Slytherins as jews WAS: Re: DH as Christian Allegory/I am...

[Neri]

No: HPFGUIDX 173701

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Sydney" <sydpad at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > > Alla:
> > <snip>
> > > The funniest argument fot Slytherin as persecuted jews symbolism
> > > to me is of course Snape's hooked nose. Um, why?
> ...
> > > Am I suppose to think of Jew the moment  I read about Snape's
> > hooked nose? Well, I really do not.
> > > <SNIP>
> > 
> Paula:
> > I'm Jewish with all of my grandparents/relatives and those before
> > them from Eastern Europe - I never thought of Snape of Jewish as I do
> > not think of "hook noses" of being exclusively Jewish. 
> 
> Sydney:
> 
> Guh... I said I wouldn't continue with this but obviously I don't have
> to clear up again what I meant in my initial post.  What was making me
> uncomfortable with the Slytherin's portrayal-- the hooked noses and
> greasy hair and oiliness and monkey-like founder and inbreeding and
> cunning and greediness and having too much money and Eastern
> Europeaness and mesmeric powers and puppet governments <snip>

Neri:
Lets interject a bit of canon into this discussion. Hooked noses are
certainly not a Slytherin characteristic. There is only one Slytherin
with a hooked nose in the series - Snape - and he got his hooked nose
from his father who was a *muggle*. Therefore, if Snape's hooked nose
points to any unconscious biased characterization by JKR, then it is
not a bias about Slytherins but the reverse - it represents Snape
"non-purity" of blood, the very thing that makes him an *outsider* in
Slytherin house.

The other characters in the series who are described with hooked noses
are Madam Pince, who AFAIK is never identified as a Slytherin, and
Krum and his father, who are admittedly portrayed as East European
stereotypes (though not Jewish stereotypes, it seems to me), but they
aren't Slytherins and aren't even Voldemort's supporters. 

The Malfoy family, the archetype Slytherin House family in the series,
is actually described with Aryan characteristics. 

So, if I see any connection between Slytherins and Jews, I think it is
a very roundabout one. I certainly agree that many Slytherins are
portrayed in the series as villains (in Snape's case a redeemed
villain, but still originally a villain by his literary
characterization). I certainly agree that Jews were traditionally
portrayed as villains in many works of European literature. And I
agree that in all kinds of literature (including the HP series)
villain stereotypes are frequently portrayed with physical
characteristics that can be considered unpleasant (monkey-like face,
hooked noses, dirty hair, cold eyes) and of course as being greedy,
oily, cunning and other character qualities that are almost synonymous
with being a literary villain. But other than JKR using some standard
literary villain conventions that some other people have also employed
against Jews (and against many other minorities), I think it would be
very difficult to nail her with any subconscious bias here. If
anything, it seems more plausible to blame JKR's subconscious for a
certain anti-French bias (Voldemort, Malfoy and Lestrange). 


Neri, another Jew with East European origins, who wishes his nose
could be described as hooked because in realty it's even worse than
that.