To kill or not to kill and resolutions of the storylineWAS :Re: Disarming spell

[montavilla47]

No: HPFGUIDX 185480

> Magpie:
> I didn't think the Slytherin's resolution was that new either. I 
> mean, yeah, there are a lot of books where the houses would have come 
> together, but once you realize that the Slytherins are just bad guys 
> there's nothing new about them crawling away in defeat. There were no 
> orcs that came to the side of the Fellowship, no storm troopers who 
> switched sides in Star Wars. I believe the only Tellamarine who 
> switched sides in Narnia was the Prince who rather did it Snape-style.

Montavilla47:
Depends on which Narnia you're talking about: film or book.  In 
Prince Caspian, there are plenty of Telmarines who join up with 
Aslan when he shows up.  In the movie, there was the general
who went through the arc of being a good soldier, to doubting
his leaders, to letting Caspian live at a vital point (and then 
taking the lead in going back to Earth.)

In The Last Battle, there's also a Calormene solider who defies his
leaders somewhat in going into the stable to meet the great and
terrible Tash.  He is the "good" Calormen.

But I agree with your larger point.  It's not that the Slytherins 
needed to do something cheerworthy.  I don't think more than a
few Slytherin die-hards would have been disappointed if it had
not been for the Hat talking about the need for unity of the 
Houses.  

House Unity is a very satisfyig concept, particularly since 
JKR used the Four Elements to symbolize her Houses.  I think
there is a universal human longing for those four elements to
work harmoniously--rather than for three to work harmoniously
and one to be tolerated. So, thematically, it's unsatisfying.  And
it's unsatisfying because of the Hat setting up the need for unity.

But, other than that, it's quite acceptable for an author to 
single out a group to be the bad guys.  And, as you say, no
one was raging because a few storm troopers didn't join
up with Luke's side.

That... and it kind of hurts the anti-prejudice argument when
the anti-Slytherin prejudice is justified.