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Character, Choice, and Harry Potter

2002; University of St. Thomas; Volume: 5; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/log.2002.0048

1533-791X

Catherine Jack Deavel, David Paul Deavel,

Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies

ALMOST AS OVERWHELMING AS THE HYPE surrounding the Harry Potter books (and now movies and DVDs) has been the heat generated in some Christian circles, evangelical, fundamentalist, and sometimes Catholic. Despite the impressive amount of attention given the books, however, the discussion tends to focus only on a few select themes. Critics of the book generally claim that the series is leading children to explore the occult by glamorizing witchcraft. Some critics will also mention a disdain for rules on the part of Harry and his friends, but such a train of thought is rarely substantial. 1 Rather, how one portrays magic or the occult has lapped up much of the ink. That Harry Potter might lead a child to the occult is possible, but we find it highly improbable, for the simple reason that the only kind of magic in the book that has real-life occult parallels is fortune-telling, which is pretty much dismissed (more on this later). Some of the more sophisticated Christian critics dissect the portrayal of magic and the notion of subcreation in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, then compare J. K. Rowling to them. While such a discussion can be useful and informative, those who pursue this line of conversation [End Page 49] often seem to be bringing up Harry Potter only to talk about Narnia and Middle Earth. Such a piece is Steven Greydanus's otherwise interesting essay "Harry Potter vs. Gandalf." 2 While making many noteworthy observations about the portrayal of magic in children's literature, and ultimately defending Rowling from her reputation as "corrupter of youth," Greydanus nevertheless gives the impression that he hasn't really read the books except to analyze her use of magic. Indeed, such critics seem to us to have missed the point about the books. Just as M. Night Shyamalan's movie The Sixth Sense was not really about ghosts, but instead about parenting, Harry Potter is not really about magic, but about character.