CHAPTER DISCUSSION PS/SS 10, THE HALLOWEEN

[dumbledore11214]

No: HPFGUIDX 188372





> > Alla:
> 
> > I am talking about having a plan to secure **oneself** life and liberty first and then, maybe rushing to save a friend if that friend is not dead yet that is. Because seriously the most I can grant Slytherins is that they will do that, they will have a plan to save oneselves and THEN go to save a friend, maybe.  
> 
> Pippin:
> But when do we see any Slytherin  do that? 

Alla:

We do not of course, but this is the most extrapolation I am willing to grant based on what we do see and based on me thinking that Snape is not typical Slytherin. And of course we NEVER see unless we are talking about Snape Slytherin saving somebody they do not like. Hermione at this point in time is not their friend just yet, she is not their enemy but she is somebody both boys dislike. And yet they go saving her. Any examples of Slytherins doing that? Ever?

We have Snape of course saving Harry's life, but as you said, you know my theory ;)



> 
> Alla:
>  And yes, I know there is Snape, but as I argued in the past, to me book seven is screaming that author does not consider Snape a typical Slytherin.  IMO of course.
> 
> Pippin:
> I know your theory :) But what I want to ask is this, do you think that the books encourage this kind of thinking about real people? In the absence of more specific information, is it okay to rely on "typical" negative stereotypes as long as you think they are generally true and you recognize that there are exceptions?

Alla:

So let me ask you a question in turn before I answer yours. So we have books, which **SORT** young people in Houses based on the idea that supposedly one trait of their personality is so dominant, just SO DOMINANT that they need to be sorted in the house where presumably all other people have ONE or two at most personalities trait prevail.

These houses are left standing at the end of the books, all four of them, nothing changed that all four personality types can mingle with each other and live and learn from each other.

And you do not think this would be stereotyping RL people? I do agree that it is not stereotyping book characters, but you bet that if I would have observed this in RL, I would have thought that is doing exactly that. Yes, I know that Houses exist in RL schools, but if those Houses sort people based on them being intelligent OR bravem, OR hardworking, OR ambitious, oh dear, I will be dancing in the Bolshoy theatre balley troop.

But since we are talking about fiction, no I do not think it encourages any stereotyping, I do however think that it works in symbols and make all those unnamed students who constitute the population of these four houses to be no more than metaphors for the certain personality traits. Oh yes, of course there are few exceptions from that rule (IMO), but seriously, if this was not synbolic, don't you think that every student should have had the conversation with the Hat as Harry did?

I am not even sure if she planned Hermione to have hat be hesitant or this was added as afterthought.

Seriously, I just want to laugh every time when I am thinking that apparently being hardworking excludes one having any ambition (unless you are exception to the rule) and I guess I am supposed to think that unless you belong to those few exceptions you cannot show ALL those traits and more and each one of them becomes dominant for a short period of time.

So, yes, to answer your question Pippin, since you were the one who brought real life people into it, absolutely, I do think that to let Houses stand at the end of the books, IF we were talking about real life houses would be massively encouraging negative stereotyping.

Please do not consider the following to be the bragging about myself, but when I came to live in US, I think I showed that I have enough courage (yes, of course I did want to come, but boy adjusting to new life was hard and scary too) and enough ambition too, because I do think that what I achieved for a little more than a decade is pretty impressive.  And I just want to laugh if I would have to get sorted and some silly Sorting Hat would tell me that say I have more courage than desire to learn and ambition to succeed or vice versa.

Yep, IMO it would be RL stereotyping, but since it is fiction, and to me as I said Harry is the most "real" of all people in the book, maybe what she is saying is that in her character who is everyman, she showed real person or something? That all four houses are symbolically united in his person or something? I am just thinking out loud here.

JMO,

Alla