Swish & Flick
How Harry Potter saved our souls
October 17, 2006
J.J. Hutcheson
The spring of my sophomore year was bleak. It was a season of excess: I had too much work, apprehension, and materialism to perform like a 20-year-old university student. In the midst of these abundances, I desperately sought escape and solace.
After reading obscure self-help books to no avail, I found solace in re-reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. Although the books didn’t give me an instant reprieve, they were a tremendous asset for restoring my joy, faith, and sense of wonder. The books gave me an escape and drew me into the story.
As I read, it felt like I was really with Harry and the gang searching Hogwarts School looking for secret rooms, flying on a broomstick in the Triwizard Tournament, and battling the dark Lord Voldemort and his minions.
I am one of many people around the world who has been drawn into the series. Rowling’s creation is one of the most popular enterprises in literary history, reaching millions of readers with the tales of the boy wizard, Harry Potter. The story’s appeal to imagination and its interplay of moral themes make the Potter series one of the most insightful and unique tales of human nature we have today.
But it seems that fantasy narratives like Harry Potter usually aren’t very appealing to the current cultural psyche. Regrettably, the modern world has taught us, and, more devastatingly, our children, to distrust anything outside our individual interaction with the world. It’s difficult for us to trust people in power, the opinions of others, and anything that does not have a rational or material explanation. As a result, we have lost most senses of imagination, not only in its fantastic form, but also in its sensible form.
The brilliance of the series is that the fantasy world Rowling creates is entirely feasible within our own world, and therefore allows the reader’s imagination to blossom. Rowling’s magical world allows people to step into a creative place of total prospect and occurrence. They can experience a reality of wonder in a world where the mystery of tradition and magic make every moment charged with imaginative possibility.
The narrative opens souls of children and adults to a world beyond our own, free from the prejudices of a fact-heavy and punctual culture.
This might seem like an overstatement, or the ravings of an aloof and overstressed student, but I think that the massive popularity of the Harry Potter series shows that the modern soul still has a need for fantasy and creativity. Christians have argued this for two thousand years. The basis for faith is largely dependent on the reliability of imagination and an intangible element to reality.
The possibility of creativity and imagination is not the only gift Harry Potter brings to its readers. The themes of love, fear, and death are weaved into the stories to reveal a particular and beautiful narrative of good and evil.
For example, Rowling shows that the main villain in the series, Lord Voldemort, is secretly driven by hatred, power, and, ultimately, fear. His attempt to conquer the world using magic led to his dehumanization. As Voldemort gained more power, and used more dark magic to prevent immortality, he resembled a human less and less. His eyes became red, and his nostrils turned into slits.
On the other hand, the hero Harry Potter represents love, justice, courage, loyalty, and moderation. Harry can overcome any situation with the aid of his friends. His desire to sacrifice himself for others is the pinnacle of Potter’s heroic character.
Similar to the imaginative aspect of the series, Rowling’s portrayal of good and evil is not novel. Many of the virtues and vices she uses in the characters can be seen in texts as ancient as St. Thomas Aquinas and Aristotle. However, what is amazing about these incarnate ideas is their reception by millions of readers around the world. It leads me to believe that the there is a strong element of commonality between the story and its readers.
In a few years, the Harry Potter series probably won’t be heralded as classic of English literature, or even as a substantial contribution to fiction. Rowling’s work will eventually go out of print, and her stories too may fade. Yet, to readers like me who have been affected by the series and have gleaned its lessons, the books will remain crucial in our understanding of what it means to be human.
Now you go...
3 Responses to “Swish & Flick”
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Thanks, Jeremy. This is actually one of the most enjoyable Mars’ Hill articles I’ve ever read. Some very good points too.
Yeah Jeremy, great job on this. I think the Potter series really does reach people at a deep level that can effect change and positive dispositions. But I did hear that most people who read the series become Wiccans.
Jeremy, Great article. I love harry potter (more for their entertainment value that anything else), and, personally, every MarsHill issue would be better off if it had a picture of you dressed as Harry in it.