My boys were right about Harry Potter

Last updated on: March 5, 2016 at 12:34 pm by Dave Griffey

My boys were right about Harry Potter 2016-03-05T12:34:00-04:00 Dave Griffey

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Back in the days of Pottermania, my boys became avid readers and partakers in all things fantasy and science-fiction. My oldest was the first. Initially he wasn’t interested in Harry Potter. But through a fluke of genetic timing, he came to bear a striking resemblance to the boy wizard at just the right moment. He even wore round glasses long before he knew of any wizard school or quidditch tournaments.

Eventually my other boys jumped on board. The two oldest focused on reading through the series. When the final book came out, we packed up and went to a Barnes and Noble midnight release party. My oldest was all the rage, and soon there was a line of fans waiting to have their pictures taken with him. Being shy, he felt a bit awkward. But in all honesty, It think he began to warm up to all the fuss as the night went on.

Anyway, they read the books and studied the movies. And they discussed the books. Yes, Virginia, a case can be strongly made that Rowling advocates a certain consequentialism in her story. The fact is, it seems that the more Rowling tried to break away from a charming children’s story and move into the realm of ‘fantasy epic for the ages’, the more the unwieldy the story became. My second oldest called it a ‘Ten year long train of thought.’ In the early books, she kept close to issues she knew: the loss of loved ones, loneliness, the struggles of childhood, the feeling of loss. That is where she shined. But as the story developed and attempts were made to lay a down payment on the Epic Literature foundation, the threads seemed to unravel.

That is what my boys noticed. The comparisons were often made between her and Tolkien and Lewis. But those two fellows were brilliant, schooled, deep thinkers on a host of subjects. When they injected their ideas into their writings, it could be done with ease. It was second nature. But it seemed as though many of the ideals Rowling pushed as the series developed were outside of her pay grade. Therefore it either seemed forced, pushed, or at times, confusing. Whether or not suicide pacts are good or not became one of the main topics in the wake of her final book. Whether or not it was good for Frodo to wear the Ring has never been open to debate.

But it’s the final book that has shown my boys’ insight. They concluded that part of the problem wasn’t so much her delving into areas with which she was only partly schooled. Part of it was that she changed the story line in mid development due to the phenomenal success she was experiencing.

When one reads the early books, there is no reason not to believe that Harry is going to suffer some terrible fate. Something bad. Somehow. He’ll die. He’ll sale to the West. Somehow he will have to pay an ultimate price for what he does. And there is a sorrow around him because of this. Not just the boy whose parents died. But the boy who clearly is doomed for something from which he will not be delivered a second time.

And this feeling is all through the first three books. Even in the fourth book, Goblet of Fire, you sense it. But by the time the final books come out, you almost know he’s off the hook. Sure, the second and third characters will be buying it by the truck load. Almost every third support character gets it by the end of the series. But you know, somehow, that in the end Harry is safe.

Why the change? My boys suspected it was because when you build a billion dollar global industry based on Mickey Mouse, you don’t then kill the mouse. Once the mouse is gone, he’s gone. You need the mouse to come around and keep the feeling alive. You also need the mouse to be available for future projects.

They felt that you could see the change in direction during Goblet of Fire. Twice as big as the previous books, that is where they believe she had to shift from the initial ‘Harry doomed to die’ focus to expanding more plots and sub plots and elevating more characters, so that when they died in Harry’s place, at least we would care. When she was working on Goblet is about when Pottermania was taking off full force. So she started the book with the same trajectory of the first three novels, but during the writing had to shift it around. Hence the length.

Other factors no doubt were involved. Having written Goblet as such a massive work, the following texts had to be just as large, whether the stories warranted it or not. They increasingly seemed large because of inserting a whole bunch of nothing just to keep the page numbers up to speed. Even Potter fans say The Half-blood Prince and Order of the Phoenix are sub-par. My boys say that Prince is the Phantom Menaceof the series. That is, had it not been under the banner of Harry Potter, it would have been dismissed out of hand.

But there you have it. Their theory: Despite Rowling’s insistence that there would ever and only be seven books about Harry Potter, the billion dollar Potter corporation beckoned. And as early as book four, she realized her dilemma. So at that point, she began changing the story, adopting rather heavy handed Christian imagery to offset the changes in a credible way, and still allow Harry to survive, raise a family, and be ready for more adventures past the promised seven. And judging from the news, they may have been right after all.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

March 4, 2016

Oh to make snowmen in Ohio now that Spring is here

Next Post

March 5, 2016 I remember this!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Atheism Awesome things Bigotry for the hip American Blogging Books Catholic Catholic Teaching Catholics on the Internet Christian Persecution Christian Unity Christianity and America Christianity in the Post-Modern World Christianity in the world Culture of Death Culture of Life Current Events Decline and Fall of the Christian West Defending Liberty Fun Stuff Global Warming Good Causes Good News Gun Control Health Care History Holidays Homeschool Humor Important things Inspiring Stories Interesting Insights Interesting Stories Islam and the West Liberal "Tolerance" Liberal observations Life in a post-Christian world Memorial Movies Musings News Other Blogs Our Big Politically Correct Bother Politics Popular Culture Post Modern Values Prayers Pro Life Promoting LGBT Protecting Liberty Racism in the world today Scientism Social Observations Sports Strange Stories The Boys The Catholic Church and the Left The Decline and Fall of the American Dream The end of liberty The Faith and the Left The Faith and the Right The Family The Greatness of God The Internet The Leftist Juggernaut The LGBT Question The Media The Pope The post-liberal Left The Power of Propaganda Tributes Twilight of the American Experiment Uncategorized Uneducating Postmoderns When the Church is wrong Why learn from history when we can repeat it instead Wisdom in the Post Modern Age World Events

Select a Month August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How did God respond to Job’s complaints?

Select your answer to see how you score.

In a dream From a whirlwind By sending an angel Through a prophet