Sometimes it seems like the real danger/evil that Slytherin represents is the temptation to believe in evil as a tangible, outside force. . . . they've still got those evil Slytherins to compare themselves to and say, “Nope, I'm not them."
A fascinating point, and I'm tempted to find a topical subtext to it pre-election day. Demonizing the Other has consequences for the person doing the demonizing; it's just not very good for anyone's intellectual acuity or moral well-being, is it? On the other hand this kind of prefabricated conflict is popular, as you say, both inside the world of the text and out of it --
Damn, people love to see Gryffindors and Slytherins fight. It seems sometimes like they exist on a see-saw where cutting one down automatically raises the other or vice versa.
Yes. Makes for a good source of plot tension -- whenever Harry is feeling too comfortable, a gang of Slytherins can come along and taunt him. I'm not saying I don't enjoy this -- of course I do; many people remember what it was like to face bullies, or apparent bullies, at school, and particularly for those of us who are nerds-in-recovery, one of the guilty pleasures of HP is seeing the bullies lose time and time again.
Still, I've often wondered how the books would be different if the main rivalry were not between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but between Gryffindor and one of the other Houses. If Gryffindor is defined primarily by being not-Slytherin, that is, as you say, an easy way for Gryffindor to claim the moral high ground. But the Gryffindor temperament and character is in some ways just as strongly opposed to that of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and one of the many things Rowling accomplishes by emphasizing Gryffindor vs. Slytherin is to distract us from potential rivalries, or at least disagreements, that would NOT make Gryffindor look quite so admirable to all readers. How would we see Harry, for example, if he were constantly sparring with some Ravenclaw? That seems unlikely, but is it really? Would Gryffindors be predisposed to see Ravenclaws as overly bookish and theoretical (and therefore at least faintly ridiculous) and Hufflepuffs as being, well, wimpy natural victims? I can imagine a version of HP in which some tension between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw might, for example, throw into stronger relief Gryffindor's anti-intellectual side, or in which tension between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff could make Gryffindor look a bit too, well, like boorish and inconsiderate jocks. Fortunately Slytherin is there, and so Gryffindor is primarily not-evil rather than not-smart or not-sweet. For that reason alone the Slytherins are awfully useful creatures to have around, and Hogwarts might be a much more uncomfortable -- or more morally ambiguous -- place without them.
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A fascinating point, and I'm tempted to find a topical subtext to it pre-election day. Demonizing the Other has consequences for the person doing the demonizing; it's just not very good for anyone's intellectual acuity or moral well-being, is it? On the other hand this kind of prefabricated conflict is popular, as you say, both inside the world of the text and out of it --
Damn, people love to see Gryffindors and Slytherins fight. It seems sometimes like they exist on a see-saw where cutting one down automatically raises the other or vice versa.
Yes. Makes for a good source of plot tension -- whenever Harry is feeling too comfortable, a gang of Slytherins can come along and taunt him. I'm not saying I don't enjoy this -- of course I do; many people remember what it was like to face bullies, or apparent bullies, at school, and particularly for those of us who are nerds-in-recovery, one of the guilty pleasures of HP is seeing the bullies lose time and time again.
Still, I've often wondered how the books would be different if the main rivalry were not between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but between Gryffindor and one of the other Houses. If Gryffindor is defined primarily by being not-Slytherin, that is, as you say, an easy way for Gryffindor to claim the moral high ground. But the Gryffindor temperament and character is in some ways just as strongly opposed to that of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and one of the many things Rowling accomplishes by emphasizing Gryffindor vs. Slytherin is to distract us from potential rivalries, or at least disagreements, that would NOT make Gryffindor look quite so admirable to all readers. How would we see Harry, for example, if he were constantly sparring with some Ravenclaw? That seems unlikely, but is it really? Would Gryffindors be predisposed to see Ravenclaws as overly bookish and theoretical (and therefore at least faintly ridiculous) and Hufflepuffs as being, well, wimpy natural victims? I can imagine a version of HP in which some tension between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw might, for example, throw into stronger relief Gryffindor's anti-intellectual side, or in which tension between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff could make Gryffindor look a bit too, well, like boorish and inconsiderate jocks. Fortunately Slytherin is there, and so Gryffindor is primarily not-evil rather than not-smart or not-sweet. For that reason alone the Slytherins are awfully useful creatures to have around, and Hogwarts might be a much more uncomfortable -- or more morally ambiguous -- place without them.