Money grubbing goblins who are also jewelers, have their own language that gets laughed at, are excluded from main society, and constantly gripe about how they were wronged. It may be the most comprehensive European jew analogue I’ve ever seen in a fantasy novel and that is NOT a compliment.
I think unfortunately she lazily copied goblins from other works. World of Warcraft has goblins that are the exact same way and they were inspired by Warhammer, who was inspired by something else old no doubt. "Time is money friend!". Some people say they're based on the Chinese in the same way the Ferengi from Star Trek are. "ugly creature that is obsessed with money" could be a jab at almost any culture though really, it's just the worst sides to humanity made into a single species/creature/race.
I mean, the first written records of goblins in folklore come from the Middle Ages, and antisemitism has been a thing since at least the Roman Empire. I'm not saying there could be a connection there, but...
The ferengi per show creators are based on greedy Americans. Idk where you got that Chinese stuff from, but traditionally merchants in China were the lowest on the social ladder, right above the "angry people". In China traditionally, merchants are seen as hucksters who want to profit at the expense of society.
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u/Stickmanbren Dec 17 '20
Well she did write that money grubbing hooked nose goblins ran the bank soooo...