge if 
magic had never been a part of her life? Some kids never get over 
the realization that they are 'ordinary' while a sibling has a 
talent that is prized and nurtured by their parents. It makes them 
angry and resentful, and changes how they interact with others."

BAW:
Anybody here ever read "Jacob Have I Loved"?  The narratrix in that 
story was for a long time insanely jealous of her sister who was a 
musical prodigy (was awarded a scholarship to a major conservatory) 
and who was much prettier in a conventional sense than she was. She 
ultimately got over it, but what if she hadn't?  She might have 
grown up to be rather like Petunia.