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The Harry Potter series, written by the British author Joanne Rowling, is unarguably the most successful series of books of the twenty-first century. After suddenly finding inspiration for her characters on a train, Rowling devoted at least a decade of her life to the lives of the characters she created, and to her readers who waited with bated breath for the announcement of her next novel. It is hard to believe that a series that was started on the back of a napkin in a cafe became such a success with both children and adults; however, the magical world of Hogwarts School proved itself enticing to an entire generation. Whilst the main focus of the novel is the protagonist Harry Potters epic battle to save the Wizarding World from the clutches of the powerful Lord Voldemort, there are other elements to the series that enrich the plot and provide the reader with important moral messages. The Harry Potter series is crafted with a social commentary that reflects the morality of the modern age.
A further important message evoked through the works of JK Rowling is based upon the theme of power and corruption. In the series, corruption takes place in the form of news source indoctrination, as well as being shown more explicitly in the case of Professor Umbridge, the corrupt Hogwarts Headmaster in Harry Potter’s fifth year at Hogwarts. In the novel ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’, the corrupt government of the Ministry of Magic, under Cornelius Fudge, wanted to hide the return of Lord Voldemort from the public. Afraid of Albus Dumbledore’s power to release this information to the world, the Ministry set a spy at Hogwarts, Dolores Umbridge, who eventually went on to overtake Dumbledore as Headmaster. Dolores ran a mini dictatorship at Hogwarts, where students were completely restrained as to what they could do and only learned what their government wanted them to learn – which wasn’t a lot and could leave them vulnerable to Dark forces. By placing Umbridge in Hogwarts, and having Harry and his friends rebel against her by creating their secret society – Dumbledore’s Army -, JK Rowling is promoting the idea of anarchism, going against the establishment, and standing up for what you believe in. The secret organization was referred to as Dumbledore’s Army as the idea of Dumbledore developing an army of students to fight against the Ministry and the Dark Lord was the ‘Ministry’s worst fear’ (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). Purposely antagonistic towards those who are supposed to lead them and control them, Dumbledore’s Army continues to join together and recruit after their leader, Harry Potter, leaves school to hunt Horcruxes in an attempt to destroy Lord Voldemort. The anti-establishment party eventually hhelpedto defeat Death Eaters during the Battle of Hogwarts. JK Rowling uses Dumbledore’s Army in an attempt to promote anarchism. Further messages of corruption come from the Wizarding Newspaper, The Daily Prophet. The reporter, Rita Skeeter, writes many false articles for the Prophet during Harry’s time at Hogwarts, manipulating her audience with invalid articles stating such things as that Harry is involved in a love triangle with Hermione Granger and the Durmstrang student and international Quidditch star Victor Krum. Skeeter uses her power as a high-profile journalist to hurt people and scare them into hiding – such as when she reveals that Hagrid is a Half-Giant to the Wizarding World. Even Ron admits to Hermione that she doesn’t ‘want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter’ or Rita would ‘dig up something’ on her (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). With many people reading The Daily Prophet, Skeeter has a form of influence over the public. By telling the story of Rita Skeeta, JK Rowling is commenting on the corruption residing in modern-day newspapers, where journalists hack into the phones of celebrities to dig up dirt on them and, sometimes sinisterly, refuse to publish some stories in an attempt to manipulate the minds of the masses. The overruling moral lesson which Rowling is teaching with her use of Dumbledore’s Army and the character of Rita Skeeter of the Daily Prophet, is that you should not believe everything that your government and the media ells you, and that you should fight against an establishment if you believe it to be corrupt.
JK. Rowling comments on the subject of disability directly through the character of Remus Lupin, a Werewolf who manages to get a job as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher at Hogwarts School in Harry Potter’s third year. Remus Lupin, as a Werewolf, has trouble with discrimination within the Wizarding World. Bitten as a child by one of the more aggressive Werewolves, Fenrir Greyback, Lupin’s transformation had a profound effect on his academic life and his career prospects. When Lupin arrives at Hogwarts, he has a disheveled appearance and has been living in poverty. Remus has trouble keeping a job due to his lycanthropy (the medical term for Werewolf), as many Witches and Wizards are prejudiced against Werewolves. His affliction even causes him to drift away from his family, as he refuses to destroy his Father’s peaceful existence by going to live with him even though Remus is therefore forced to live in a dingy house in Yorkshire in complete isolation. Lupin, never given a chance in general employment, finds his element in teaching. He is without a doubt the best Defence Against the Dark Arts Teacher Hogwarts had during Harry Potter’s years at the school, but Lupin is thrust out in the cold once again after Professor Severus Snape reveals that Lupin is a Werewolf to his students. If it wasn’t for the kindness of the Order of the Phoenix, Lupin would have been forced to live in poverty once more. The great tumult of Lupin’s life however is when he falls in love. Lupin expresses great guilt when his wife Nymphadora Tonks grows pregnant, his mental anguish showing when he tells Harry that he should never have married her’ as he has ‘made her an outcast!’. He also experiences extreme guilt for conceiving a child with Tonks, wondering how he could ‘forgive’ himself when he ‘knowingly risked passing on [his] own condition to an innocent child’. He believed that regardless of whether the child was a Werewolf, it would be ‘better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it should always be ashamed’ (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Lupin’s mental state reflects the helpless emotions of many who are discriminated against in society, and by having Lupin wallowing in despair JK Rowling is commenting on how unfair discrimination is in society. Lupin is an intelligent, brave man with a good heart – and yet people overlook his positive character traits due to the stigma of his disability which is undeserved. Lycanthropy athencould be controlled with a Wolfsbane potion, as many mental illnesses in the present can be controlled with medication. However, Rowling ended Lupin’s story on a high note. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin First Class, the first Werewolf ever to do so. By doing this, Rowling is commenting on the fact that prejudice is slowly fading, which is a positive message for society.
Another issue which is explored throughout Rowling’s series is the abuse of children. Key characters such as Severus Snape, Tom Riddle, and Harry Potter all experience a form of child abuse that contributes to their character traits as a whole and what they stand for as human beings. Harry Potter started his life living in a cupboard under the stairs, unloved by his Aunt and Uncle and bullied by his cousin Dudley. The lack of love in his life from his Aunt and Uncle, however, is replaced by a love which he receives from his best friend’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. The contrast between the two households is profound; whilst Harry is practically neglected by the Dursleys, ‘Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of his socks and tried to force him to eat fourth helpings at every meal’ and ‘Mr. Weasley liked Harry to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard him with questions about life with Muggles (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets). It is due to the nurturing care that he receives from the Weasleys that Harry’s psychological need for a sense of belonging is fulfilled. Not only does Harry receive support from the Weasley family, but he also experiences love and care from his Godfather Sirius Black, his Father’s friend Remus Lupin, and also from the Hogwarts Gamekeeper Hagrid, as well as his friends at school. Thanks to these role models and caregivers, Harry goes on to become a human capable of love and affection, who fights for what is right. Other abused children, however, go on to live with a victim mentality which causes them to often become vicious human beings who never achieve their full potential in life. Tom Riddle was born from an abusive, coerced relationship by his Mother and the Muggle whom she drugged. His upbringing mirrors Harry Potter’s in many ways. When his Mother died, Riddle was neglected in a dingy orphanage. Hogwarts became home to the young Wizard, and when the prospect of the school being closed occurred at the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, Tom was quick to blame his peer Hagrid for the attacks to save his skin. However, whilst Harry received nurturing figures in his life, Tom appeared to be left isolated. He had to return to his orphanage during school holidays, and even at school appeared a profoundly lonely young boy until he found a group of friends who shared his dark desires. Young and charismatic, Tom Riddle was allowed to grow in power and thrive in a sense of superiority because he never really found or understood true love and friendship. His lack of understanding of the concept of love eventually leads to his downfall. Severus Snape’s Mother was abused by his Father, and the young Snape was neglected. The young Snape is described as having ‘overlong’ black hair and ‘clothes’ which ‘were so mismatched that it looked deliberate: too-short jeans, a shabby, overlarge coat that might have belonged to a grown man’ and ‘an odd smock-like shirt’ and ‘sallow, small’ and stringy’ physically (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). His family is poor, and Snape grows increasingly uncomfortable when discussing his home life, picking ‘up a fistful of leaves’ and ‘tearing them apart, apparently unaware of what he [is] doing’ (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Like Harry, Snape finds love in the form of his adoration for Lily Evans, but when she rejects him for James Potter his incapacity to deal with rejection leads to his downfall, as well as the death of the one woman whom he claims to have loved ‘always’ (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows). Whilst Snape never lives a fulfilled life, never experiencing love and intimacy, in the end, his adoration for Lily Evans leads to the redemption of his character as he helps her son, Harry Potter, to defeat the Dark Lord as a spy. Whilst Harry is an example of how nurturing and parental figures can help an abused child succeed in life, Tom – and consequently Voldemort – is a product of his abusive environment, and Snape’s obsessive love leads him to live a life of social isolation. Through the abuse of children in her novels, Rowling is accentuating the need that we have as psychological beings to belong, and the importance of these needs being fulfilled.
The world of The Harry Potter series is vast and complex; information about the series is still pouring out through the website Pottermore which promises exclusive content about the universe from JK Rowling herself. The complexity of the world however is a credit to the author, as she manages to interpret negative elements, ts of ou,r contemporary society into a world that for the most part is portrayed as pristine – a fantasy land for children who dream of getting their Hogwarts letter at the age of eleven and being whisked away to a magical school! By incorporating instances of racism, corruption, discrimination, and child abuse in her novels, Rowling crafts the moral views of a generation through the characters of her works.
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