The theme, was Re: Ginny hexes / kinds of bigotry /etc

[pippin_999]

Nora:
> 
> Okay, here we go.
> 
> I find it a little hard to class the Giants unproblematically as 
> the 'downtrodden', given their fundamental violent nature (something 
> many a listie has brought up in the discussion of why Grawp was both 
> such a bad idea and an awful plot point.)  

Pippin:
Giants turn violent when they're cooped up and mistreated. If that
makes them 'fundamentally violent' then so are humans -- and
unicorns. 

Nora:
Werewolves--a little.  I  must admit that my perception of Pippin's 
agenda colors my perception  of her argument of this point, too. :)

Pippin:
Are you saying you're stuck on the idea of racism as the root
cause of oppression in the books rather than vice versa because you don't
want to lend support to ESE!Lupin? I'm flattered. :-)

We hear only a passing reference to SPEW in Book Six, so I don't
see how it's less emphasized than werewolf oppression, which
Lupin gives as the reason Grayback is able to recruit support,
and that Lupin has to keep his association with wizards secret.


Nora:
> But at least to me, the story of Voldemort is that it's discovering 
> his heritage and thinking of it in a particular way that catalyzes 
> his delving into various kinds of magic, and the entire project.  
> YMMV, but that's how I see Rowling having laid it out.


Pippin:
Voldemort's magic had "run away with him" to use Dumbledore's
phrase, before he even found out what it was. He was already
using it to oppress and terrorize others. He was already convinced
that he was special and different. He doesn't seem to care about
what his heritage was, only what power he could obtain by using it.
If he'd discovered that both his parents were Muggle, do you think 
he'd have dropped out of Hogwarts and decided to recruit an
army of Muggles instead?


Pippin