Difference between revisions of "Harry Potter"

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British edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

The Harry Potter books are a hugely popular ^[1] series of seven popular fantasy novels by J.K. Rowling about three children at a British boarding school: Harry, Ron and Hermione. The children grow from age 11 to 17 in the books, giving them appeal to a broad range of readers including children and teenagers, but also appealing to adults.

Harry Potter

Harry Potter is the protagonist and the plot of each book focuses on Harry's adolescence and fight against the antagonist wizard Lord Voldemort. The books combine elements of whimsy reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, the strange adult immaturity of Through the Looking Glass, and the implacable good vs. evil fight of Lord of the Rings.

When Harry was a mere baby, Voldemort murdered his parents, and he never found out that his parents were wizards until his 11th birthday (it came as a giant surprise). Hagrid took him to Diagon Alley for robes, books and wand; then on to Hogwarts, a boarding school for wizards and witches. He had many adventures there learning magic and using it to fight the forces of the wizard who killed his parents when he was an infant. Along the way, Harry learns about life and death and grapples with questions of morality and friendship. There are seven books in total to the series.

The books have been fabulously successful, selling 300 million copies, and Forbes estimates that they have made Rowling the first billion-dollar author in history.^[2] To date, five of them have been made into movies, the sixth to begin filming September 2007.

The Harry Potter series of books are sizable volumes. The 870 pages of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, even though printed in large type, contain 255,000 words—about twice as long as A Tale of Two Cities. The "Lexile" measure of reading level puts the series between 880L and 950L,^[3] comparable to sixth-grade texts^[4]

Christian Themes in Harry Potter

This section contains information and spoilers that should not be read by someone who wants to be "surprised" by the end of the series in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Despite some criticism from mainline Christians who oppose Harry Potter for allegedly endorsing witchcraft, the series includes some demonstrably Christian themes. Specifically, Harry's death and rebirth at the end of Book VII ("Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows") is reminiscent of the rebirth of Christ: just as the savior of humanity was reborn, so Harry Potter, as the fictional savior of the magical world, is reborn. Further, this rebirth carries a special, significant guardianship trait: as Christ died to forgive the sins of humanity, resulting in salvation for all mankind, so Harry's death grants a protective magic to himself and to his friends, not unlike the "Deep Magic" written of in Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Harry Potter, then, teaches the nobility of sacrifice, and the underlying importance of love, two deeply Christian themes.

Harry's mother also gave up her life to save Harry's life. It is by his mother's love that Harry is protected from Voldemort's power. This specifically pushes The theme of Jesus giving his life on the cross for our sins. By his love people in this world can be saved eternally.

Criticisms

The Harry Potter series is written in a way that embeds fantasy and wizardry into a real world setting. This makes it hard for children to distinguish between fantasy and reality, leading to some of them potentially exploring witchcraft, Wicca, and paganism. In fact, the Pagan Federation in Britain has received a flood of inquiries from young Harry Potter fans.^[5]

In 2002, a Presbyterian publishing house published The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker, in which "glimmers of the Gospel" are illustrated by reference to the Potter books. The author acknowledges she was "replicating the techniques used by anti-Potter critics to look for exactly the opposite of what they were looking for." She notes that Rowling, although "reserved" in announcing her religious beliefs, "openly declares her faith in God and attends the Church of Scotland."^[6]

In 2003, a Vatican representative said the books, "aren't serving as the banner for an anti-Christian theology.... I don't think there's anyone in this room who grew up without fairies, magic, and angels in their imaginary world." ^[7]

Some expect children's' literature to present characters that are idealized role models, and to teach simple, explicit life lessons. However, the world of Harry Potter is one in which adult authority figures are complex, imperfect, and occasionally ludicrous (as they are in Alice in Wonderland.). Some teachers in the series are boring, or outright incompetent, while others are supportive and protective (like Dumbledore and Lupin).

Notable Ban Attempts

On the week of April 10, 2006, Georgia mother of four, Laura Mallory, filed an appeal with the Gwinnett Board of Education in an attempt to remove the Harry Potter series from Gwinnett schools. Ms. Mallory (Who, by her own admission, has never read any of the Harry Potter books) stated on the appeal form that she wished the books removed due to their "evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells and teaching children all of this.".^[8] The local board of education denied the request, as they felt the banning of Harry Potter would necessitate the banning of all books with reference to witches, including plays like Macbeth and even stories like Cinderella.^[9] Ms. Mallory has since appealed the ruling twice to no avail.^{[10] [11] [12]}

Similar concerns have been voiced by Christian cartoonist Jack Chick, pastor and author Dave Hunt, the British group Christian Voice and various others. None of these have resulted in any form of legal action.

Series titles

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (original title as published in England and all other English speaking countries other than U.S.A: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

References

1. ↑ The author has sold 350 million books and counting, been translated into 65 languages and had her work made into highly successful movies. ABC News
2. ↑ J. K. Rowling And The Billion-Dollar Empire.
3. ↑ For comparison: Charlotte's Web 680L, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 890L, Moby Dick 1200L
4. ↑ The Lexile framework for reading.
5. ↑ About.com: Agnosticism/Atheism - Does Harry Potter Promote Wicca or Witchcraft? Is Harry Potter a Pagan Book? (page 2)
6. ↑ Neal, Connie (2002), The Gospel According to Harry Potter: Spirituality in the Stories of the World's Most Famous Seeker, Westminster John Knox Press (an imprint of Presbyterian Publishing, Inc.), ISBN 0-664-22601-9; "replicating the techniques of anti-Potter critics," p. xiv; Rowling's beliefs, p. xii.
7. ↑ Sink, Mindy (2003), "The Split Verdict on Harry Potter," The New York Times, March 8, 2003, p. B6; representative quoted is Rev. Don Peter Fleetwood, who "helped draft a Vatican document on New Age phenomena."
8. ↑ [1]
9. ↑ Georgia mom seeks ban on Harry Potter
10. ↑ [2]
11. ↑ [3]
12. ↑ [4]