In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling, I think the story is told for readers to be biased against Slytherin and for Gryffindor. During Harry's first experiences in the Wizarding World, buying new supplies for school, he meets Draco Malfoy, who already seems entitled and rude. Malfoy claims he knows he will be in Slytherin since all of his family were, automatically presenting the qualities of that House as those of Malfoy's. Even Hagrid, Harry's mentor, tells him that "there's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one" (Rowling 80). This clearly displays the evilness of the House, as the darkest wizard, who tried to kill Harry, had been in it. Though there are people who were in Slytherin that did not become evil, the story seems to forget to mention anyone that came out good. Eventually, Harry makes it to the school, and on his first day, makes eye contact with Snape, the Head of Slytherin House, and a "sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead (Rowling 126). The scar was created by Voldemort, showing some connection between the darkest wizard and the head of the House. There is also evilness presented when Harry becomes the Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. During his first match against Slytherin, his broom becomes possessed and he dangles on for life, being thrown around in the air. In the stands, Hagrid can only say that "can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic," showing that something evil was trying to hurt Harry, and they suspect Snape, as he has always shown a negative bias towards Harry.
As for Gryffindor, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all get into this House, and present the characteristics of bravery, wholeheartedness, and dedication for defending Hogwarts against any evilness. They stand up against Malfoy, who they quickly realize is out to bully them, and defend their friends against his harsh criticisms. While at this point Malfoy is only a powerless enemy, there are more evil forces that these Gryffindors must defeat. They discover that Snape is plotting to steal the sorcerer's stone, which they know is very powerful, and Hogwarts is doing everything to keep it hidden away, by placing it under Fluffy the guard dog. However, when they finally make it through the maze of spells to get to the stone, they discover Professor Quirrell. Though a trusted advisor, he reveals it was he who was trying to kill Harry during the Quidditch match, and Snape was actually trying to save him. Quirrell has been carrying around Voldemort all this time, trying to save him using the stone, while also trying to complete the killing of Harry, which Voldemort had failed to do the first time.
Thus, while there is some good from Slytherin as presented in Snape, the House as a whole has an evil stereotype, shown by Malfoy and Voldemort, and Hogwarts holds evil secrets as displayed in Professor Quirrel himself. Without reading the rest of the books of the series, Slytherin is portrayed as a house of evils while Gryffindor is depicted as a house of good.
I completely agree. Especially at the beginning of the book, the separation between the ‘good’ characters’ and the ‘evil’ characters are very clear, and the definitions of good and evil and black and white. This can be seen in the characters of the Dursleys, who have no redeeming characteristics, and are seen as completely horrible people. There is no complexity to their characters, no shades of gray with their personalities and treatment of Harry.
ReplyDeleteThis black and white approach to good and evil is common for fantasy novels. However, what elevates Harry Potter as a book is that it does not hold onto these separated groups of good and evil characters. As you stated, the line between the two groups gets blurred by the end of the novel, as we discover that Snape had not been vying for the Sorcerer’s stone, but instead trying to protect it from the one who was really trying to steal it: Quirrel. In the dungeon when Harry confronts Quirrel, Harry says, "But Snape always seemed to hate me so much." (Rowling, 290), to which Quirrel replies “Oh he does...But he never wanted you dead." By revealing that Harry’s perceptions of the two teachers had been wrong, it introduced the lesson that not everything is as it seems. This blurring of the lines between good and evil serve the book well, as it alters perceptions and shows that good and evil are not as simple as they seem.
I agree that there is a bias towards Gryffindor over Slytherin in the book. The idea of Gryffindor being the greatest of all houses at Hogwarts is seen through the prominent role it has in the book. Harry, the main character, is chosen into the house as well as his two friends, Ron and Hermione. The readers are able to find likable traits from the characters in Gryffindor while there are very unlikable traits from students in the Slytherin house. Harry, Hermione, and Ron show traits of being brave and kind throughout the book. Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle can be seen as the opposite of the three other characters since they have traits of being snobby and mean. It does not help the case that other Slytherin students are portrayed in a bad way. Pansy Parkinson is described as “a hard-faced Slytherin girl” (Rowling 148). The dialogue that she is given in the ninth chapter “The Midnight Duel,” is very harsh and rude. It can be seen that Harry’s encounters with the Slytherin students are no very pleasant.
ReplyDeleteThe encounters of the Gryffindor students seem to always be friendly. Harry meets Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He helps in mentoring Harry on how to play Quidditch. When they are finished with their first practice, Wood tells Harry, “That Quidditch cup’ll have our name on it this year” (Rowling 170). The line shows how confident and happy Oliver is with Harry as their youngest player on the team. The first encounter of Oliver Wood is quite positive since he is a Gryffindor. His experience with Gryffindors is not as awful as his encounters with the rest of the Slytherin students at Hogwarts.
In class we mentioned that all houses are actually “good” houses, where Slytherin is only deemed evil due to the people that came out of it. This is seen by the quote you use from Hagrid stating that only evil people are known to come out of Slytherin. However, in class we additionally talked about how there are good people that are within Slytherin, we are just not informed of these individuals. A part of this good is seen with a glimpse of Snape in the later books, where he proves the point that his love makes him good and his devastation with death makes him come off as evil. (I will not spoil it for the rest of the class if they are unfamiliar with the end of the series) Slytherin is not a house that breeds students to become evil, the evil is already born within those students that join the house. I agree with your statement that “the house [Slytherin] as a whole has an evil stereotype” however this stenotype is only there due to lack of information of good people who have also been in the house. This idea of houses is equivalent to the sororities and Frats at a university. Each sorority and Frat caters to a different type of person. Depending on your personality type, you fit in somewhere but not everywhere. If there is a house that you don’t fit in, that doesn’t mean its bad. Rather, different than your comfort zone. Slytherin caters to people who speak their mind and do strong thinking. People process in this way would deem Slytherin as a good house for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there is a clear, black-and-white distinction between Gryffindor and Slytherin in the novel. While Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all chosen to be in Gryffindor, evil characters such as Malfoy and Goyle come from the Slytherin house. As we discussed in class, even their names help portray whether each character represents good or evil. For instance, Malfoy and Slytherin are both very wicked names. The Gryffindor students, however, display many quality character traits such as bravery, courage, and loyalty, all the while having regular names. A good example of this separation of good and bad occurs when Harry is flying on his broomstick, only to be enchanted by dark powers. Hagrid says, "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic - no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand" (Rowling 190). The logical thing to assume is that it was either Snape or Voldemort himself that caused this to happen, and both are from the Slytherin house.
ReplyDeleteThis distinct separation between good and evil becomes less apparent as the novel progresses. Readers later realize that it was Quirrel that tried to kill Harry during the Quidditch match, and Snape was actually trying to save him. All the while everyone thought that Snape was trying to steal the Sorcerer's stone, but he was actually trying to protect it from Quirrel. By adding certain dynamics to the characters, Rowling achieves the element of surprise in the novel. After all, the series would be very anticlimactic if only the seemingly evil characters performed all the bad deeds, and vice versa.