Deathly Hallows Reaction - Could do Better, Sorry

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 172618

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > <snip> 
> > JKR apparently looks at the world around her and thinks, "I know 
> > in my heart that a quarter of the people out there are evil, half 
> > of them are okay, and there's one quarter that's just            
> > unquestionably good." 
> > It's an ugly view of the world in my opinion.  And it cumlminates
> > in a rather ugly book with a rather ugly message.  

> >>Shagufta:
> > So you think the world is made up of good people and only good
> > people? This world of ours where murder and torture and terrorism
> > are a sad reality - this world is made up of good people?
> > <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I think it's impossible to decide someone is going to be a terroist 
and a murderer at age eleven.  Unless they're a sociopath of some 
sort, and I believe that's pretty rare.  Or at least, should be rare 
enough to not make up a quarter of a school's population.  (And then 
some.  Ravenclaw is a fairly questionable house too. And Hufflepuff 
ain't great.  Really, it's the golden Gryffindors who everyone else 
should fall before and worhip.)

However, that's not how JKR sees it.  Some (few) people are good, 
some are bad, and that can easily be determined by a magical hat at 
age eleven.  And once that determination has been made there's no 
need to look at actions.  If a Slytherin throws a Crucio or Imperius 
at someone, well, he's Slytherin so what do you expect.  If a 
Gryffindor does the same, well he's Gryffindor so there's a noble 
purpose behind it.

Oh, and of course, once the Sorting is done, that's it.  There is no 
hope for change.

> >>nightmasque at ... writes:
> I don't think that was the point at all. I think the
> point Betsy was making was that it was simplistic of
> Rowling to divide the good and bad people into
> Gryffindors and Slytherins respectively; to use your
> analogy, it would be like saying all Slytherins are
> terrorists, and all Gryffindors are defendors of
> liberty and freedom and all that good stuff.

Betsy Hp:
Yes, that's it exactly.  Basically JKR is showing us that not only 
*can* you judge a child as to how good a human being he or she is at 
a young age, you *should* judge them.  Oh, and they can never 
change.  Actions don't matter.  (The rare exceptions are only there 
to prove the rule.)

> >>nightmasque at ...:
> This however is slightly mitigated by the otherwise
> atrocious epilogue, when Harry doesn't seem to mind if
> his son is sorted into Slytherin. But one paragraph
> does not alleviate an entire book's / series's ugliness.

Betsy Hp:
Harry's son James didn't learn his "Slytherin is bad" attitude in a 
vacuum though.  So there's commentary on the commentary.  "Slytherin 
is okay ::wink, wink, nudge, nudge:: except for how it totally isn't."

Betsy Hp