The secrecy motif

[a_svirn]

No: HPFGUIDX 179963

> lizzyben:
> And I know that Gryffs are the good guys because they're not 
> prejudiced against Muggle-borns, but that always seemed a bit 
> bizarre to me, because they ARE prejudiced against Muggles. It's 
> like someone telling an immigrant that they accept him, even though 
> they think his foreign parents & family are a totally inferior 
> species. Ugh. 

a_svirn:
It is not really comparable. In real life the inferiority of 
foreigners is an imaginary thing, a prejudice. In the world Rowling 
created the inferiority of Muggles is a fact of life. They can't do 
magic, and that's make them really inferior. Muggleborns, however, 
can do magic, and pretty impressive magic at that. So any allegations 
of their inferiority to pure-bloods are clearly the consequence of 
bigotry and xenophobia. 

It is like the belief in the existence of "natural slaves". In real 
life it's bigotry and prejudice – all human slaves has always 
been "made", rather than "born". In the WW it's reality. In real life 
a couple of, say, "genuine Arians" cannot produce an Asian child, but 
in the WW two muggles can produce a witch or wizard. So it's often 
really difficult to say what kind of point Rowling is making. The 
only thing that seems pretty clear is that being anti-muggle-born is 
bad, because this attitude is based on the false premise.