Harry Potter's appeal

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 143916

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "gebroni2" <gebroni2 at y...> wrote:
>
> Hello everyone, I'm a freshman in college writing a resreach 
> paper on Harry Potter and its huge appeal. My thesis is that 
> a huge reason for the series's sucess is the 7 book, extended 
> mystery format. ... Are you most interested in the series 
> for its mystery, or for its other very strong elements? Thanks 
> a lot!
> 
> "gebroni2"

bboyminn:

Well, certainly the extended mystery format is very appealing. In a
sense we are all dying to know what happens next. That's not
necessarily true in other multi-volume series. In many of them ,the
extend mystery doesn't exist. By that I mean that each books stands
completely on it's own, and each new book is merely the same
characters in a new situation. JKR's Harry Potter books have both
many, internal to each book, mysteries, as well as the overal series
mysteries. So, certainly the mystery aspect is very important.

However, mere mystery doesn't explain how these books can cross so
many cultural boundaries. Why is it a Buddhist in Thailand is just as
enthralled, enchanted, and captivated by the books as a Christian in
Chicago? Further, why do children from age 8 to age 80 enjoy the
books. The demographic spread of the appeal of the books seems far out
of proportion with any other book ever published. Why?

I think it is because there are some universal aspects of JKR's story
that touch us beyond basic entertainment, much like myths and legends
that have endured for many centuries, and in some cases, millennia. In
another post, I said that JKR's work touches us at our ancient soul.
Yes, I know that sounds hopelessly melodramatic, but I still think it
is true. Consider that not only does Harry Potter appeal to people
around the world, but it's captivating sense of enchantment survives
many difficult language translations. What other book has such
univeral appeal.

So, while JKR draws her story from many ancient myths and legends, I
think she also tape into the essense of those myths and legends. Many
books have Centaurs, elves, and dragons, but they don't have the
appeal of Harry Potter. So, it is more than just copying or drawing
from myths and legends. I think she has captured the spirit of myth
and legend. She has drawn on the universal underlying aspect that
makes myths and legends endure. In a sense, JKR is telling The
Universal Story. She is telling the story of all people for all time.
This isn't just the story of Harry's hero's journey, but the story of
every hero's journey. So, in summary, I think that JKR has tapped into
 some very basic and universal mythos that transends culture and language.

Next, JKR has a very terse compact writing style. Where else do you
find books with short to-the-point three and four word sentences. More
over, part of JKR's talent is to use this terse writing style to
stimualte our imaginations. Instead of detail word-picture
descriptions of the world you are in, she gives us just enough to
stimulate our imaginations to fill in the blanks. For example, if you
look a the original discription of Ron, or for that matter combine all
descriptions of Ron through the whole series, you will discover we
have no more than the most basic description, yet as readers, how many
of us have vividly painted pictures of Ron in our mind. I think, in a
manner of speaking, that this is also one of the universal appeals of
the books. In a sense, she doesn't create the world for me, my mind
and my imagination, stimuatled by her, have created this world. In
this world, I am not just a passive viewer, I am an active participant.

Another aspect of the compact writing style is that the books move
fast. Tremendous amounts of story are told in so very few pages.
Because it moves so fast, there isn't time to get bored. If the book
does get dull, excitement is only a very few pages away. For example,
in Order of the Phoenix, the Dementor attack occurs on page 15 and by
page 57 Harry has arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place. That's a lot of story
in so very few pages.

One last point, unlike much modern entertainment, the underlying
nature of the characters isn't clearly draw. Harry is not the perfect
virtuous hero, we really can't tell at this stage which side Snape is
on, Sirius was both good and bad. In otherwords, the fact that no one
in these books is perfect, that even the most evil has elements of
sympathy, and the most virtuous has his degree of darkness, adds a
deep reality to the books that is appealing and captivating to readers. 

In these books all the characters are drawn in agonizing, frustrating,
disconcerting shades of grey; just like real-life. When a child, or
adult for that matter, reads these books, in the struggles of the
characters, they see their own daily struggles. In the Sunday School
lessons, right and wrong are always clear and the decision is always
easy, but not so in real-life. In real-life it is sometimes impossible
to know what is right, before or after the fact. In life, we struggle,
and Harry, his friends, and all the other characters also struggle. I
think many readers, deep down, identify with and sympathize with the
uncertain agonizing moral struggles that Harry and his friends have to
make. Further, Harry doesn't always get it right; we can certainly
identify with that. People have died as an indirect result of Harry's
choices. You can be certain that even the happiest ending for this
series will still be very bittersweet.

In nearly all books, movies, and TV characters struggle against
outside forces, and some do so very heroically. But in JKR's books,
Heroes and villains struggle against internal forces, and in real-life
that is where the real battle is. It is this agonizing shades of grey
in which the books are painted that touch us to our deepest core.

Well, I've rambled on enough for now. I hope this helps.

Steve/bboyminn