Esme echo wrote:I see I'm in a minority with respect to Edward's and Jacob's sorting; nor would I put any of the Cullen family in Slytherin--even Rose. Rose was not pleasant, she was very self-involved, and she consistently looked out for her own interests above all others, but she lacked the vicious, ruthless edge that I think characterizes Slytherins.
You may find that your opinion actually matches the polls better than mine. Jacob currently leads with the highest percentage of Gryffindor votes.
My reasoning for Jacob was that I classified him as Hufflepuff when he is introduced in the story, an easy-going, likeable boy that doesn’t appear to display any of the ambition or competitiveness characterized by the other three houses. His assumption of the Alpha role in BD is what really starts setting him apart and begins trending him towards Gryffindor. I see his Gryffindor status peaking around the time of him granting Edward the exception to the treaty necessary for saving Bella’s life. But he decides to keep his Alpha status primarily to give Leah a place away from Sam. He doesn’t appear to want to maintain any of his new responsibilities after Nessie is born, and his attitude towards it is completely different than Sam’s. And this is perfectly fine, it works out well because he has Leah as his lieutenant. Jacob appears to have been restored almost completely to his pre-Bella character. That doesn’t mean the sorting hat isn’t going to send him to Gryffindor, because I can’t be sure, I can only make a guess. I think, though, that Hufflepuff was really his true house and that his Gryffindor period was an aberration.
Edward is a tough one to sort, because by all rights any vampire should be much easier because their personality is already written in stone, you don’t have to worry about it changing and developing like Neville’s. I think Edward is either Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff pre-Bella. He would go the farthest scholastically with Ravenclaw, but the sorting hat may put him in Hufflepuff because he would be happiest there. Edward has an affinity for the kinder, gentler minds such as Angela or Seth. Edward does go through changes, though, and I put his true Gryffindor trending during BD as well. Granted that the events in BD push him in that direction, but I don’t see him reverting to his prior personality like Jacob, simply because he can’t. My interpretation is that Edward undergoes a series of changes with Bella, not just falling in love in TW. He is also irrevocably changed in NM when he believes that Bella has died, and is no longer tempted by her blood and can no longer leave her except by her express desire (which ain’t happening). I also see in BD that Bella’s near death during the delivery, his successful saving of her, and the delivery of their child, as permanently changing his outlook on himself and becoming an optimist, willing to take risks. Is that enough, or am I biased? Well, I know for a fact that I am biased, although for the purposes of this discussion I really try not to be. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff personalities can also undergo changes and demonstrate courage and bravery without automatically qualifying for Gryffindor. Edward’s personality change is so dramatic, though, that I give the nod to Gryffindor as an award of recognition for what he has gone through and who he has become.
And Rosalie? Honestly, I think she would still fit well with Slytherin post-Voldemort. I don’t think she would be very happy there during Voldemort’s reign, but then I don’t think she would have been happy in any house. It’s true that Slytherin had a real vicious edge that Rosalie doesn’t have. She isn’t necessarily vicious and sadistic, she is self-centered and callous. She is tragic in that she knows she would like to be a better person, or at least that life would be a little easier, but she cannot change, so she accepts herself the way she is. And she is perfectly content to be who she is. Going outside the strict canon of the four books, SM has shown that Rosalie can display an atrocious callousness in regards to Bella (*cough* *cough* I forget the name of that unfinished work
). One of her NM extra’s,
Miscalculation, shows Rosalie as having to search for any measure of grief for Bella jumping off the cliff, and she does find just a little,
which pleases her. Finding she can mourn Bella because she made Edward happy for a few months
makes Rosalie feel better – about herself. Then she is immediately distracted by her appearance in the mirror and feels even better just looking at her reflection. Wow.
As a Cullen, no, I don’t want to put Rosalie into Slytherin. I don’t hate Rosalie, I pity her, and I wish she could be placed somewhere else so that she could grow into a better person, but she can’t do that, it’s impossible for her now.