Merritt Droste
Children’s Literature 380
Dr. McGee
Interpellation is when people are bred to think, act, speak, and hold certain beliefs and values, as well as have a particular attitude towards class, gender, and race. Interpellation comes in many forms throughout the Harry Potter Series, the instances in which interpellation is most prevalent can be good, yet damaging as well. Voldemort used interpellation to assist him in ridding the wizarding world of all those he deemed to be non pure blood because of certain ideas he held. Interpellation, unknown to the person, forces one to act in certain ways due his or her up bringing and what he or she has been taught as a child, as well as what has been encountered during life.
Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, said upon the founding that they should only teach those “whose ancestry’s purest” (Rowling). From the beginning, those who enter the house of Slytherin will be from pure blood families, those who believe in using any means necessary to get what they want, and those who put power above all else. Voldemort was in the Slytherin house when he attended Hogwarts, and from this house he drew the same ideals and beliefs that others carried. Voldemort was also a descendent of Slytherin, which aided in the interpellation of what he believed for they were ideals that his family had possessed for many generations until his mother married a muggle. Voldemort’s grandfather found great pride in the fact that he was a direct descendent of Slytherin, and he felt that this ancestry gave him and his family a right to do anything they pleased. “Slytherin’s! yelled Gaunt. Salazar Slytherin’s! We’re his last living descendants, what do you say to that, eh?” (Rowling 208). Gaunt extracts a great sense of pride from being a direct descendent because it is what his parents taught him as those before him. The Gaunt family was so proud of being pure bloods that they practiced intermarriage so that they could keep the blood line pure. Gaunt’s daughter, Merope, mother of Voldemort, loves a man that is not a wizard, which sends her father into a rage “My daughter--pure blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin--hankering after a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle?” (Rowling 210). Gaunt is enraged by this notion of Merope loving someone who is not a pure blood or a wizard because he defines himself by this pure blood and being a descendent. Gaunt has been taught to believe there is nothing more important than being pure blood and part of Slytherin’s family.
Voldemort is not raised by his mother or father because they are dead; instead, he is raised in an orphanage. However, Voldemort still holds many of the same beliefs that his grandfather and his family did. Voldemort has a strong hatred for those who are not pure blood wizards and those who are mudbloods, witches or wizards whose parents are non-magical. Due to interpellation, he was able to gather a large following of those who shared his beliefs in a pure blood nation. Had they not been taught that they were better than others because of their pure blood and upper class status, Voldemort would not have succeeded. The Malfoy family is one of the families which became Death Eatters, followers of Voldemort, and they are dominated by the beliefs which they share with Voldemort. Malfoy believes he is better than all the other students at Hogwarts because his family is pure blood and very wealthy, as well as at the top of the social ladder. Malfoy’s parents have taught him that he is better, too. This is evident in the Great Hall before the first year students are to be sorted into their houses, and Malfoy approaches Harry, “You’ll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don’t want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there”( Rowling 108). Malfoy has grown up being told by his parents that he is a leade,r and those not with him are not part of the right circle or part of higher society as they are. Naturally, because Harry is a “hero” in the eyes of witches and wizards, Malfoy wishes to be friends with him because Harry can be accepted into the world with which Malfoy is familiar. Malfoy’s interpellation also stems from the fact that his parents are Death Eatters; therefore, since children often follow in the footsteps of their parents and share the same beliefs, he will side with and share the same moral values as Voldemort.
Families share morals, beliefs of what is important, and certain aspects of how each child in the family develops into an adult. At Hogwart, when students arrive for their first year, they are sorted into houses through a sorting hat. This sorting hat was created by the founders who each believed students need to meet certain qualifications to be in their particular house. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the sorting hat describes what each of the four founders were looking for in the students to enter their house.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry is
purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name,"
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
And treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light,
For each of the four founders had
A House in which they might
Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning, just like him,
And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor,
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,
And
taught them all she knew (Rowling
205)
The ideals that each of these housea holds to be most important is still present in the sorting of the first years for they hold the same beliefs because their parents have distilled in them how to behave and act. Many of the families go into the same houses, and once again this is because of how they were raised and what they were taught by their parents. The Gryffindor house has been the family house of the entire Weasley family, Mr. and Mrs. as well as their seven children, and the Potter family, Mr. and Mrs. and their son Harry, as well as Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black, thus showing that in these families bravery is one of the more important aspects that they all hold and believes which is why they were all put into the same house. Even Malfoy’s family has all been in Slytherin Malfoy acknowledges this and even says he expects to be in Slytherin “well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been…”(Rowling 77) The children of the parents were put there because they share the beliefs taught by the parents due to interpellation.
In the wizarding world there are creatures known as house elves. These house elves are small and do not wear clothing except for various pieces of fabrics or articles found around the house such as small towels or pillow cases; the house elves do not wear clothing because they see it as disgraceful. If a house elf is given clothes, then they are no longer slaves for the family and are free; to most house elves this is a very degrading and insulting act. House elves consider it a great honor to serve their masters, who usually are only the incredibly wealthy wizarding families who are living in large mansions. There are over one hundred house elves working in Hogwarts, and they find great pride in working in such a school. Hermione finds out about the house elves and believes the life they are living to be an incredibly injustice and feels they should be paid for all their troubles and given holidays. Hermione starts S.P.E.W., the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, in order to “secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions”(Rowling 225). Ron disagrees with the idea saying it is what they are used to and enjoy, “Hermione—open your ears, said Ron loudly. They. Like. It. They like being enslaved!” (Rowling 224). There is a house, Dobby, who worked for the Malfoy’s and is now free and enjoys being free, this pleases and encourages Hermione. Dobby, however, is an exception to the interpellation because all other house elves who work in Hogwarts are not free nor do they want to be free. One house elf who is free and torn by it is Winky. “Winky is a disgraced elf, Winky is not yet getting paid! she squeaked. Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!” (Rowling 379). Winky has been freed by her master and is ashamed that she is no longer enslaved as are most house elves who are freed. House elves are used to being enslaved and are taught that there is nothing worse than to be set free. They have been interpellated to want to be slaves to their masters, and the house elves go so far as to beat themselves if they ever think ill of or disobey their masters. Even after Dobby and Winky are free, they do not speak unkindly about their masters. When Hermione tries to calm Winky by telling her she did nothing wrong and saying that it was Mr. Crouch, Winky’s former master, who was wrong, Winky becomes very angry, “You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to shack bad Winky!” (Rowling 380). Even Dobby who wanted to be free will not speak harshly against the Malfoy family because, even though the two house elves are free, they still feel binded by the rules which they had to follow while they were enslaved, one of which was they had to keep the secrets of the family. The house elves have been ingrained to believe that if they tell secrets or speak harshly about their masters, then they are committing the worst crime for which they can be punished by being given clothes. Even after they are given clothes, the house elves are still fearful to speak out. The interpellation has been done to such a degree that the house elves have no desire to be free or given rights because for centuries house elves have lived this way and any other way would be a disruption and a challenge to the interpellation.
Interpellation has a large effect on the characters in Harry Potter. What they have been taught affects their actions in the wizarding world. The interpellation is primarily manifest in the sorting to a specific house matched to each one’s beliefs. Everyone in a house is a kindred spirit who shares the same values which were passed on from their parents and ancestors. The stories in Harry Potter reflect traditions, old values, and time-worn battles between major ideas within Hogwart’s with the same families and characters but different generations. Thus, interpellation plays a significant role in the Harry Potter Series, serving as the foundation for the stories and battles such that, without interpellation, there would be no internal stories.
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