I solve this dilemma by bringing in J. K. Rowling's hated maths. *g* That is, the best estimate I can come up with for the size of the wizarding population in Britain (based on internal evidence from the books, particularly the size of classes in their single high school, not the wildy inconsistent things said in secondary canon) is somewhere in the range from 5,000 - 10,000 people. Which means that when I think about the social dynamics of the wizarding world, I have to think not in terms of Nazi Germany and South Africa, but in terms of what happens in a single small town. Not why the KKK existed at all, but why people might join the chapter in their particular town. The Salem Witch Trials, not McCarthyism. "Main Street", not "It Can't Happen Here."
Wizards are, after all, in terms of how their culture exists, a lot more like the Jews than the Nazis: small, outnumbered population that maintains its identity in the dominant culture mostly through sheer bloody-mindedness and pride. Not that I'm comparing the Death Eaters to the Elders of Zion or anything. But. In that kind of insular group where everybody knows everything about everyone else on the inside, fears can build into hatreds can build into internal wars for no logical reason at all except pride and human irrationality.
Actually, forget Nazis, the best comparison is the fandom. The Death Eaters are basically the Harmonians. Yes. They think they're being persecuted by both their own people and by the Muggles, when actually, nobody would give a damn about them if they weren't all such bloody wankers. Yep, that's it exactly. Figure out why Harmonians, you'll understand the Death Eaters too.
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Date: 2006-03-30 07:19 pm (UTC)Wizards are, after all, in terms of how their culture exists, a lot more like the Jews than the Nazis: small, outnumbered population that maintains its identity in the dominant culture mostly through sheer bloody-mindedness and pride. Not that I'm comparing the Death Eaters to the Elders of Zion or anything. But. In that kind of insular group where everybody knows everything about everyone else on the inside, fears can build into hatreds can build into internal wars for no logical reason at all except pride and human irrationality.
Actually, forget Nazis, the best comparison is the fandom. The Death Eaters are basically the Harmonians. Yes. They think they're being persecuted by both their own people and by the Muggles, when actually, nobody would give a damn about them if they weren't all such bloody wankers. Yep, that's it exactly. Figure out why Harmonians, you'll understand the Death Eaters too.