[HPforGrownups] Re: Victory for TEWWW EWWW

[Maeg]

No: HPFGUIDX 173282

On Jul 27, 2007, at 8:30 AM, lizzyben wrote:

> 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 -

<snip>

> 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.

Not just the final novel, but the whole series. Specifically because  
JKR broke the promises she made with her readers in the earlier  
novels (e.g., it's our choices (i.e., actions) that define us & the  
world is not separated into good and evil). It was those themes that  
I found particularly redeemable, and now it's clear that I had  
totally misinterpreted how important they were. I feel like I was  
lied to.

And no, I don't feel that she had to demolish the house system to  
achieve integration. The houses serve a useful purpose in allowing  
each child a place, a home away from home where their talents will be  
cherished and expanded. Rivalry does not have to equal hate, and  
rivalry can actually unify the rivaling groups (if done properly).

> 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.

Yeah, talk about congitive dissonance! All you have to do is look at  
the fate of the characters to see how she solved it -- look at what  
the author does, instead of what she says.

lizzyben wrote in another post:
"And the implications of JKR's world-view are pretty bleak. She really
was interested in creating stereotypes, not overcoming them; in
dehumanizing the "other", not accepting it. And when I think of how
many horrible things have come from dehumanizing the other, it makes
this series seem almost malicious."

Me (Maeg):
Nicely said. This is why I'm so creeped out by DH. Everything is now  
made clear, and it's something I really, really don't agree with.  
Call me a die-hard liberal, but I hate the "Everyone is equal, but  
some are more equal than others" mentality. Or maybe it's the  
American in me? We hold meritocracy in much higher regard than the  
Brits (with their monarchy and open class system). Perhaps I just  
don't get it because I'm not a product of British public schools  
where bloodline is still a legitimate way to decide who is worthy and  
who is not.

[Note: this is not meant as a slam; I know that the US system is not  
a true meritocracy and we have severe societal problems with our  
pseudo-monarchy and underground class system. I just believe that the  
idea of equality is a touchstone for American thinking. I'm probably  
not explaining this very well.]

Lupin is another example of the twisted thinking behind  
dehumanization. If you're unfortunate enough to have a father with an  
affliction that makes him less than human, it's better for you if  
he's dead. And better still if your mother, who made such a terrible  
mistake in loving him and conceiving a child by him, is dead, too.  
That way you can be raised by a "proper" wizarding family so we can  
conveniently forget your tainted past and therefore you'll be happy.  
Assuming you're turn out to be a wizard, not a werewolf....

The only heroic role for Lupin is death? That's just a big bowl of  
wrong.

Maeg, who never realized that she could be so Jungian (better that  
than Freudian, I suppose <veg>)