JKR's lesson on prejudice (was:Slytherins come back)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 180378

> >>Pippin:
> <snip>
> JKR doesn't show us Harry realizing he's prejudiced against        
> Slytherins, because, IMO, she wants *us* to realize that. She wants 
> us to be able to reach that conclusion independently. 
> I agree that Rowling wants us to dislike Slytherins.
> <snip>
> It feels lovely, doesn't it, not to think,  just to believe what    
> you're told? 
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
The reason this argument leaves me completely cold is that I've long 
felt more affinity for Slytherin than Gryffindor.  No one had to 
*tell* me Harry was prejudiced.  I picked that up the moment he 
refused to shake Draco's hand.  Actually, from the moment Hagrid 
whispered an obvious lie into Harry's ear.

That Slytherins are treated as the scapegoats and sin-eaters of the 
WW had been apparent to me the moment Dumbledore pulled that tacky 
powerplay at the end of PS/SS.  That Draco was stronger than Harry 
ever gave him credit for was apparent to me the second time Draco 
went up against Harry.  Or the moment Draco looked up at a teacher 
who'd just physically abused and humiliated him in front of the 
entire student body and still managed to spit out defiance through 
his pain.

I didn't need to be "taught a lesson about prejudice", at least, not 
in the way you suggest JKR attempted to do so.  Harry did.  And it 
never happened.  Instead, everything Harry believed about Slytherin 
was shown to be true.  They *were* deserters and betrayers and 
cowards.  As per the books anyway, it was my views of prejudice that 
lead me astray.  I kept expecting a turn around that never happened.

So, in the end, I think Harry is a naked emperor; a character on a 
hero's journey who doesn't go anywhere, doesn't learn anything, and 
doesn't change his world.  His biggest accomplishment, I think, was 
returning the WW to its status quo, wrapped in the warmth of their 
comfortable prejudices.  At least, that's how I see it.

Betsy Hp