Hi, everyone! I do need to chime in on the excellent post on feminsim below--but I just wanted to point out another wildly illogical facet of these books
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What an interesting post! Discussions about how the four houses are portrayed in the HP world are fascinating to me - mainly because I still can't fully fathom what message JKR was going for when it comes to the Slytherin v. Gryffindor conflict
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No need to apologize! I enjoyed what you had to say, and I agree; I think Slytherin was always meant to be the dark side of Gryffindor. I'm still trying to get a handle on the disconnect between what Rowling apparently intended and what she actually showed us. Based on what we actually see, Gryffindor is the aristocratic house and the house most likely to contain purebloods. But it's clear that's not what Rowling intends.
I'm glad what I wrote make sense. I have a lot on my mind, but sometimes feel self-conscious posting here because I know I've arrived over a decade late. I'm always jumping in last-minute in different fandoms when all the discussions have been done already.
I remember in PS/SS, when Hermione tells Harry there are more important things than "books and cleverness" such as "friendship and bravery", I found that quote sweet as a child. However, as an adult, it made me wonder if it explains why JKR has a lot of love for Gryffindor and created Slytherin as an opposite to "friendship and bravery." Bad to the bone Slytherins are cowards who look after themselves and only acknowledge others if they can get something in return. Slytherins who have an ounce of goodness within them are courageous and self-sacrificing; they're slightly good in spite of their Slytherin nature, not because of it
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She confirmed LOCKHART as a ravenclaw who nearly got sorted into Slytherin? Lockhart? In what way does he value learning? The man is a total Gryffindor!
I can't believe her. I really can't.
But you're right; she was much too prejudiced in favor of Gryffindor to present the house realistically. It's too bad.
Oh, you know who else would be a natural Slytherin, based on his character and not his family? Ron!
Gryffindor definitely ought to be the house of high-born knights, and Slytherin the house of merchants.
I wonder... Crabbe and Goyle are not portrayed as well-spoken aristocrats, or even retainers. Isn't having well-spoken, elegant retainers part of the image the Malfoys would be trying to achieve? We don't know that Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Wilkes in the previous generation, or some of the other background Slytherins come from money or old families; the fact that they aren't noted as bragging about their wealth or backgrounds might suggest they don't have anything to brag about. When they do, we usually hear about it (Blaise, Draco, the Black family). Maybe a lot of Slytherins are actually working-class kids who are either barely purebloods or are technically half-bloods like Harry, and they're all trying to improve their lots. How often is a terrorist group composed almost entirely of rich people who already feel like they have power and influence, after all
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It does! Thank you. And it's true that kids with a certain type of bravery would be most eager to assimilate into the Wizarding World. More thoughtful types, or those with close ties to friends and family, wouldn't be so eager.
But, of course, as Torchedsong has said, it's not just the inconsistency in the way the houses are presented (Crabbe and Goyle are definitely not upper crust! Just as you say). It's that Rowling demonizes fully a quarter of the school, without even knowing she's done so. Not one Slytherin is redeemed in the text. And yet Rowling is convinced she wrote a scene with Slughorn leading the Slytherins into battle against Voldemort. She didn't. I wish she had, but she just didn't.
It's really hard for me to understand designating a House of Evil Kids and sticking to it. I thought for sure part of Book 7 would be about uniting the Houses and finding out Slytherin isn't inherently evil. Harry might believe that, but the text doesn't have to support it! Instead, everyone from another House who went bad was nearly in Slytherin. When does Peter ever show any ambition?
Maybe she'll take lessons from George Lucas and have Slughorn lead the Slytherins into battle in the Special Edition one day. She's got a good start on an Expanded Universe of her own. She just needs to license about fifty more authors to write Potterverse comics and movies and books...
I do not view traits like ambition as belonging to any one House; instead, different Houses tend to display different kinds of various traits. If ambition simply means dedication and making efforts to achieve one's goals whether they are running the best pub in the village or becoming an Auror like Harry, how can this trait be restricted to only one House
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Just read the post, and I see where the author's coming from--it's interesting. But, as one of those water types, I'm not sure I agree. My morality is much more what s/he describes as Gryffindor. I do think everyone looks out for "their own"; I certainly do. But the question then is: how do you define your own? I learned early on that it's everybody. The whole universe, and all that dwell therein. Why wouldn't that be equally true of some Slytherins
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Tom was basically Anthony from "It's a Good Life," wasn't he? I think probably Dark Lords are disproportionately raised in the Muggle world, and wizards blame that awful Muggle culture. Maybe Gellert was so feared because he was the first (presumably) pureblood Dark Lord in practically forever, and so they didn't know what to expect
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Thanks for the comment!
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I remember in PS/SS, when Hermione tells Harry there are more important things than "books and cleverness" such as "friendship and bravery", I found that quote sweet as a child. However, as an adult, it made me wonder if it explains why JKR has a lot of love for Gryffindor and created Slytherin as an opposite to "friendship and bravery." Bad to the bone Slytherins are cowards who look after themselves and only acknowledge others if they can get something in return. Slytherins who have an ounce of goodness within them are courageous and self-sacrificing; they're slightly good in spite of their Slytherin nature, not because of it ( ... )
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I can't believe her. I really can't.
But you're right; she was much too prejudiced in favor of Gryffindor to present the house realistically. It's too bad.
Oh, you know who else would be a natural Slytherin, based on his character and not his family? Ron!
Reply
I wonder... Crabbe and Goyle are not portrayed as well-spoken aristocrats, or even retainers. Isn't having well-spoken, elegant retainers part of the image the Malfoys would be trying to achieve? We don't know that Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Wilkes in the previous generation, or some of the other background Slytherins come from money or old families; the fact that they aren't noted as bragging about their wealth or backgrounds might suggest they don't have anything to brag about. When they do, we usually hear about it (Blaise, Draco, the Black family). Maybe a lot of Slytherins are actually working-class kids who are either barely purebloods or are technically half-bloods like Harry, and they're all trying to improve their lots. How often is a terrorist group composed almost entirely of rich people who already feel like they have power and influence, after all ( ... )
Reply
But, of course, as Torchedsong has said, it's not just the inconsistency in the way the houses are presented (Crabbe and Goyle are definitely not upper crust! Just as you say). It's that Rowling demonizes fully a quarter of the school, without even knowing she's done so. Not one Slytherin is redeemed in the text. And yet Rowling is convinced she wrote a scene with Slughorn leading the Slytherins into battle against Voldemort. She didn't. I wish she had, but she just didn't.
Reply
Maybe she'll take lessons from George Lucas and have Slughorn lead the Slytherins into battle in the Special Edition one day. She's got a good start on an Expanded Universe of her own. She just needs to license about fifty more authors to write Potterverse comics and movies and books...
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