Slytherins as evil stereotypes WAS: Re: Slytherins as Jews

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 173661

Robert: 
> As an aside, the elves may delete this if they wish:
> Look at almost any painting done of American Indians throughout  the 
last of the 1800s and early 1900s, and look at any portrayal of  
American Indians in pre-1970s Hollywood films and you will notice that 
almost  all of the NDNs fit that description, too. (I don't have one 
and no on in my  family has one.) I believe the descriptions both come 
under the heading "stereotype."

Ceridwen:
Right.  And that's all that's being said.  No one that I've read has 
said the Slytherins are representative of Jews.  That role, in the 
context of World War II, is obviously taken by the Muggle-borns who are 
outcast and ostracized for their ancestry.

What people, including me, are saying is that Slytherins are 
characterized with stereotypical "Bad Guy" traits which were often used 
to characterize Jews.  In the context of the HP series, with the 
obvious nods to World War II, the stereotypical portrayal of Jews comes 
to mind much sooner than the stereotypical portrayal of other groups.

You are correct that the hooked nose is not restricted to a 
stereotypical portrayal of Jews.  It is indeed used for Indians, 
Mexicans, Middle-Easterners, Eastern Europeans not necessarily Jewish, 
prudish librarians, evil schoolteachers, and others I don't recall off-
hand.  I'm wondering if this goes back to face reading and phrenology 
from the 1800s, where certain traits were seen as good, while others 
were seen as bad.

Snape as a character is depicted with a large nose and sallow or pale 
skin, which to me would rule out most stereotypical depictions of 
Indians, Mexicans and Middle-Easterners, who are more often 
stereotypically depicted as swarthy, olive, or dark-skinned.  This has 
nothing to do with actual people who are part of any group.

Slytherins in general are given the stereotypical traits associated 
with undesireable groups.  They have some tendency toward aristocracy 
in a world where there is no wizarding nobility.  They are ambitious in 
a negative way.  They are cunning, so may well cheat or embezel (sp?) 
you.  They are big talkers who can't "walk the walk".  They are 
betrayers, Judases, as Pansy Parkinson was when she pointed to Harry in 
the Great Hall.  They prefer to save their own skin if given the 
opportunity.  They are secretive and they plot against others.  They 
oppress when given the chance.  Every trait that is negative is heaped 
on the Slytherins.  This has happened via stereotyping for millenia.

One problem with this is, they didn't change and weren't redeemed.  Not 
singly, not as a house.  All of those stereotypical evil traits and 
physical markers were reliable signs that these guys would never be 
good.  If you see these physical markers, or perceive any of these 
traits, you can be sure that the people who have them are bad.  At 
least, for children who have not experienced as much of the world, this 
could reasonably be a conclusion.  IMO, of course.

Ceridwen.