Well, Dickon's only a prepubescent boy in his father's shadow. He hasn't had as much opportunity to step out of it yet. Kinda unfair comparison Maester.
I forgot he is so much younger. LOL. But still, compared to most guys his age, Sam has done a lot. It will be interesting to see how his father reacts when he arrives with Gilly, a bastard and Jon's letter. [Though we have seen in lord Randyll's interactions with Brienne that he really is an asshole. Even if he were impressed by all Sam has done, he would never show it. ]
But yes, tons of parallel. The Otherization of Others is a part of any good war strategy. One must dehumanize an enemy to build a Wall against an enemy.
I do believe you're coming around to my view of the Others...
“In Qohor he is the Black Goat, in Yi Ti the Lion of Night, in Westeros the Stranger. All men must bow to him in the end, no matter if they worship the Seven or the Lord of Light, the Moon Mother or the Drowned God or the Great Shepherd. All mankind belongs to him... else somewhere in the world would be a folk who lived forever. Do you know of any folk who live forever?”