Harry Potter–A Worthwhile series??

[kimballs6]

No: HPFGUIDX 33582

Much debate is swirling around the Harry Potter books versus 
C.S. Lewis's and Tolkien's stories.  Many argue that these 
books are all similar--just fantasy, pure and simple.  I disagree.  
They are fantasies (Lewis going into allegory), but that is where 
the similarity ends.  After reading the first book in the Potter 
series, reading The Hobbit, and brushing up on The Lion, the 
Witch and the Wardrobe, I see a tremendous gulf between 
Rowling and the other two writers.  This paper discusses the 
difference between their world views and the incredible gulf 
between writing abilities.

MS. ROWLING'S WORLD VIEW:

Rowling presents an arbitrary world in which good and evil are 
simply two sides of the same sorcery--the "Dark Side" and the 
other side, although no name is ever given for it.  Harry and his 
friends must choose which side they're on, but of course the line 
between the two is always moving.  Determining where the line 
is between good and evil becomes an individual choice, leaving 
the reader wondering why something is okay for this person and 
not the other. Sometimes breaking rules is honorable, 
sometimes it must be punished.  Sometimes a lie is bad, 
sometimes it is good.    And finally, adult authority is attacked 
harshly, leaving ultimate authority in the hands of the kid who 
can grab the most power.

First, breaking rules is glorified:  "Hermione had become a bit 
more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had 
saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for 
it."  But when Malfoy or other "Slytherins" break rules, they are 
punished--to the cheers of Harry and his gang.  At one point 
Harry is told not to ride on his broom.  When he does, instead of 
any punishment, he is rewarded with a berth on the Quidditch 
team.  Somehow it is a terrible thing for Hagrid to break the rules 
and raise a forbidden dragon, yet honorable for the students to 
break the rules and explore the forbidden areas of the school.  
(Actually, it is not honorable for Malfoy to break the rules, only 
Hermione and Harry--if they feel the need.) 

Second, Rowling leaves the option of lying up to the individual, 
and even glorifies it.  If Harry needs to lie, he simply will:  "When 
facing a magic mirror, Harry thinks desperately, `I must lie,..I 
must look and lie about what I see, that's all.'"  And yes, he is 
rewarded with the Sorcerer's Stone.  Yet later, when he asks 
Headmaster Dumbledore questions, Dumbledore says, "...I 
shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason 
not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me.  I shall not, or 
course, lie."  My immediate response was, why not?  It works for 
Harry.  Maybe Ms. Rowling meant this as a teaching point, but it 
doesn't go anywhere.  Does Dumbledore never lie, or maybe 
he'll just never lie to Harry, or maybe he just won't lie to Harry at 
this time, or maybe this is itself a lie....  Rowling sometimes 
glorifies lying, and other times doesn't  consider it as an option.   
Rowling appears confused on the issue of lying.

Finally, concerning the adult world, or those who would be in 
authority, there is only derision.  Fred tells his mother, "Honestly, 
woman, you call yourself our mother?"   And another time, "All 
right, keep your hair on."  All the teachers at Hogwarts are either 
dirty, deranged, deceitful, or all three.  "Honestly, Hermione, you 
think all teachers are saints or something..."   and when referring 
to late notices for library books, Rowling writes:  "He [Harry] 
didn't belong to the library, so he'd never even got rude notes 
asking for books back."  Is it really `rude' to remind a person of a 
commitment he has made?  When presenting the adult human 
world, Ms. Rowling presents it in such a ridiculously negative 
light that it becomes completely unrealistic and even offensive.  
All adults are foolish, bungling, stupid and boringly 
unimaginative.  Why would a child ever look up to them or need 
them in any way?

Rowling's characters twist truth into their own desires--breaking 
whatever rules necessary to get whatever they want,--become 
quite adept at lying, and see themselves as the final authority, far 
superior to any adult wisdom.
 
C.S. LEWIS'S AND J.R.R. TOLKIEN'S WORLD VIEW:

In contrast, Lewis and Tolkien present a world where truth is 
absolute and transcends the individual.  Because the world has 
absolute truth, it is also a world in which order is upheld as an 
honorable characteristic for which to strive.  Good and evil are 
two distinct things, with the rewards and consequences for the 
characters' choices reflecting absolute values.  And finally, 
adults can be good or evil, and the good are presented with 
nobility of character.

First, C.S. Lewis presents truth as absolute and transcendent.  
Even Aslan and the Witch are bound by the ancient laws.  When 
seeking what she claims is rightfully hers, the witch says to 
Aslan:  "You at least know the magic which the Emperor put into 
Narnia at the very beginning.  You know that every traitor belongs 
to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right 
to a kill."  When Susan begs Aslan to work against the `Deep 
Magic,' C.S. Lewis writes: "`Work against the Emperor's magic?' 
said Aslan turning to her with something like a frown on his face.  
And nobody ever made that suggestion to him again."  Even 
Aslan and the Witch are bound by the laws of the Emperor.

Second, respect for order is a part of a Judeo-Christian world 
view.  Consider the general anarchy encouraged at Hogwarts, 
when the students sing the school song:  "`Everyone pick their 
favorite tune,' said Dumbledore, `and off we go!'..... Everybody 
finished the song at different times... and when they had 
finished, he [Dumbledore] was one of those who clapped 
loudest."  Compare this to Aslan's words after Peter kills the 
White Witch's Wolf:  "`Hand it [Peter's sword] to me and kneel, 
Son of Adam,' said Aslan.  And when Peter had done so he 
struck him with the flat of the blade and said, `Rise up, Sir Peter 
Fenris-Bane.  And, whatever happens, never forget to wipe your 
sword.'  Even in the midst of battle there is order.

Tolkien also recognizes the role of order in a Judeo-Christian 
world view. In The Hobbit the goblins "hated everyone and 
everything, and particularly the orderly and prosperous...."   
Chaos versus order.  Which one draws out the best in us?

Thirdly, good and evil are distinct.  When Edmund first heard the 
name Aslan, he "felt a sensation of mysterious horror."  It was 
evil coming face to face with good.  When the White Witch 
controls Narnia, it is "always winter, but never Christmas,";  yet 
with Aslan's return, the world changes:  "...A strange, sweet, 
rustling, chattering noise... It was the noise of running water.  All 
round them, though out of sight, there were streams chattering, 
murmuring, bubbling, splashing, and even (in the distance) 
roaring.  And his  [Edmund's] heart gave a great leap..."  Evil has 
had its day, and good will now triumph.  

Good and evil choices also have rewards and consequences.  
Edmund chooses evil when he decides to serve the White Witch, 
resulting in a curse that affects all around him, including Aslan, 
the one who would save him.  Payment is always necessary for 
disobedience, and Edmund realizes the extent of his selfish 
actions when Aslan sacrifices himself to the witch in place of 
Edmund.  His evil choices have painful consequences.

In The Hobbit , Bilbo struggles against the pull of evil, sensing 
the outcome of his decisions.  When he slips the coveted 
Arkenstone into his pocket, he knows that he is giving in to his 
greedy desires:  "All the same he had an uncomfortable feeling 
that the picking and choosing had not really been meant to 
included this marvellous gem, and that trouble would yet come 
of it."  Later Bilbo gives up the Arkenstone for the sake of peace, 
but "not without a shudder, not without a glance of longing, [he] 
handed the marvellous stone to Bard...."   Gandalf cheers his 
decision:  "`Well done!  Mr. Baggins!' he said, clapping Bilbo on 
the back.  `There is always more about you than anyone 
expects!'"  The internal struggle has been great, yet Bilbo 
eventually chooses the good and right.

Finally, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the adults 
either have integrity and nobleness, or they stoop to deceit and 
treachery.  There is no ambiguity in their integrity or lack thereof.  
Consider the difference between how Dumbledore, Headmaster 
of Hogwarts School, and Aslan, ruler of Narnia, present 
themselves in their first appearance before the children. 
Rowlings writes,  "`Welcome!" he [Dumbledore] said.  `Welcome 
to a new year at Hogwarts!  Before we begin our banquet, I 
would like to say a few words.  And here they are:  Nitwit!  
Blubber!  Oddment!  Tweak!'"... Everybody clapped and cheered.  
Compare this to Aslan's welcome of the children:  "`Welcome, 
Peter, Son of Adam,'  said Aslan.  `Welcome, Susan and Lucy, 
daughters of Eve.  Welcome He-Beaver and She-Beaver.'  His 
voice was deep and rich and somehow took the fidgets out of 
them."  There is a vast difference between Dumbledore's 
foolishness and Aslan's nobility.  

Lewis and Tolkien uphold the values of absolute truth and 
absolute right and wrong.  They acknowledge an orderly world, 
one which brings out nobility in its heroes.  And learning from 
and submitting to those who have gone before is honored as a 
right way to gain wisdom.  

Difference in character development between Harry, and 
Edmund and Bilbo:

At the beginning of Harry Potter, Harry hates his family, laughing 
at their stupidity and dreaming of revenge - "...the largest snake 
in the place.  It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle 
Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can...."  Not much growth 
in maturity has occurred between the first chapter and the last 
paragraph.  When the other `witchlings' feel sorry for Harry as he 
goes back to his nasty family, Harry smiles and says, "They  
don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home.  I'm going 
to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer...." 

Contrast that with Edmund and Bilbo.  At the beginning of The 
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmund is truly a spiteful, 
mean-spirited brother:  "When Peter suddenly asked him 
[Edmund] the question he decided all at once to do the meanest 
and most spiteful thing he could think of.  He decided to let Lucy 
down."  Yet by the end of the story, he's a new person:  "When at 
last she was free to come back to Edmund she found him 
standing on his feet and not only healed of his wounds but 
looking better than she had seen him look--oh, for ages; ... He 
had become his real old self again and could look you in the 
face.   And there on the field of battle Aslan made him a knight."

In The Hobbit, even Bilbo grows from a timid, somewhat 
cowardly Hobbit to a humble yet wise warrior.  "Already he was a 
very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a 
pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago.  He had not had a 
pocket-handkerchief for ages.  He loosened his dagger in its 
sheath, tightened his belt, and went on."  All the characters--
Harry, Bilbo and the children--are presented as heroes, yet only 
Lewis's and Tolkien's live in a world that has true 
consequences for right and wrong, and thus only they can truly 
grow in excellence.

Although there are many more avenues that can be explored--
including witchcraft versus mythology--the preceding points are 
enough to show that yes, there is quite a world view gulf 
between Rowling and Lewis/Tolkien.  In handing any book to a 
child, one must know if the child can discern the world views and 
not be swept into a view that is counter to the truth being instilled 
in him.

MS. ROWLING'S WORLD VIEW APPARENT IN HER LITERARY 
STYLE:

Ms. Rowling's world view of no absolutes and the flaunting of all 
authority and rules carries over into her writing.  Either she does 
not have a basic understanding of grammar and writing, or she 
purposely writes this way in keeping with her world view.  
Although it can be appropriate to read books with varying world 
views, encouraging the reading of poorly written books is at best 
unwise. 
	Pronoun and Antecedent disagreement:
	"Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching.  
They weren't."
	"Someone was knocking to come in.  BOOM.  They knocked 
again."
	"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return 
to power, who has 		clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

	Subject confusion:
	"The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the 
walls,..."

	Analogy and Simile struggles:
	"...weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals."  (How big 
are glowing coals?)
	"The mountains around the school became icy gray and the 
lake like chilled steel."

	Improper verb construction:
	"He had just thought of something that made him feel as though 
the happy balloon (?)		inside him had got a puncture."
	"...so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back."

	Run on sentences - they are virtually everywhere:
	"It [ice pop] wasn't bad, either, Harry thought, licking it as they 
watched a gorilla 		scratching its head who looked remarkably 
like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond." - 		The head looked 
remarkably like Dudley, or the gorilla?  Whose hair is blond?
	"The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House championship 
was wonderful, no one had 		done it for seven years, but would 
they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?"	
	And my favorite one:
	"Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in 
its beak, went to the 		door, and threw the owl out into the storm." 
- who went to the door?

Lewis and Tolkien both write with an impeccable understanding 
of and a rightful submission to the English language.   Consider 
this passage:  "`It's all right,' he was shouting.  `Come out, Mrs. 
Beaver.  Come out, Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve.  It's 
all right!  It isn't her.' This was bad grammar, or course, but that 
is how beavers talk when they are excited..."  Even when Lewis 
violates a grammar rule, he does it with purpose and does it 
with style.	

When I give my children a book to read, I also give them a pencil 
and ask them to mark anything that stands out to them:  clues as 
to the author's world view, the hero's words or actions that 
inspire them, sentences or paragraphs that are well written, 
vocabulary that peaks their interest, etc.  My copy of Harry Potter 
is well marked and even dog-eared, but not because of  
inspiring passages or quality writing.  Rowling's world view is 
not one to immerse a child in if you are seeking to raise him in a 
Judeo-Christian ethic.  Beyond that, encouraging a child to read 
poorly written yet "sensational" literature may produce a child 
who can read Harry Potter stories, but it will not produce a 
reader.