Sorting and House System

[faery_wisdom]

No: HPFGUIDX 173382

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.

Kit jumps in:
are they really, or is this how they've grown to be viewed over the
years and through Harry's eyes? Isn't the childish everything's black
and white view of things part of what we witness Harry, Snape and
other characters evolve from. Everyone views / perceives things
differently yes, but there is aculturation that gives us a bias or
filter - and that filter or stereotype hat grew from the sorting led
to many of the problems that created the possibility of a Voldy. But
is it the hat that is flawed, and the sorting that occurs, or is the
stereotypes that humans ascribe to as part of culture the real root
of the problem?

Veronica:
>The four houses should be used to teach the kids that hard work and
>loyalty (Hufflepuff), intelligence (Ravenclaw), bravery and chivalry
>(Gryffindor), and ambition (Slytherin) are all qualities that can
hold
>positive and negative tendencies in their possessors, which is why
>uniting these elements, which every human has to some extent, ends up
>with the possessor being a well-rounded, well-adjusted individual.

Kit here:
similar to my commnents above, I think we have grown to
believe what we've heard and learned through Harry's perception of
things - that Gryffindor is obviously the end all be of the houses,
which simply isn't true. Starting with GOF we begin to learn more of
the differences between the houses. Hufflepuff produced the house
champion for Hogwarts, not Gryffindor. The songs the hat sings
proclaim both unity AND the attributes of each of the houses, AND the
need to recognize those in one another. I loved the riddle answer
method of entry into Ravenclaw, but even more, I loved Harry's
astonished response to it - something along the lines of Isn't there
just a password?

My biggest complaint about DH is that everything felt so rushed and
wasn't fleshed out as much as I've grown to expect from JKR - she
just had so many story lines to tie up, and not enough time I think.
Still, it's there although subtly. The sorting may be too early, but
the stereotypes attributed are not a product of the sorting but the
student's and family's perceptions of what the houses stand for. It's
hard to catch in the pell mell madness of the battle, but some
Slytherins do return with reinforcements, Narcissa does spare HP and
gives up on LV in order to rescue her son. At battles end, the
Malfoys are sitting with everyone in the Great Hall, not sure if it's
okay to stay, yet no one tells them to leave. Malfoy and Harry don't
become good buds and chat it up at the train station (that would be
too trite), but they acknowledge each other - politely...

Carol responds:
>I think the epilogue shows a gradual eradication of prejudice in the
>making. Draco and Harry are not at each other's throats like Lucius
>Malfoy and Mr. Weasley. Draco has probably not indoctrinated his son
>with the pure-blood superiority ethic that caused so much grief in DH
>and it's unlikely that the Sorting Hat, which has always advocated
>unity and its own abolition, will sort by that criterion.

Kit replies:
I agree with you about the epilogue. The nod between Harry and Malfoy
is plenty. More would cheapen it given the loathing and hatred that
defined their childhood relationship. But this would never have
happened if attitudes hadn't changed. They would have stoically
ignored each other's presence at the very least, and more likely
Malfoy would have been hard pressed not to stroll by and make some
comment about blood traitors and mud-bloods. It seems that his
ungrateful life being saved twice, and watching Crabbe die by fiend
fire may have wrought a change upon his perception of things?

So much more I could say about this, but I've taken enough bandwidth
as it is. I am surprised at the resentment and feelings towards the
sorting system. No, it isn't perfect, but it's real - there is so
much in life that this serves as an analogy for. Our to true measure
of maturation is realizing how we define and manipulate the divisions
we experience in life to either serve our better good or harm us,
color our views of others, etc.

What I wouldn't give for an hour of JKR's time over a cup of tea to
just listen to her feelings on this subject. Cuz, of course this is
all just IMO and I'd love to hear the stand point she's written it
from!!