Injustice and Discrimination in Harry Potter
Note 09/2021 - This essay was written for ENGL 108P, a course I took at Waterloo.
Suggested Listening:
In the Harry Potter novels, the readers are presented with characters of distinct backgrounds and species - from muggles to wizards, from humans to werewolves. From the very beginning of the series, animosity between different groups of characters is evident. Harry goes through abusive treatment from the Dursley family simply because he is a wizard. At Hogwarts, Draco vilifies Hermione because she is from a non-magical background. In addition to conflicts between humans, the reader is exposed to injustices the wizarding world commits against other humanoid creatures, such as goblins, giants, and house elves. In a comment on the class discussion board in Module 3, Luke Fahrer describes the routine mistreatment of gnomes by “one of the most heroic and morally virtuous families in the series” as pointing towards the “lack of sympathy” ingrained within the wizarding society. Expounding on Fahrer’s point, Rowling uses the mistreatment of characters different in appearance from the common witch and wizard to bring to light prevalent issues that are faced in our own world today.
It should be noted that Rowling employs the racial grotesque to minimize the reader’s sympathy towards these humanoid characters. As these characters appear monstrous, differing in form when compared with a normal human, the reader feels little need to sympathize. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, gnomes are plucked and tossed like a game, though they scream “Geroff me!” (39). Mandrakes are unrooted for medication, though they were “bawling” (73). Through the racial grotesque, the reader overlooks the emotions of the gnomes and mandrakes. It is not until the reader journeys with more prominent characters such as Dobby the house-elf and Lupin the werewolf they become more clearly aware of the injustice committed towards humanoid species by the wizarding world. Rowling uses the grotesque to show how little we sympathize with those who look fundamentally different from us. One doesn’t have to look far back in history to find examples of such discrimination. In Germany, Hitler championed the supremacy of the Arian race. Even right now, in the US, there are still those who ascribe to white supremacy. Rowling uses her novels to condemn this type of behavior and teach the reader about accepting those who are different.
One particular societal issue that Rowling depicts through her humanoid characters is the issue of slavery. Out of all the humanoid species, the house elves are the only ones enslaved, being bound to lifetime service to their wizard masters. Though they are fully sentient beings, they have no free will of their own – they must obey their masters, or be subject to punishment. In the Chamber of Secrets, Dobby punishes himself by punching his own head when he thinks of disobeying the Malfoys. At the Quiddich World Cup, in the Goblet of Fire, Winky is forced to be in the top box though she is scared of heights, and publicly humiliated by her master, Mr. Crouch. In the wizarding world, the enslavement of house elves is so deeply ingrained that no one sees a problem with it – until Harry and Hermione come along, both whom were raised outside of the dominant wizarding society.
Christine Scott, in her essay The House Elf Problem, explores the relationship between the house elves in Harry Potter and race-based slavery, using the elves Dobby, Kreacher, and Winky as examples. She likens the house-elves to the typical African American slave as portrayed by Hollywood films in the 1930’s and 40’s, with each house elf having a different response to their enslavement (261). Dobby is described as an “extraordinary” (264) individual, one who sacrifices himself for Harry as a “declaration of independence and a rebellion against the family that held him captive” (262-263). Scott describes Kreacher as having a different response to enslavement, as one who has “no will or self-determination of his own” (264), as “one that cannot independently overcome such an upbringing” (264). Scott then examines Winky, who, unlike Dobby, is devasted by being freed, developing an addiction for butterbeer in the process (266). Through the various examples of house elf enslavement present in the Harry Potter series, Rowling shows the lasting effects on those who have been enslaved.
In addition, Rowling explores solutions to the issue of race-based slavery by having her main heroes and heroine be exposed to and react to the dire situation of the house elves. Harry, after witnessing Lucius Malfoy’s abuse of Dobby, devises a plan to free Dobby, for which Dobby was very grateful. Hermione, after witnessing Winky’s treatment by Crouch, devises S.P.E.W., a campaign to free the elves. Ron, initially ascribing to the wizarding consensus that house elves should being enslaved, learns to grow and change his mindset throughout the series. However, Rowling shows that the solution towards such an issue is not quite so simple. Scott comments that throughout the novels, Hermione’s S.P.E.W. campaign is largely a failure – that Hermione “disregards the will of the house elves” (272) and “attacks the problem with the ignorance of an outsider” (267). She notes that the novels themselves offer no solution to house elf slavery. Rowling does not try to offer a solution. Instead, she shows her readers just how multifaceted the problem of slavery is – that it has lasting effects and cannot be simply solved.
Another humanoid that Rowling uses to portray issues in our society is the werewolf. In the Prisoner of Azkaban, we are introduced to Professor Lupin, a werewolf who has suffered discrimination over the course of his entire life. Immediately after Ron discovers that Lupin is a werewolf, he gasps “Get away from me, you werewolf” (367), though Ron has learned to trust Lupin as one of the best professors he’s ever had. When Snape reveals Lupin’s condition to the Ministry of Magic, Lupin leaves Hogwarts, as many parents would not “want a werewolf teaching their children” (450). Lupin’s shabby appearance is also attributed to the fact that as a werewolf, he could not easily find employment. The very fact that he is a werewolf – that he is different, subjects him to all kinds of mistreatment.
In his essay Wolf in Professor’s Clothing, Brent Stypczynski describes Rowling’s use of the werewolf as a means for teaching her readers about the racial other, the terminally ill, and the nuances of morality. He likens the anti-werewolf prejudice in the wizarding world to racism, noting that “monstrosity” in literature often ties in to “questions of racial and/or ethnic identity” (58). He draws on multiple instances where Rowling uses the “vocabulary of race relations” when lupin is defamed (63). Stypczynski also notes Rowling’s werewolf as a stand-in for incurable illness. He describes common scholarly interpretations of Lupin’s lycanthropy, such as HIV, epilepsy, and MS (62). Lastly, and perhaps most strikingly, Stypczynski notes Lupin as an agent of morality in the series, that “ironically, the monstrous werewolf shows better sense of moral character judgement than many of the other supposed moral authorities, such as Fudge” (65). He examines the discrimination against Lupin, drawing parallels between the wizarding world and our own society.
It is interesting to note that Rowling provides a second werewolf, Fernir Greyback, to illustrate the rage and anger that oppression could cause. In contrast to Professor Lupin, Greyback epitomizes the wizarding world’s view on werewolves. He terrorizes the wizarding population, having a particular fondness for biting children. Instead of attempting to coexist with the wizarding society, he attempts to destroy the society that shunned him. He strives to bite as many humans as possible in order raise a werewolf army to fight back against the wizards. Unlike Lupin, who fights his werewolf side and avoids biting others, Greyback is taken over by his werewolf nature, abandoning his humanity in the process. Stypczynski comments that Greyback is “both Lupin’s antithesis and that which Lupin could easily become” (64). Greyback responds in anger and retaliation towards his oppression. Rowling uses the contrast of character between Lupin and Greyback to illustrate the different effects oppression can have on different individuals.
In the Harry Potter series, Rowling inserts numerous examples of discrimination against characters that are not part of the dominant human wizarding society. She invites her protagonists and her readers to journey with house elves and werewolves, exploring the issues of discrimination and oppression against outsiders. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione learn to accept Lupin, Dobby, and by extension the other humanoid characters, so does the reader. Rowling uses this journey of acceptance to bring to light issues we face in our own world. As Scott concludes, Rowling uses her novels to serve as “a positive force in a world of doubt and uncertainty” (272). She educates her readers on the horrors of slavery and discrimination and the difficulties of bringing about meaningful change. Her novels encourage the reader to take steps towards understanding and reconciliation – as it is only through these that the world will be made a better place.
Works Cited:
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London, Bloomsbury, 2014
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London, Bloomsbury, 2014
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London, Bloomsbury, 2014
Schott, Christine. “The House Elf Problem: Why Harry Potter is More Relevant Now than Ever.” The Midwest Quarterly, vol. 61, no. 2, 2020, pp. 259-272.
Stypczynski, Brent. “Wolf in Professor’s Clothing: J. K. Rowling’s Werewolf as Educator.” Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts., vol. 20, no. 1, M.E. Sharpe, Jan. 2009, pp. 57–69.