Section:
Commentary
In the past two years, Harry Potter has suddenly become surprisingly well-known to
school children throughout Great Britain and the United States. Harry is the hero of a series of
adventure stories published in England in 1997. Remarkably, the first three books of this series
are numbers 1, 2, and 3 on the New York Times bestseller list, and the first
one, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, has been on this list for over a year! This is the story
of Harry, an orphan living with his disagreeable uncle and aunt and horridly selfish cousin, who
receives a mysterious message and subsequently goes away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft
and Wizardry. Although the school and all the teachers are totally involved in wizardry, the
book's underlying themes are universal: making friends, team rivalry, trouble with the
authorities, and, of course, interesting lessons and too much homework.
It is the magic--the lessons in flying on a broomstick, the nocturnal prowls in a cloak of
invisibility, the potions and the various spells--that has become a source of much controversy.
Some parents and local school boards, feeling that witchcraft is intrinsically evil, have urged that
the Harry Potter books be removed from school libraries. On the other hand, editorials and
letters have recently appeared in major newspapers, praising the books for developing
in children an avid interest in reading. Parents and grandparents are buying the books to
discover what motivates the children to drop their Nintendos in favor of Harry Potter.
What accounts for the startling success of these books? Is the great appeal, as well as the extreme
disapproval, simply magic and wizardry? That seems unlikely. Wizardry has played an
acceptable role in British literature for centuries. The Arthurian legend gave a preeminent place
to Merlin, the beneficent court magician, and to the evil sorceress Morgan le Fay, Arthur's sister
and rival for his throne. Many of the most beloved fairy tales depended on magic. Think of
Cinderella's coach turning into a pumpkin, and the Grimms' tale of Hansel and Gretel about to be
devoured by a witch. Princes were frequently turned into hideous beasts, and princesses isolated
in remote towers.
Most of us remember with delight the Oz books, in which Dorothy, like Harry, was an orphan
living in a bleak world until she was blown by a cyclone into the magic world of Oz. Did anyone
try to ban these popular books which are filled with witches and improbable creatures? A more
recent book series, the Chronicles of Narnia by the well-known British author, C. S. Lewis, also
uses the device of children entering a world of magic. Narnia is inhabited by a variety of odd
creatures, including an evil witch and a supremely good lion, Aslan. Possibly because Asian
represents Christ, these books were interpreted as Good overcoming Evil, and were widely
accepted by Church teachers.
Why then have the Harry Potter books become such an issue? Several factors seem to be
involved. The present power of the media plays a part not only in spreading
the children's enthusiasm, but in bringing attention to unfavorable criticism. The increasingly
political Christian fundamentalists maintain that witchcraft is the work of the devil. Several
evangelical pastors are preaching against Harry Potter, convinced that the popularity of these
books is a very real sign of Satan's strength. (Does this seem reminiscent of the Salem witch
trials?)
The most important reason for the success of these books relates to the author's skill. J.K.
Rowling, a British writer, has received several notable prizes for HarryPotter and the Sorcerer's
Stone, including the Parenting Book of the Year Award in 1998, and the 1997 National Book
Award (UK). She is an extremely capable writer with the ability to portray children and wizards
in familiar terms. According to one New York Times article, the Hogwarts school may be filled
with magical unreality, but the relationships are real. Some children consider Harry a friend,
some think of him as a role model. They relate to his generosity as well as his impetuous nature.
Ms. Rowling has successfully placed traditional story-telling elements--scary adventure, mishaps
and success, the theme of good triumphing over evil--in an exceedingly contemporary context.
This contemporaneity is the key. She takes the electronic world of computers and video games
and transfers this to wizardry. Children today can, with Nintendo, travel through space or send
creatures down subterranean corridors. The video games themselves are a sort of wizardry; a
microchip has as much magic as a wand. Our grandchildren are familiar with electronic
wizardry, and Harry Potter accepts Hogwarts magic as our young people accept our electronic
age. The reader knows the books are fantasies but they are fantasies with familiar and reassuring
truths. Ms. Rowlings has done a superb job. She has shown schoolchildren that reading can be a
magical delight. Congratulations, Harry Potter!
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By S.B. Ballard, Chestertown, Maryland