In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, there is a clear description of and introduction to the goblins at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. In the book, the goblins are described as having “swarthy, clever face[s], a pointed beard…very long fingers and feet”. While this description in the book in and of itself doesn’t necessarily convey a specific race, the way that the goblins are described in the movie can be defiantly considered a racial depiction. Look at the picture below for a visual representation of the goblins:
The goblins, especially as they are depicted in the movies, are virtually all hook-nosed, short, and unattractive. They also perpetuate a stereotype that the Jewish population has been considered a part of, which is that their involvement with the financial sector.
The allusions to race don’t exist only in the movies, however. Professor Binns, as the professor of History of Magic, alludes to the oppression of the goblin race for many years which has led to segregation, exclusion, and revolts. The references to the entirety of the Jewish race are too blatant to ignore. There are many stereotypes shared by the goblins with the Jewish population, from their appearance to their description.
The text communicates innocence to this entire idea because we are in a different world, first of all. Harry Potter is a children’s book set in a fantasy world where this kind of thing is commonplace: goblins do indeed look like this. According to Rowling, this isn’t a racist depiction, but an accurate depiction of what the bankers of Gringotts Wizarding Bank might actually look like. This is the fantasy world.
Works Cited:
Rowling, J. K. “Diagon Alley.” Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic Corporation, 1997. 100-01. Print.
Your reading here is very astute. I don’t know if it’s racial innocence per say because I think J.K. Rowling might intend for us to make the comparison and think about the dynamic. Racial Innocence is always a kind of process of forgetting. It’s a way in which a racist idea or story or act continues on in children’s culture but in a way where it’s supposed to seem innocent, not political, or racialized, and above all in a way that we’re not supposed to think about too much.