Muggles, Mud-bloods, and Blood Traitors --- Harry and the Bigots

I'm nearing the end of my trek through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Unlike my son and others of his age, I don't read 100 pages per hour, so I'm taking longer to get through this dark and foreboding but intriguing book.

Like any work of fiction, especially a work of fantasy such as this, what one takes from it is related to what one takes to it. People have seen many different themes and ideas.

One theme that has been present throughout the seven books, but is especially present here in this final book, is the protest against bigotry. In the wizarding world, there are some among those known as "pure-bloods," who look with great disdain upon those who are less so. Muggles -- non-wizards/magical beings -- are to be despised of course, but so are those who are less than pure -- "Aryan" perhaps. Muggle-borns are wizards whose parents are not wizards and whose powers are hard to explain. Then there are the half-bloods -- like Harry, whose parents descend from pure-blood and muggle-born parents -- mixed breeds or mud bloods. What is ironic, and yet perhaps should not be, is that the Dark Lord, Voldemort, is himself of mixed heritage. There is at times a subtle and at others an overt protest against seeing others as inferior and less than human in the books. I hope others, especially young people reading these books are catching this.

Why? Well, we are living in another age where bigotry is on the rise. We have anti-Latino sentiment, anti-gay, anti-immigrant, anti- Muslim, etc. There is a concern for "purity of stock" -- though there is no "pure-blood American." It's not, of course, just in America. Bigotry is especially prevalent in Europe, which sees itself being overrun by immigrants -- ironically the result of their own colonialist days.

Bigotry is never right, and we must attend to our language and our actions -- because the kids are watching. Which is why, of course we should heed Harry's message!