I think the main way I'm seeing a difference between them--and I'm definitely not saying that this *is* Draco's arc definitely or anything--is that Slughorn seems to, like many older people, have grown up in a time when things we now consider racist was perfectly acceptable. I don't think he ever believed in the idea to the level Draco does even at 12, because it was just normal. He probably sees himself now as a completely different person than he was when he was younger, with a completely different outlook--and he is that, but it wasn't a violent change. He's never been a DE or wanted to be one. Whatever his surprise at Lily being a Muggleborn, he doesn't really seem to have ever wanted anything to do with killing people or being a DE.
The thing with Draco to me is just that he is into it, and has been all his life. So the potential is that he won't be able to have a gradual change of heart because a lot of his identity rests on wishing a violent end to Muggleborns. It's like...if he's going to change, will the change be from going from happily wanting Muggleborns dead or exiled to just a quieter sort of bigotry? It could, I guess, but Draco to me seems much more like a kid joining a white supremist group of terrorists than a man who lives in a racist world and sees nothing wrong with that. For Slughorn, I'd guess, any prejudiced ideas he has have never been intentionally violent or hateful.
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Re: cont'd
Date: 2005-12-04 11:37 pm (UTC)The thing with Draco to me is just that he is into it, and has been all his life. So the potential is that he won't be able to have a gradual change of heart because a lot of his identity rests on wishing a violent end to Muggleborns. It's like...if he's going to change, will the change be from going from happily wanting Muggleborns dead or exiled to just a quieter sort of bigotry? It could, I guess, but Draco to me seems much more like a kid joining a white supremist group of terrorists than a man who lives in a racist world and sees nothing wrong with that. For Slughorn, I'd guess, any prejudiced ideas he has have never been intentionally violent or hateful.