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[lizzyben04]

No: HPFGUIDX 173232

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Renee" <rvink7 at ...> wrote:
>
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lizzyben04" <lizzyben04@> wrote:
> >
> > > >
> > 
> > lizzyben:
> > 
> > I think JKR has a secret that she is desperately worried that readers
> > will figure out; so worried that she has to tear down Snape atevery
> > possible opportunity, loudly proclaim how *horrible* he is, how his
> > sacrifices & actions are never heroic, how he's unloveable, how he's
> > against everything she values & believes in. The secret is, JKR is
> > Snape. And she knows it. She's just worried we'll realize it too. 
> 
> Renee:
> 
> I'm snipping the rest of the post, because I don't think it ought to
> be repeated on this list. But simply have to react to it.
> 
> Lizzyben, was it your intention of accusing JKR of being a racist and
> a Nazi? If not I seriously advise you to rethink this post. Ad hominem
> arguments never contribute to a healthy discussion, and you're
> crossing the line here quite thoroughly.
> 
> List Elves, sorry if I seem to step into your shoes, but I couldn't
> remain silent. 
> 
> Renée
>

lizzyben:

Of course not. I'm sorry if my post wasn't clear; I was trying to get
a handle on some concepts that I'm not really expressing very well.
I'm saying that all authors put some of their self into their
characters - as JKR has acknowledged about Hermione or Lupin. And I
think Snape & the Slytherins represent a part of JKR too, a part that
she would rather condemn & judge instead of integrating or
understanding. I'm talking about things from a psychological
perspective, *not* a social perspective. 

Shadow figures are present for all of us, representing the things we
don't like about ourselves - the key is to integrate the shadow into
the rest of the personality; because if we do not, we'll end up
projecting that shadow instead & trying to destroy it. (this is vague
Jungian stuff) And there's something about the total condemnation of a
house of "emotion", combined w/Harry's statements that he likes that
Ginny doesn't ever cry, JKR's refusal to ever allow Harry to cry -
it's like she's saying that emotion, itself, is bad? I'm just at a
loss to understand the way JKR resolved the House system. Were fans
really begging JKR to make Slytherin *more* evil & unredeemable? IMO,
it seems like fans were begging for a good Slytherin, a redemption for
the House. JKR never gave it - and her total condemnation of anything
resembling Slytherin-ness is just, odd, to me. I don't get it. I don't
get why she did it. It seems to be an internal need to cut off &
destroy those qualities, instead of understanding them. So yeah, I
think parts of Snape come from JKR, as do all of her
characters. The problem is that JKR never managed to integrate the
"shadow" House, the shadow figure into the overall narrative. And IMO
the novel suffered for it. 

And the overall message of the novels *is* scary to me,
because it seems to say that we can just instantly judge people as
less worthy, almost less human, based on a label. While JKR condemns
that mindset in the text for Muggles, she supports exactly that type
of thinking when it comes to Slytherins. All of them, 25% of the
population, are totally immoral & evil? The way JKR's world is set up
right now, Harry & co could probably justify some Slytherin
registration commission - you've got to make sure those evil Slyths
don't attempt world domination again, right? And that's the paradox at
the heart of her novel, where the subtext seems to create a message
that runs against the surface message of the text. It preaches against
stereotypes & dehumanization, while actually *reinforcing* exactly
that in how Slytherins are portrayed.


lizzyben