Racism-the Notion Of Blood

Suman Gupta writes in "Re-Reading Harry Potter", that the notion of blood is central to the theme of racism. As Voldemort is seen drinking Unicorn blood in order to gain existence as a half-life creature; while in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" he (Voldemort) is reborn with the help of "the blood of the enemy" and the "flesh of the servant". Dementors, on the other hand, suck one`s happiness while turning the victim into a "soulless and evil" (S. Gupta, Re-Reading Harry Potter, p. 100) being. Gupta further explains these "sucking, drawing life and soul, feeding on people" (S. Gupta, Re-Reading Harry Potter, p. 100) as an unmistakable resemblance to vampirism. "In dark magic blood is an effective magical substance, not merely an organic component of wizard physiology but a powerful agent of magical transformations and the exercise of magical power."(S. Gupta, Re-Reading Harry Potter, p. 100). "This crudely physical significance of blood to the wizard who delves in dark magic slips fluidity into another kind of relevance of blood, one that is also of particular interest to these wizards and one that unambiguously means something in our social and political world." (S. Gupta, Re-Reading Harry Potter, p.100). Racism in Andrew Blake`s interpretation is "the books` strongest political suit". The main reason for conflict is provided in the name of racist differences. Racism, however is not presented on the basis of different skin colours, but on the blood-line of individuals. There is clear evidence supporting this, the terms "Mudblood" that indicate children who are "racially impure" (Andrew Blake, Re-Reading Harry Potter, p. 103). Malfoy is, however comes from an ancient "pure blood" family and is considered by Hagrid as a "bad blood" suggesting his evil character and his family connections to the "Death Eaters". Blake interestingly compares the "Death Eaters "to the British National Party on the bases of yearning for a pure society. Here we arrived to the similarities between Voldemort and Hitler, furthermore the similarities of their ideology. Voldemort is not a "pure-blood" wizard as Hitler was not a pure German; moreover both want to diminish the unwanted race of otherness, and create a pure society of their own. Both loath a parent who was not of pure origin and their actions are to prove their legitimacy into the ideal pure society. "Muggles" are at the mercy of the wizard community, they are unaware of the wizards and their world due to ignorance, while the wizards are the superior race. There is no representative of the "Muggle" community at "The Ministry of Magic"; on the other hand a large part of the wizard world has no problem with the "Muggles". "Muggles", however are represented through the Dursley family who are an arrogant, lazy, spoiled, selfish and snob British family. As Elizabeth E. Heilman and Anne E. Gregory explain in their essay "Images of the Privileged Insider and Outcast Outsider" there are few characters whose country of origin can be assumed by their names such as Seamus Finnigan who sounds Irish, while Parvati Patil is Indian, here they explain "The non-British are often treated with disdain and suspicion, and they are described with glaring cultural stereotypes". Hogwarts is the only school where the young British wizards can attend, it welcomes all pupils from all backgrounds. On closer inspection though, not all magical creatures are allowed into the school, such as elves, unicorns, giants etc; who/which are diminished into the "Forbidden Forest". Hermione is from a "Muggle" origin that creates tension between her and Malfoy. The wizard community however tolerates the likes of the Malfoys. Gupta states "something like the truth of our world." Gupta is talking about our world, where criminals live among us where the tolerance towards anti-heroes is present. The sorting ceremony led by the "Sorting Hat" is one example of class differences within the wizard community. "Hufflepuff" is a working-class equivalent of the structure of the school, while "Ravenclaw" and especially "Slytherin" are the houses for aristocratic and upper-class individuals, "Gryffindor" on the other hand houses the middle-class, white-collar workers.

Bibliography Armitt, Lucie. Theorising the Fantastic. London: Arnold, 1996 Blake, Andrew. The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter. London: Verso, 2002 Heilman, E. Elizabeth, ed. Harry Potter`s World. London: RourledgeFalmer, 2003 Gupta, Suman. Re-Reading Harry Potter. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003 Manlove, Colin. From Alice To Harry Potter. USA: Cybereditions Corp., 2003 www.MarketResearch.com