Sorting Hat Songsterri_testingNovember 2 2014, 02:24:17 UTC
You know, re-reading the Sorting Hat Songs--which we hear in books 1, 4, and 5--Ravenclaw and Gryffindor are presented consistently; Hufflepuff and Slytherin are both presented differently in book 5 than they were before. In the first two songs, Hufflepuff CHOOSES those who are "just & loyal... true.. unafraid of toil" and then "hard workers". In the first two songs, Slytherin chooses "cunning folk who use any means to achieve their ends" and "those of great ambition."
But in the last song, Helga's offering to 'take the rest and teach them what I know." While all of a sudden Slytherin wants those "whose ancestry is purest."
So I think Jo may have been retrofitting the house characteristics--Hufflepuffs duffers, oh wait hard workers who are loyal and just aren't duffers, oops, better change the song to have Helga teaching the rejects.... And Slytherin is Evil, because Ambition is Evil, only Evil = Pureblood Supremacism in my world, therefore Slytherin is and has always been the house of Purebloods, (except for Riddle and Snape, of course) even though those born at the top don't need to strive to reach the top....
Or something.
Although, I suppose, maybe the ambition of the the evil Slytherin Purebloods is "using any means to achieve their end" of keeping down the Muggleborns, while nice Purebloods like the Weasleys and the Potters accept their privileged postion without striving consciously to perpetuate it. Given the analogies to racism, that works rather well. I'm not Pureblood Supremacist; I just prefer to offer job openings to people like me, other things being equal. And am perfectly happy to accept a position a Muggleborn could much better fill--*cough* Arthur. But a truly competent Muggleborn would be perfectly acceptable as an assistant....
Re: Sorting Hat Songsjana_chNovember 2 2014, 04:09:28 UTC
Yes, JKR is big on her heroes being tremendously successful without actually striving for it. All the Weasleys end up being highly successful, but the only one condemned for it is Percy, because he's entirely up-front about wanting success, and doing what he can to achieve it. Apparently you're just suppposed to "follow your bliss" out of your great love of jokes, dragons, quidditch, police work, or muggle do-dads, and success will shower upon you. As long as you wear red and gold, of course.
The bit about Slytherins "using any means to achieve their ends" is obviously supposed to indicate lack of morality: "My ambition is so important I'll do anything to achieve it, and devil take the hindmost." But it can also be interpreted to mean, "I will do whatever it takes to get the job done, no matter how difficult or painful, or what it costs me." That's the motto of Severus Snape.
In my story "Girls' Night at the Hog's Head," I have a Slytherin explain, "Everyone is suspicious of us, but they come to us to do the dirty work that really has to be done and no one else will touch. We do it, no matter what it takes, and no one thanks us for it, or thinks to repay the favor when we're the ones who need help."
But in the last song, Helga's offering to 'take the rest and teach them what I know." While all of a sudden Slytherin wants those "whose ancestry is purest."
So I think Jo may have been retrofitting the house characteristics--Hufflepuffs duffers, oh wait hard workers who are loyal and just aren't duffers, oops, better change the song to have Helga teaching the rejects.... And Slytherin is Evil, because Ambition is Evil, only Evil = Pureblood Supremacism in my world, therefore Slytherin is and has always been the house of Purebloods, (except for Riddle and Snape, of course) even though those born at the top don't need to strive to reach the top....
Or something.
Although, I suppose, maybe the ambition of the the evil Slytherin Purebloods is "using any means to achieve their end" of keeping down the Muggleborns, while nice Purebloods like the Weasleys and the Potters accept their privileged postion without striving consciously to perpetuate it. Given the analogies to racism, that works rather well. I'm not Pureblood Supremacist; I just prefer to offer job openings to people like me, other things being equal. And am perfectly happy to accept a position a Muggleborn could much better fill--*cough* Arthur. But a truly competent Muggleborn would be perfectly acceptable as an assistant....
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The bit about Slytherins "using any means to achieve their ends" is obviously supposed to indicate lack of morality: "My ambition is so important I'll do anything to achieve it, and devil take the hindmost." But it can also be interpreted to mean, "I will do whatever it takes to get the job done, no matter how difficult or painful, or what it costs me." That's the motto of Severus Snape.
In my story "Girls' Night at the Hog's Head," I have a Slytherin explain, "Everyone is suspicious of us, but they come to us to do the dirty work that really has to be done and no one else will touch. We do it, no matter what it takes, and no one thanks us for it, or thinks to repay the favor when we're the ones who need help."
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