Mutate wrote:
Not only that, but there are other references to religion, for instance the Indian twin girls with Hindu names. I was really interested reading the books in how their religion would effect a kid chosen for hogwarts and how it would cause tension in a lot of families as obviously lots of people of all religions and none would be scared of witchcraft in their child. And how would they explain the magic to a kid who believes in Jesus or Allah. What do the magic people in Hogwarts believe about religion, do they think Jesus was just magic. I wondered if they have some plan for kids from very strict or anti-magic families to help keep the nature of the school secret. Of couse Harry's own foster parents in the books are against his magic and ashamed of it, with no religion mentioned. Thats interesting KaiG says Rowling talked about a multifaith school, I never heard that. I would have liked to hear her say more on it.
Indian girls with Hindu names is not always a sign of deliberate reference to religion. A lot of Indian girls have Hindu names because thats what the parents name them. Likewise, to add "colour" Rowling invents and uses interesting names wherever she can. The fact that two of them are Hindu means very little. Also in a written format an easy way to create character is by names. If a child is called Gupta then it is a fair bet that he ISN'T going to be a ginger white kid. People read far too much into what is essentially a not very original children's story.
The "magic" in Potter bears little resemblance to any "real" (sic) magical practices, and the fantastic creatures are cadged from standard cross-cultural mythology familiar to most westerners. If Rowling has done anything truly original it is "index-linking" the age of her protagonists to her readership base.
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"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart,
that you can't take part" [Mario Savo, 1964]
13 Aug 2010, 12:58 pm
