Continuing the Harry Potter theme….

this was an assignment promt to “write a letter to someone who does not like Harry Potter/in defense of the books” I had a little bit of fun with it….:)

Dear Bibliophile,

It appalls me that they can continue to release Harry Potter books. That witch JK Rowling is just promoting her Satanism and turning our innocent children on to her occult. How can the publishers allow this catastrophic immorality to go on and what can we do about it?

Sincerely,

Harry Potter is the Antichrist

Dear Antichrist,

I have to disagree with you for several reasons. Number one, JK Rowling is just a regular old human being like the rest of us, albeit a brilliantly intelligent one with a knack for successful and enthralling story telling. But that is the extent of her “witchy powers,” the ability to weave a story so intricately as to appeal to children aged seven to 99. Secondly, there is nothing in the entire Harry Potter series that even hints at Satanism, let alone encourages our young children to practice it. Have you actually read even one Harry Potter book? Yes, there is magic in the books. But that is why they are categorized as “fiction” instead of “non-fiction.” Neither Rowling nor any of her supporters ever claimed that children in London actually receive letters by owl at age 11 that whisk them away to a mysterious boarding school to be taught magic tricks. Rather, Rowling, like so many other fantasy writers, presents the world with a fresh new canvas on which to examine themes like good and evil, friendship, laughter, justice, self sacrifice and death. The magic is that she is such a good storyteller that we hardly notice we are learning a thing until it is all over. This point also refutes the argument you may have that fantasy literature causes our children to loose touch with reality. When you finish a Harry Potter book, you are not left with a confusion as to what is real and what is not, but rather, you are left with profound knowledge and lessons to help you deal with the very real evils in the real world. No, Lord Voldemort and house elves do not exist. But Hitler did, and Stalin did, and Mussolini did. Slavery did exist, and similar evils and people exist today and will exist in the future. By watching Harry grow and learn, you learn along with him. As Harry learns the value of friendship and loyalty, so does the reader. As Harry stands up for what is right, not what is easy, the reader learns to do the same. As Hermione stands up for elfish rights and Voldemort ignores them entirely, we learn the value of not mistreating our inferiors. Rowling teaches us to value friendship and family, she teaches us that “it matters not who or what we are born, but who we grow to be.” She teaches us that “it is our choices that matter far more than our abilities” and that “we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” She teaches us to greet death as an old friend, for that is the only way to truly “conquer” it. She teaches us to laugh even in the darkest of times, to never give up, and most importantly, that love is the most powerful magic on earth.

Ephriam Biblow has done a study that proves “contrary to popular belief, frequent trips into the land of faerie make for creative thinkers and problem solvers who are less physically aggressive” (Levine and Mass 153-154). Harry Potter is no different. Rather than instilling a love of Satan, the books instill a love of reading and goodness, which results in knowledgeable, intelligent, savvy, kind adults, and isn’t that what we all want our children to become? Defending fairy tales and fantasy in general, C.S. Lewis famously stated, “Since it is so likely they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage” (156). Many writers have pointed out that fairy tales and fantasy deal with basic good and evil, which are the most universal core human issues. In this way Harry Potter is universal in a way that the Bible can never be. Harry Potter does not demand that you believe. It does not require you to be Christian, Catholic, or Jewish. It extends universally to all humans, believers and non, and in a very clever way, teaches our children how to be good and fight evil, which, after all, is what Christ teaches his followers as well. I cannot see God taking issue with a story that extends a message of general goodness, bravery, and most of all, love to anyone willing to pick up the book. Which, incidentally, is exactly what I suggest you now go do.

Sincerely,

Bibliophile

“Harry Potter and Me”- reflections on Harry Potter

The very first time I tried to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, when I was in 5^th grade, I could not actually finish the first chapter. I vaguely remember lending the book to my cousin, and being surprised that he actually finished and liked it. I think that this is what actually motivated me to finish the book myself. Of course, after that, I was hooked. I remember my mom reading the books out loud to my younger brother and sister…and usually to me as well.

Five books later, I went to my first midnight book release at the local Borders with my good friends Raine and Maddy. It was here that we were standing in line to get our “butterbeers” (which was just a chai latte—still my favorite coffee type drink) when Raine opened the Order of the Phoenix to a random page and read Sirius’ death, which she thankfully refused to share with us, no matter how much we begged.

After anxiously awaiting the release of The Half Blood Prince, my friends Beth and Jenna and I all took our copies on vacation with us to Cedar Point the day after the release…and all finished them before we got back home. If I remember correctly, we all cried when Dumbledore died. Nearly everyone I knew then spent the interim between books six and seven coming up with theories on how Dumbledore was going to turn out to not really be dead after all; that it was just a trick devised by Dumbledore and Snape. Theories of Dumbledore rising from his ashes like Fawkes never even came close to the brilliant trick Rowling played on us all with that particular plot twist.

Even as I was reading the final installment (staying up literally all night), I knew that it was the best book I had ever read or heard of. I cried varying tears of grief and joy from pretty well the “Battle of Hogwarts” chapter until the very end when all was well. I had the special opportunity and fortune to be a part of the “Potter generation.” We grew up with Harry. When I read the first book, Harry was 11, and so was I. And when I read The Deathly Hallows, Harry and I were both around 17. I never realized it at the time, because I never thought about it, but I was in a particularly special place of growing up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

J.K. Rowling is hands down my favorite author, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is easily my favorite book of all time. (Though Peter Pan is a clear second second.) The way Rowling intricately weaved such a supremely believable story is remarkable. It truly felt like growing up with Harry, because Harry’s story felt real, even if I knew logically that there is no such thing as dragons or wizards or magic. And by the time we had all grown up at the end of book seven, I had realized the true magic in Harry’s tale: the lessons about life that Rowling teaches us without us even realizing we are learning.

Rowling writes with an easy familiarity; with an amazing sense of humor and reality, but within her light-hearted style lie several very profound truths about life for muggles. With memorable quips from the sage Dumbledore like “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live,” “It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be,” and “To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure,” we are cleverly exposed to real life lessons. Fred and George taught us how to laugh even in the darkest of times, Hermione taught us to stand up for the abused and underprivileged, and the Weasleys taught us that the purity of blood does not matter, Luna taught us to keep an open mind, Snape taught us the power of love, Harry taught us to be loyal and to do what is right, even if that is not what is easy. And the list goes on an on. Of course, listing it all out defeats the purpose of reading the books.

J.K. Rowling taught us not to take anything for granted, like house elves or children’s tales, because it is in ignorance of powers different than our own that we are bound to ultimately fail. She taught us about death, and that the only way to “conquer” death is by greeting it as an old friend at the end of a simple, quiet life. But most of all, J.K. Rowling taught us all how to believe in magic. She made all the forests enchanted again (or forbidden, as it were).