The secrecy motif

[Katie]

No: HPFGUIDX 179964

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "montavilla47" 
<montavilla47 at ...> wrote:
>
> > 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. 

<<<SNIP>>>

 Prejudice against Muggles won't go away because the 
> > wizards have this deep-seated need to believe that they are 
superior to & stronger than Muggles; so the prejudice against Muggle-
borns will remain as well. IMO the prejudice against Muggle-borns is 
a  natural result of the way this society has been set up. It's 
inevitable & it won't go away. Because this is a society that is 
rotten at its core, created and based upon a foundation of secrecy & 
lies. 
> 
> Montavilla47:
> You're reminding me, Lizzyben, of a rumor that JKR had to squash 
> early on--that the series would end with the Wizards doing away 
with the Statute of Secrecy and reintegrating with the Muggle world.
> 
> I think that rumor may have started because that is the natural
> happy ending, isn't it?  The bigotry can't really start to heal 
until the Wizards and Muggles really start to mix together.  
> 
> I've heard people compare the Wizarding World to Apartheid, only 
instead of living in gated communities, the Wizards live in even 
better than gated areas.  Their homes are so gated that they can't 
be seen.  Once behind their wards, they don't have to even think 
about the Muggles as anything but a possible source of groceries.  
They don't even need to let Muggles in to clean their toilets, 
because they have a slave race to do this.
> 
> Harry, as a half-blood raised in the Muggle world would be a grand 
> position to bring about positive change in the Wizarding world.  
But, of course, Harry has been conditioned to hate the Muggle world
> because of his horrible family.  
> 
> Montavilla47
>


***Katie: I have such a hard time with this, because I truly do not 
believe that this is the message that JKR meant to send. I remember 
Hagrid saying that if Muggles knew about Wizards, then Muggles would 
always want a magical solution to their problems, and Wizards would 
forever just be doing magical chores for Muggles. I think Hagrid 
really believed that, and I think JKR did, too. I think she realized 
that the whole Statute of Secrecy thing needed an explanation, and 
that's what she came up with. I think she just needed a reason to 
not have a bunch of Muggles cluttering up the main story. So, 
basically, a plot device. 


All that being said...I agree. The prejudice against people that 
cannot do magic is pretty pervasive, and entirely acceptable. It's 
just understood that being able to do magic makes you a better 
person and you have more rights than those that can't do 
magic. "Ugh" is definitely what comes to mind when I really think 
about that. The attitude toward Squibs always bothered me - but I 
never thought about it in Muggle terms until I finished the series. 
It's definitely not an attitude that is positive. 


It also goes along with the "natural slavery" issue with House 
Elves, which absolutely sickens me. As I have posted before, I wish 
the House Elves had been entirely left out, rather than their 
resolution being that they're happy being enslaved. But that's 
another thread. 


I wish she had thought a little more about how these storylines 
would develop and how easily they could be interpreted into an 
approval of slavery and prejudice, because I am convinced that she 
did not intend those messages to come through. Unfortunately, she is 
sometimes a sloppy writer, and the result of poor plot devices is 
that they turn into poor messages. But I certainly don't believe 
that JKR intended to promote either slavery or prejudice. Katie