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I had dinner with my brother last night and he summed up Bed and Breakfasts perfectly. He said, "They tell you it's cozy. Really it's really more like staying with a great aunt you don't really know."
And that's why I like hotels.
Yes, I'm still obsessed with Slytherins--at least in this lj. I do manage to have conversations about other things in real life.![[livejournal.com profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
epicyclical and wayfairer were having a conversation about how their symbolism is inconsistent and I have to agree. Specifically I've been realizing that part of what disturbs me so much is the way it seems like JKR not only has her "good" characters hate them but also, as an author, makes them earn that hatred at every turn. In some ways--and this isn't a direct parallel but it was helpful to me in understanding how I felt--it's like she portrays them a lot like anti-Semitic Jewish stereotypes but then hangs a swastika over them so we can convince ourselves we're right to despise them.
There's a lot of ways to look at the Slytherins at once. This is just one of them. It's not a total parallel or an allegory, but I have always felt like understanding the politics of this world depends a lot on making connections to our own world. I.e., if a group calls themselves "The Inquisitor Squad" they should be associated with the Inquisition. The Slytherins often seem like an amalgam of various bad guys throughout history, like all bad guys are the same. They really don't have a consistent identity that can be understood, it's just like whatever the current politically correct atttitude is they have the opposite. When Sirius tells Harry the world isn't just divided into good guys and DEs he seems to be warning him that there are more bad guys to look out for, not hinting at the humanity present in the bad guys.
Now, I'm keeping in mind that these books are written in a very limited pov, Harry's. But we've yet to see the slightest contradiction to Harry's pov on this issue and more importantly Harry's pov appears to be echoed not only by the narrative voice (and the author in interviews) but by the most reliable characters, Dumbledore and Hermione. Yes, those characters seem the most fair to Slytherins but I feel like their attitude is more about showing their good character than anything positive about the Slytherins.
Anyway, here are some of the things that make me think they work as both the victimizers and victims of WW2, so it's just not enough to just say they're like Nazis and so should be hated. I'm just throwing things out as I think of them. I don't think there's a set answer to what they are.
Theory one: Slytherins are Nazis
* Voldemort wishes to institute a program of "racial purity" and get rid of Mudbloods.
* Lucius and Draco are pale and blonde. As Jason Isaacs says, blonde people talking about purity...we know where this is going. Blonde=Aryan, period.
* They're evil: They want power, they act together.
* They judge people based on bloodlines and consider themselves special based on their "race."
* Many appear to be stupid thugs.
* Slytherins hate Muggleborns and Voldemort wants to persecute and kill them, thus Muggleborns are like Jews in WW2.
* Voldemort appears to lie to the DEs about being a halfblood, though it's unclear if some of them know the truth. Seems like Lucius wouldn't care.
* They join the Inquisitor Squad. It's a group of bad kids with a sort of uniform and that's clearly like the Hitler Youth. Also their parents are Nazis so again, Hitler Youth alert.
So I read this stuff and I feel like I'm just supposed to despise them because racism is bad and Nazis are bad and they must be destroyed. (I won't even get into the fact that I think Nazis are just people too--we shouldn't be so quick to think we're incredibly superior.) But the weird thing is they also neatly fit a lot of Jewish stereotypes. Remember that for years Jews were considered to be evil and it was not only acceptable but righteous to hate them (let's pretend there aren't many many people today who still feel that way). My point isn't that the Slytherins really are Jewish or anything, just that one could just as easily spin them into that role as the role of Nazis. More easily, in fact:
Theory two: Slytherins are Jews
Obviously the parallels I'm making here are to anti-Semitic stereotypes and not real Jewish people. This is how Jews are described by anti-Semites, not the way they really are.
* They are rich, having probably gotten their money through nefarious means (unlike the upstanding Weasleys). They use this money to gain unholy influence in government.
* They are physically repulsive, possessing traits that hint at their unsavory character (as opposed to Hermione's more loveable buck-teeth and bushy hair that don't prevent her from being pretty at the Yule ball). Pansy is hard-faced and pug-nosed. Crabbe and Goyle are ape-like. Theodore Nott is weedy. Millicent Bulstrode is Amazonian. Even Draco, I assume, is not supposed to be attractive: he is pale, pointy-chinned, ferret-like, with slick blonde hair. Then there's Snape with his sallow skin, long nose and greasy hair, all classic anti-Semitic stereotypes.
* They are cunning, incapable of honest dealings. Note the inconsistancies here: Slyths are both superior and inferior to the non-Slytherins. They have cunning, a talent for viciousness and a possibly a knack for making money (the "rich kid" is one), but somehow lack any semblance of honest, healthy intelligence.
* They "stick together" and show favor to others in their group. Yes, all the houses show house loyalty but Slytherin is more isolated than any other house, loyal to Slytherin first and Hogwarts second, if they are loyal to Hogwarts at all.
* They really are related by blood. This puts rather a different spin on the pureblood issue, which has always been confusing anyway. Harry could have been in Slytherin, and his mother was Muggleborn. Tom Riddle was the heir of Slytherin, but his father was a Muggle. Many believe Millicent is a halfblood based on a shot of JKR's notes. So how can this be the Pureblood house? Well, it makes a bit more sense if rather than thinking Pureblood means having no muggle blood whatsoever you think of it in terms of being related to this one Pureblood family. It's a slightly different thing. Thus Tom is a Pureblood because his mother is part of the family, even if her husband wasn't. Sirius' family is adamant that they not marry any non-purebloods, but then so might a Jewish parent want her child to marry a Jewish girl for non-evil reasons. (Tonks and Sirius, by contrast, want to get rid of everything that ties them to this family including family portraits and, in Tonks' case, a "stupid" name.)
* They are secretly allied to the enemy and part of a vast conspiracy. Even when working with Umbridge, the Slytherin's agenda is clearly their own. Their real thoughts on her are completely hidden from us, but we know they don't really respect her. They are taking advantage of the chaos, not waging open war.
* They consider themselves special because of their race. Pretty common accusation from anti-Semites--Chosen People etc.
* They are the minority. The Slytherins get hexed six ways from Sunday throughout the book and allegedly deserve it. Not usually because anybody's acting in self-defense, but because they are foiling the Slytherins' evil plans. Pansy even gets put into the infirmary with antlers. I'm sure the parallels to myths that Jews have horns is completely unintentional there, but still: ouch.
* They are connected to Dark Magic. Ah, the ever-elusive dark magic. What is it exactly? Is it different from other magic, or just magic used for dark means? Because the Gryffindors appear to be the most well-versed in hexes at this school. They practice them, use them frequently, and this is all considered a good thing, an outgrowth of their bravery and desire to fight evil, especially when it's used against Slytherins. It's good magic no matter what--according to Bellatrix righteous anger is insufficient for casting a Crucio and that's what Harry's got. (This is absurd, of course. Righteous anger is a great source of sadism. To pretend it will protect a person from cruelty makes it even more dangerous than it already is.) Sometimes it seems more like all the magic that comes from Slytherins is dark, somehow. I half expect to hear stories of them sacrificing non-Slytherin babies in rituals, another accusation levelled against Jews.
* Dumbledore's Army is, in fact, just as close or closer to the Hitler Youth as the Inquisitor Squad is-at least it struck me as more like it. It's an army.
* I just can't resist this one...the Slytherins are the students who reject Christ!Harry as their savior. Talk about your "Mal Foi" (bad faith).
So how would Muggleborns fit in if the Slytherins are taking this role? Well, Christianity was originally a Jewish sect, but it then looked for converts outside that faith. The attitude of most wizards towards Muggleborns appears to see them as perfectly acceptable as long as they're wizards. Christianity certainly works that way--if doesn't matter what you converted from; as long as you're Christian you're one of them. You're not born a Christian you just have to accept Christ. Judaism, by contrast, is more exclusive. Archie Bunker, famous bigot, once said, "The best thing about the Jews is they don't want ya."
Okay, so I'm obviously not trying to say here that JKR is a really an anti-Semite who is spreading hate against Jews through the Slytherins. She'd probably be pretty horrified at the idea. But still, I do feel, and have always gotten that kind of vibe against Slytherins, like I'm being encouraged to hate this group of people to the point of blaming all the evil in the world on them and also being given handy rationalizations about it so I can consider myself a compassionate person while doing so. The more hopeless they seem to be, the most likely I am to feel like I'm being lied to. Nazis are currently a very acceptable villain, completely politically correct. But if you're giving me characters who are children throughout five books I'm afraid I need a little more than just signals that tell me they're associated with Nazis and so can be picked off at will.
I can deal with them being nasty kids. But I went to school with snobby, mean kids and they are actually not this heinous. JKR has said that she's known people like Draco and Pansy and that they don't go away as you get older and I find myself wondering where she's meeting them. People, even racist people, are really just people. I can feel sympathy for them while still disapproving of their actions or beliefs. I felt sympathy for Snape before seeing him picked on--and I don't need to think of him as having no friends to continue to feel sorry for him. So I find myself wondering if the author's view of the world isn't quite as different from Harry's as I'd like to hope. That doesn't bode well for the rest of the series.
And that's why I like hotels.
Yes, I'm still obsessed with Slytherins--at least in this lj. I do manage to have conversations about other things in real life.
epicyclical and wayfairer were having a conversation about how their symbolism is inconsistent and I have to agree. Specifically I've been realizing that part of what disturbs me so much is the way it seems like JKR not only has her "good" characters hate them but also, as an author, makes them earn that hatred at every turn. In some ways--and this isn't a direct parallel but it was helpful to me in understanding how I felt--it's like she portrays them a lot like anti-Semitic Jewish stereotypes but then hangs a swastika over them so we can convince ourselves we're right to despise them. There's a lot of ways to look at the Slytherins at once. This is just one of them. It's not a total parallel or an allegory, but I have always felt like understanding the politics of this world depends a lot on making connections to our own world. I.e., if a group calls themselves "The Inquisitor Squad" they should be associated with the Inquisition. The Slytherins often seem like an amalgam of various bad guys throughout history, like all bad guys are the same. They really don't have a consistent identity that can be understood, it's just like whatever the current politically correct atttitude is they have the opposite. When Sirius tells Harry the world isn't just divided into good guys and DEs he seems to be warning him that there are more bad guys to look out for, not hinting at the humanity present in the bad guys.
Now, I'm keeping in mind that these books are written in a very limited pov, Harry's. But we've yet to see the slightest contradiction to Harry's pov on this issue and more importantly Harry's pov appears to be echoed not only by the narrative voice (and the author in interviews) but by the most reliable characters, Dumbledore and Hermione. Yes, those characters seem the most fair to Slytherins but I feel like their attitude is more about showing their good character than anything positive about the Slytherins.
Anyway, here are some of the things that make me think they work as both the victimizers and victims of WW2, so it's just not enough to just say they're like Nazis and so should be hated. I'm just throwing things out as I think of them. I don't think there's a set answer to what they are.
Theory one: Slytherins are Nazis
* Voldemort wishes to institute a program of "racial purity" and get rid of Mudbloods.
* Lucius and Draco are pale and blonde. As Jason Isaacs says, blonde people talking about purity...we know where this is going. Blonde=Aryan, period.
* They're evil: They want power, they act together.
* They judge people based on bloodlines and consider themselves special based on their "race."
* Many appear to be stupid thugs.
* Slytherins hate Muggleborns and Voldemort wants to persecute and kill them, thus Muggleborns are like Jews in WW2.
* Voldemort appears to lie to the DEs about being a halfblood, though it's unclear if some of them know the truth. Seems like Lucius wouldn't care.
* They join the Inquisitor Squad. It's a group of bad kids with a sort of uniform and that's clearly like the Hitler Youth. Also their parents are Nazis so again, Hitler Youth alert.
So I read this stuff and I feel like I'm just supposed to despise them because racism is bad and Nazis are bad and they must be destroyed. (I won't even get into the fact that I think Nazis are just people too--we shouldn't be so quick to think we're incredibly superior.) But the weird thing is they also neatly fit a lot of Jewish stereotypes. Remember that for years Jews were considered to be evil and it was not only acceptable but righteous to hate them (let's pretend there aren't many many people today who still feel that way). My point isn't that the Slytherins really are Jewish or anything, just that one could just as easily spin them into that role as the role of Nazis. More easily, in fact:
Theory two: Slytherins are Jews
Obviously the parallels I'm making here are to anti-Semitic stereotypes and not real Jewish people. This is how Jews are described by anti-Semites, not the way they really are.
* They are rich, having probably gotten their money through nefarious means (unlike the upstanding Weasleys). They use this money to gain unholy influence in government.
* They are physically repulsive, possessing traits that hint at their unsavory character (as opposed to Hermione's more loveable buck-teeth and bushy hair that don't prevent her from being pretty at the Yule ball). Pansy is hard-faced and pug-nosed. Crabbe and Goyle are ape-like. Theodore Nott is weedy. Millicent Bulstrode is Amazonian. Even Draco, I assume, is not supposed to be attractive: he is pale, pointy-chinned, ferret-like, with slick blonde hair. Then there's Snape with his sallow skin, long nose and greasy hair, all classic anti-Semitic stereotypes.
* They are cunning, incapable of honest dealings. Note the inconsistancies here: Slyths are both superior and inferior to the non-Slytherins. They have cunning, a talent for viciousness and a possibly a knack for making money (the "rich kid" is one), but somehow lack any semblance of honest, healthy intelligence.
* They "stick together" and show favor to others in their group. Yes, all the houses show house loyalty but Slytherin is more isolated than any other house, loyal to Slytherin first and Hogwarts second, if they are loyal to Hogwarts at all.
* They really are related by blood. This puts rather a different spin on the pureblood issue, which has always been confusing anyway. Harry could have been in Slytherin, and his mother was Muggleborn. Tom Riddle was the heir of Slytherin, but his father was a Muggle. Many believe Millicent is a halfblood based on a shot of JKR's notes. So how can this be the Pureblood house? Well, it makes a bit more sense if rather than thinking Pureblood means having no muggle blood whatsoever you think of it in terms of being related to this one Pureblood family. It's a slightly different thing. Thus Tom is a Pureblood because his mother is part of the family, even if her husband wasn't. Sirius' family is adamant that they not marry any non-purebloods, but then so might a Jewish parent want her child to marry a Jewish girl for non-evil reasons. (Tonks and Sirius, by contrast, want to get rid of everything that ties them to this family including family portraits and, in Tonks' case, a "stupid" name.)
* They are secretly allied to the enemy and part of a vast conspiracy. Even when working with Umbridge, the Slytherin's agenda is clearly their own. Their real thoughts on her are completely hidden from us, but we know they don't really respect her. They are taking advantage of the chaos, not waging open war.
* They consider themselves special because of their race. Pretty common accusation from anti-Semites--Chosen People etc.
* They are the minority. The Slytherins get hexed six ways from Sunday throughout the book and allegedly deserve it. Not usually because anybody's acting in self-defense, but because they are foiling the Slytherins' evil plans. Pansy even gets put into the infirmary with antlers. I'm sure the parallels to myths that Jews have horns is completely unintentional there, but still: ouch.
* They are connected to Dark Magic. Ah, the ever-elusive dark magic. What is it exactly? Is it different from other magic, or just magic used for dark means? Because the Gryffindors appear to be the most well-versed in hexes at this school. They practice them, use them frequently, and this is all considered a good thing, an outgrowth of their bravery and desire to fight evil, especially when it's used against Slytherins. It's good magic no matter what--according to Bellatrix righteous anger is insufficient for casting a Crucio and that's what Harry's got. (This is absurd, of course. Righteous anger is a great source of sadism. To pretend it will protect a person from cruelty makes it even more dangerous than it already is.) Sometimes it seems more like all the magic that comes from Slytherins is dark, somehow. I half expect to hear stories of them sacrificing non-Slytherin babies in rituals, another accusation levelled against Jews.
* Dumbledore's Army is, in fact, just as close or closer to the Hitler Youth as the Inquisitor Squad is-at least it struck me as more like it. It's an army.
* I just can't resist this one...the Slytherins are the students who reject Christ!Harry as their savior. Talk about your "Mal Foi" (bad faith).
So how would Muggleborns fit in if the Slytherins are taking this role? Well, Christianity was originally a Jewish sect, but it then looked for converts outside that faith. The attitude of most wizards towards Muggleborns appears to see them as perfectly acceptable as long as they're wizards. Christianity certainly works that way--if doesn't matter what you converted from; as long as you're Christian you're one of them. You're not born a Christian you just have to accept Christ. Judaism, by contrast, is more exclusive. Archie Bunker, famous bigot, once said, "The best thing about the Jews is they don't want ya."
Okay, so I'm obviously not trying to say here that JKR is a really an anti-Semite who is spreading hate against Jews through the Slytherins. She'd probably be pretty horrified at the idea. But still, I do feel, and have always gotten that kind of vibe against Slytherins, like I'm being encouraged to hate this group of people to the point of blaming all the evil in the world on them and also being given handy rationalizations about it so I can consider myself a compassionate person while doing so. The more hopeless they seem to be, the most likely I am to feel like I'm being lied to. Nazis are currently a very acceptable villain, completely politically correct. But if you're giving me characters who are children throughout five books I'm afraid I need a little more than just signals that tell me they're associated with Nazis and so can be picked off at will.
I can deal with them being nasty kids. But I went to school with snobby, mean kids and they are actually not this heinous. JKR has said that she's known people like Draco and Pansy and that they don't go away as you get older and I find myself wondering where she's meeting them. People, even racist people, are really just people. I can feel sympathy for them while still disapproving of their actions or beliefs. I felt sympathy for Snape before seeing him picked on--and I don't need to think of him as having no friends to continue to feel sorry for him. So I find myself wondering if the author's view of the world isn't quite as different from Harry's as I'd like to hope. That doesn't bode well for the rest of the series.
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From:
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Of course, there are enough signs in OOTP for us to be reasonably optimistic. Phineas (who's my fav character), sorting hat song and Hermione's musing aside, I actually think Percy, Fudge, Neville were encouraging examples too. Because, for them there were all these "little signs" in book 1-4 that they'd turn the way they did in OOTP, just like those 'ambiguous' Draco moments that redemption!Draco believers draw on. You know how non-believers have always dissed those moments as 'too vague to be meaningful evidences'. Well, same could be said about those signs foreshadowing turning-against family!Percy, head-in-the-dune!Fudge, and fighter!Neville right =P?
From:
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I mean, think about Merchant of Venice. Shylock is easily the best character in it and the signs nowadays all seem to point to him getting some kind of respect, but the play was written with the understanding that being a Jew was like being Nazi today so despite the "Hath not a Jew eyes?" speech etc. Shylock ends up humiliated and loses everything he has...and it's supposed to be a comedy.