It seems that in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter there is a division on people that are muggle born, pure bloods and even squibs. To get a better understanding of this theme, I started comparing this to our world.
There are only a few known Pure Blood families in the Harry Potter world, but if this was a real world, I think they would be the majority. Voldemort’s sole purpose was to get rid of Muggles. I think this can stem from the hate he had on his father growing up. His deep rooted hatred led him to commit murders and betrayals.
In the Chamber of Secrets, we take a peek into this world of hatred. Draco is the first one to bring up the word Mudblood. “No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood” (p 112) Ron later explain what Squib means. “A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn’t got any magic powers. Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual” (p 145) By knowing some spoilers I have overheard from here and there throughout my life, I know that Ron and Hermoine become a couple. Other than their other children I heard they have in the last book, there is a chance that one of their grandchildren can become a squib. I wonder if generation and generation after, will their great grandchildren be considered Pure Bloods if they continue to have children with other Pure Bloods? It’s interesting thinking about the possibility not touched by the author yet from what I have read so far.
In another class I am taking, we are discussing on the theme of white supremacy in America and how that has become a construct that is not biological. If I see it in that perspective, I can say that thinking a Pure Blood is superior is a construct that was made by Pure Bloods. Because J.K. Rowling is from London, I am not really educated in modern racism on that part of that world. It was easier for me to compare what I know of the United States. I was taught that not so long ago, interracial marriage was forbidden. Many whites deemed Africans/Blacks as lower than them. They even saw them as non humans just for their color of their skin in all aspects. Slave owners would often have children with their slaves but those children were not seen as human either, often more viewed as an abomination. However, because times are changing, I see more and more people being open minded and there are more mixed children than ever. Because I am comparing it to our world, and if the Harry Potter world was real, I think the same patterns would occur eventually.
Staying on that note, J.K. Rowling inserts many themes in her books from friendship to death. A majority of children have grown up reading the Harry Potter books and in doing so, made them exposed to these themes. Im sure as I read more of the books this theme will come up periodically. I think as children, when we see Malfoy as the bad guy using such words, I doubt children would want to act the same way. Thus this theme probably teaching them that it isn’t a good thing to insult someone by who they are or where they come from. I believe racism is a very huge and complicated theme that Rowling was able to tackle for a younger audience. New adult readers would also be able to make that connection immediately because of what we experience and learn about in the real world.
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