The secrecy motif/magic & muggles

[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 180007

> a_svirn:
> Yes, because wizards are a breed apart. Literally. 

lizzyben:

Ugh. :) We all sound like Aunt Marge now, don't we?
 

> > lizzyben:
> > 
> > Ugh, basically what I'm not understanding is why you consider 
the 
> > wizarding world "superior". 
> 
> a_svirn:
> Because that's how it is presented in the books. Look at how 
muggles 
> have been described from the book 1 onwards. Reread "the Other 
> Minister" chapter in HBP -- you can't deny that the muggle 
> civilization is shown as distinctly inferior. 

lizzyben:

Oh, I don't deny that wizards subjectively consider themselves 
superior to non-wizards. But I'm saying that, objectively, they're 
no more superior than someone who has hazel eyes over brown eyes. 
It's just a genetic trait. Where it gets odd is that JKR seems to 
also consider her wizards to be superior to Muggles. And I don't 
just think it's for comic relief, or an accident, or sloppy writing. 
Wizard superiority is pretty much the foundation of the novels.  

> > lizzyben:
> Pretty much everyone agrees that it's 
> > backwards, cruel, nasty, etc. 
> 
> a_svirn:
> Pretty much everyone agrees that the gods of the Ancient Greece 
were 
> a brutish and rowdy lot. Some humans were more beautiful and 
> talented, some were even known to have beaten gods in musical and 
> other contests.  But gods were immortal and that made them 
superior 
> to humans and centaurs. Same with wizards. They have magic and 
> muggles don't. Magic is might.  

lizzyben:

Well, yes. 


> a_svirn:
> It creeps me out too. Though to be fair, I don' think that Rowling 
> herself realised just what she had said in that interview. She 
would 
> have done better to have left this genetic stuff well alone. 

lizzyben: 

I think she knows exactly what she said. She says what she means. 
Magic has always been in the bloodlines in the Potterverse. It's not 
just the interviews - throughout the novels, many characters make 
reference to the importance of bloodlines - Slytherins, obviously, 
with their pure-blood mania, but Gryffindors too. Hagrid says that 
the the Malfoys are "bad blood" & no good can come of them; implying 
that their meanness is in their very DNA. DD says that he knew that 
Riddle was bad news because he came from the Gaunts, a bloodline of 
madness & violence. At the same time, everyone praises Harry for his 
good genes - everyone says he looks just like his parents; Hagrid 
says that Harry gets his Quidditch skills straight from his father, 
and that Harry will, of course, be a powerful wizard because his 
parents were. Bloodline is everything here. And then look at the 
epilogue, where children are basically carbon copies of their 
parents - right down to the names. Scorpius Malfoy looks just like 
Draco Malfoy & has an even worse name - no good can come of him.

So, we have a strict hierarchy of humanity according to bloodlines, 
with Muggles at the very bottom, followed by Squibs, followed by 
Slytherins, followed by Ravenclaws/Hufflepuffs, followed by 
Gryffindors at the very, very top. And at the top of the Gryffindors 
is Harry Potter, the Chosen One, the heir of Perevell. The one whose 
blood is so good, so pure, it will save the entire wizarding world. 
Harry is the Superman among Supermen, the most elite of the elite.  

> > lizzyben: 
> > 
> > And why, why, why would JKR create such a world? 
> 
> a_svirn:
> Search me.
>

lizzyben:

Well... I have a couple theories. :)