Bigotry in Potterville (was:Re: Of Sorting and Snape (+others)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 175918

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip>
> > That lame little speech about "I knew a brave Slytherin once" was 
> > not enough for me. It smacked too much of "there are honest      
> > negros out there" for me. IOWs, praise that reveals the inner    
> > bigotry. An "honest negro" is strange enough to remark on, just  
> > as a brave (or worthy) Slytherin is a one in a million thing.

> >>Prep0strus:
> Except that, in the world of JKR, it seems to me that a brave or
> worthy Slytherin IS a one in a million thing.  Not exactly what I
> wanted to see, and I too would've liked to see some more growth from
> Harry.  But I don't see him as being condescendingly prejudiced
 or,
> at least, not without good reason.

Betsy Hp:
Yes, Slytherins are as bad as Harry was told they were in PS/SS.  And 
yes, JKR, I think, set it up to be so.  But she took an odd direction 
in doing so, IMO.

If anyone is familiar with the books of Roald Dahl, he almost always 
has "bad people" in his books.  And they are unquestionably bad.  
Very cartoony, very villainy. Consider, for example, James's aunts 
from "James and the Giant Peach".

"Their names were Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker, and I am sorry to say 
that they were both really horrible people.  They were selfish and 
lazy and cruel, and right from the beginning they started beating 
poor James for almost no reason at all.  They never called him by his 
real name, but always referred to him as "you disgusting little 
beast" or "you filthy nuisance" or "you miserable creature," and they 
certainly never gave him any toys to play with or any picture books 
to look at.  His room was as bare as a prison cell." [JatGP chp. 1]

Obviously horrible women, who don't even get connected to James by 
familial ties (IIRC, we're never told which parent these two are 
related to).  We don't see them frightened by James's powers and 
strength.  We don't see them show any sort of love or affection for 
each other.  When they do get squished (IIRC) by the giant peach of 
the title there's no sympathy felt.

JKR isn't nearly this clear about her poor Slytherins.  Draco, for 
example, gets sat on almost from the get go.  He certainly doesn't 
have any power over Harry.  Any threatening noises he makes are just 
that, noises.  The Dursleys spend most of the series powerless in 
front of Harry too.  (When Dudley stands up for himself when Harry is 
taking his anger out on him in OotP, I actually was proud of the poor 
kid.  That took a bit of guts on his part.)

But also, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker are their own horrible people.  
They don't belong to a certain class or a certain race or a certain 
house.  They just are who they are.  Whereas the Slytherins are a 
group that get sorted out at age eleven.  As far as Roald Dahl has 
it, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker never *were* age eleven.

So JKR is entering into a rather bizarre conundrum where she has this 
entire group of people who are put into a certain box while still 
children, who get kissed goodnight by their mothers, and protected by 
their fathers, and have silly crushes, and worry about their grades 
and... they're not quite as human as our heroes for some reason. 

If one of them is deemed worthy it's so noteworthy as to garner 
comment.  Because for the most part their love is twisted and their 
hearts aren't pure and their souls are kind of small.  And everything 
that goes wrong is essentially their fault.  And yet, their mothers 
love them.  How am I supposed to reconcile that?

> >>Pippin:
> <snip>
> Grimmauld Place cheerful and welcoming once it has been restored
> <snip>

> >>houyhnhnm:
> <snip>
> What I wanted was one clear, strong metaphor showing the potential 
> of the Slytherin nature (not some trying-too-hard Lovegoodesque    
> flight of fancy about the Delacours). I think the transformation of 
> 12 GP is that metaphor and I missed it.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Probably too much thinking about Freud, but this makes me think that 
the implication is that a cold, dark, unwelcoming woman (Slytherin 
house) just needs a good man (Gryffindors) to get inside her.  Maybe 
give her a cheap bauble.  And then the kitchen is warm and cozy 
again. <eg>

Betsy Hp