Bloodlines and talent (Was: To the Extreme)

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 165356

Snow wrote:
> 
> This was the point I was trying to address...Lucius was upset that a
muggleborn whoops his son in grades with little concern that this 
muggleborn who was also a girl who was also a Gryffindor was the 
victor. What seems to be utterly more important to Lucius is that she
is muggleborn more so than the fact she is a girl or which house she
belonged to. 
> 
> Lucius' rant could certainly be put off as simply a prejudice to 
muggleborns but where did Lucius, or anyone like him, form this
prejudice? Where did it come from if it is just prejudice, was it 
simply an inherited disposition from Slytherin? Is there some type of
foundation for the reason behind this prejudice? 
> 
> What plants the seed of prejudice; indifference towards those who
are unlike you or is it simply fear; Or...in my suspicion, both. 
These non-purebloods or mudbloods exhibit power, some exhibiting much
greater power than some purebloods. Could these persons have been
viewed as a threat? 

Carol responds:

Lucius is merely annoyed with Draco for allowing a single student, a
"Mudblood," to get better marks than he did. I agree that it's her
blood status, not her sex or House, that concerns Lucius. But that's
because he regards "Mudbloods" as inferior beings. (Notice that both
Draco and Narcissa act as if Muggleborns literally stink. Draco claims
(in GoF) that Hermione will slime up his hand if she touches him.) 
> 
I don't see any indication that Draco is a poor student, as you imply
later, nor do I see any sign of fear of "Mudbloods" in the example you
cite or those I mentioned. As far as any of the Malfoys are concerned,
Muggleborns are inferior beings, and Lucius thinks that Draco should
be ashamed that a Muggleborn beat him at anything. But it's not
Muggleborns, plural, as if all the Muggleborns in his year were
outcompeting him. (Dean Thomas, for example, is considered a
Muggleborn whether he is or not, and he's not mentioned, presumably
because his marks are lower than Draco's.)

As or why Muggleborns are viewed as a threat, I don't think it's
because of superior abilities. To take an example that has nothing to
do with CoS, it's clear to the reader, at least, that the Half-Blood
Prince's/Teen!Snape'e Potions skills exceed Hermione's. She's a very
good student even with an inferior textbook and an excellent student
with Snape's instructions, but he's a genius who develops his own
potions improvements. Blood has nothing to do with it since Harry is a
Half-Blood, too. And Draco and Ernie Macmillan, both purebloods,
earned Os to get into that class, as did Muggleborn Hermione and
various Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs of unknown extraction. (Since Theo
Nott's father is a Death Eater and Blaise Zabini sneers at Ginny for
being a blood traitor, it seems a safe bet that they, like Draco, are
purebloods. And note Slughorn's surprise that a Muggleborn, whether
Lily or Hermione, would do well in Potions.)

Where does this prejudice come from? Not, I think, from a sense that
purebloods are inferior to Muggleborns or Blacks would not be written
off the family tree for marrying them. I think it's the other way
around. Muggleborns, who appear to vary in talent, power, and
intelligence as much as anyone else, are *perceived as* inferior,
which is undoubtedly why they're considered unsuitable marriage
partners in some pureblood families. Possibly, the purebloods fear
that impure blood (Muggle blood) will increase the chance of Squib
offspring.

But, in any case, I think you're overgeneralizing. JKR is showing that
the blood prejudice is unfounded, using Hermione as her chief example,
but she isn't showing (IMO) that Muggleborns are *better* than anyone
else. Who was more powerful, Lily or James? We don't know. But James
was apparently powerful and definitely talented, and he was a pureblood. 

And as for Salazar Slytherin, possibly he was concerned with the
prejudice of the Muggleborns' Muggle parents against witches and
wizards prevalent at that time. Not that such concerns justify
building a Chamber of Secrets with a Basilisk programmed to kill
Muggleborns. but Slytherins in general (some more than others) seem to
have inherited his prejudice and adapted it to their times and
circumstances.

Carol, who thinks that JKR wants readers to see blood prejudice as
unfounded, not to set up reverse discrimination in its place