Sorting and House System

[fitzchivalryhk]

No: HPFGUIDX 172884

prep0strus:
> But overall... the houses are a childish delineation, which can only
> be viewed through a child's eyes of good vs bad.  Complexity doesn't
> play a part.  Harry tells little Albus that good people can be
> Slytherin.  But good people don't want to be.  I say, eliminate the
> houses, or have them but have them based on nothing, or heck, keep
> them how they are.  They're fun.  But I think we're just going to have
> to forgive JKR for developing a very flawed system, where some are
> golden, some are at best unpleasant and at worst evil, and where some
> are the dregs.  And then there's Ravenclaw.  :-/  I think we're
> expecting too much to expect more.

I agree that the house system is a childish delineation, which is more
suitable for the earlier books than the later. I was hoping as the
series progresses from children-oriented literature to a more adult
oriented one, some of the concepts employed in the series would be
progressing as well. For example, JK Rowling has done a wonderful job
on Dumbledore's characterization, from the god-like grandfather he was
in Book 1, he progresses to become a manipulative general fighting for
the good side he was in Book 7.

As for the mechanics of sorting, I don't think it's really based on
conscious choice either. How many of the children in Slytherins know
that they are being sorted to "the evil house" when they are being
sorted to Slytherin? For the muggleborns, the students hardly know
what they are getting into by the whole sorting process. For the
purebloods, they probably only know that they are getting into a house
their parents and grandparents were in. And for someone like Snape,
who was clearly told (by his relatives?) that Slytherin = brainy and
Griffindor = brawny, his choice is hardly a well-informed one.

I can't help but feel that in the process of the 7 books, although JK
Rowling has touched on the problem of the Sorting and House system,
especially in the Sorting Hat song, she has employed a rather hasty
solution - let's sweep all the Slytherins into evil category, instead
of a well-thought-out response to this social probelm in the wizarding
world.

fitzchivalryhk