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Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Who is right? |
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 Dec 17 2007, 05:04 PM
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Leaky's Resident Luna Biographer
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QUOTE(Oryx @ Dec 17 2007, 01:59 PM)  It's not about being right. No complex society can exist without all of them, each fulfilling their roles according to their natures. And I don't think one really chooses which one to be. As a kid I may have wanted to be more of a Gryffindor, as an adult I wish I could be more of a Slytherin, but my brain doesn't work that way. I'm a Ravenclaw and that's it. What I need to do is find where my Ravenclawish self is relatively at an advantage and where it is likely to find the most satisfying use.
Exactly. None of them are "right." You need all of them in the world to function and have a good society. You need the Gryffindors to go out there and take chances and save the world. And you need the Ravenclaws to think things through and help the Gryffindors to not just go jumping into things that could disastrous. You need the Hufflepuffs to stay calm and friendly and sweet no matter what happens. And you need the Slytherins to use their unique smarts, and, yes, to do anything to meet their ends. Each house compliments the other three in some way, and nothing would get done if one was in power or was "right."
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"Time passes in moments, which, rushing by, define the path of a life just as surely as they lead towards its end. How rarely do we stop to examine that path, to see the reasons why all things happen?" PROUD RAVENCLAW!!!!!!! ~avatars by theonlysong & Kaiser-Kun~ |
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Dec 17 2007, 05:07 PM
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Being Eaten by the Pea Soup
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They present the Unity of the world- the four Elements that at their most powerful when they're working together -
Gryffindor Fire,
Hufflepuff Earth,
Slytherin Water and
Ravenclaw Air
= Hogwarts
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Harry - "No," said Harry firmly, "you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished."
Ron - "We'll just have to wing it, mate."
Hermione - "You know, I think I will take Hogwarts: A History. Even if we're not going back there, I don't think I'd feel right if I didn't have it"
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Dec 17 2007, 05:12 PM
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Junior Dishwasher at The Leaky Cauldron
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QUOTE(Oryx @ Dec 17 2007, 03:59 PM) It's not about being right. No complex society can exist without all of them, each fulfilling their roles according to their natures. And I don't think one really chooses which one to be. As a kid I may have wanted to be more of a Gryffindor, as an adult I wish I could be more of a Slytherin, but my brain doesn't work that way. I'm a Ravenclaw and that's it. What I need to do is find where my Ravenclawish self is relatively at an advantage and where it is likely to find the most satisfying use.
You put that very well, Oryx! A House full of nothing but Gryffindors/Hufflepuffs/etc. may have a familiarity that's comforting to young students. But even first-year Hogwarts students share classes with pupils from other houses, and as adults finding their ways through the Wizarding world, they must realize very quickly that, as the saying goes, "It takes all kinds to make the world." If someone doesn't, exaggerated loyalty to his or her house is a sign of deeper problems.
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Dec 18 2007, 02:50 PM
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Gringotts Goblin Translator
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QUOTE(Oryx @ Dec 18 2007, 08:47 PM) QUOTE One of the most crucial things Dumbledore taught Harry is that it is our choices that show who we truly are. Harry only became a Gryffindor because he asked the sorting-hat to be in Gryffindor. It's about choice not about settling for what you have or think you have. Choices show, reveal, what we already are, they don't make what we are. Harry did not want to be a Slytherin because he wasn't one. He already was a Gryffindor before putting the Hat on, but his chat with the Hat revealed this information to him. Rowling said Voldemort could not have chosen to feel remorse when it was offered to him by Harry because he was Voldemort. Anyone else might have chosen remorse in his place but Voldemort was incapable of making such a choice. Similarly Harry was incapable of choosing Slytherin. "You can do what you will, but in any given moment of your life you can will only one definite thing and absolutely nothing other than that one thing." - Schopenhauer.
But surely we choose what we become. Voldemort was not born evil and Harry was not born brave or heroic. They became that way through the choices they made. For example Harry wasn't in essence, the Chosen One but he choose to be. The prophecy would only become true if Harry wanted it too.
QUOTE HBP p.478
[Dumbledore] 'Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!'
[...]
I'd want want him finished,' said Harry quetly. 'And I'd want to do it''
This post has been edited by dompeldoris's favourite: Dec 18 2007, 02:51 PM
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Dec 18 2007, 05:04 PM
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Gringotts Goblin Translator
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Location: South Africa
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QUOTE(Oryx @ Dec 18 2007, 11:27 PM) Voldemort was born with more potential to become evil than not, and Harry the other way around. But the fact that our adult personality isn't completely present in our childhood does not mean we have much of an option as to what we become. And having a choice does not mean we could choose otherwise than we actually did. A computer has a choice of what the answer to 2+2 is, but it will always choose 4. Adult personality has higher heritability than childhood personality - probably because as adults we have more control of our environment and therefore we make choices that are more compatible with the way our brains work. When we are free to choose we try to make choices that make us happy, choices that mesh well with our personalities. IOW it is a self-enhancing process that makes us what we were 'meant' to be all along.
I don't believe there is anything that is meant to be. You cannot be meant to be a Gryffindor or a Slytherin, or good or evil, or have a certain personality or not. Just because Voldemort had more potential, to be bad, does not make it destiny or fate. Harry could easily have been tempted into the Dark Arts. But he choose not too. If you believe that Voldemort had no choice then, what you are saying is that we can sympathize with him. That he was not responsible for all those terrible things? I think not.
QUOTE Dumbledore-'You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything!'
But a computer does not have a personality. It's not alive. It follows orders, it works in the way it was programmed to, therefore it does not have a choice. Just like a spell or enchanted object. There is a big difference.
In the books (and this is something I've learned to believe too) we see that we are the creators of out destinies. We write the story, that can hold endless possibilities and endings and we do this through our choices.
So don't you think it's obvious that we make/choose are houses then as well?
This post has been edited by dompeldoris's favourite: Dec 18 2007, 05:06 PM
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I see your point but what I meant is, which is most important (in a complex society) as you said. I realize that they are all important but I wish for us to only explore and try to discover why each and every house, believes themselves to be superior (with maybe the exemption of humble Hufflepuff.)
