Harry Potter and the Crushing Reality of Life

Like most people under the age of thirty, I grew up reading the Harry Potter books. I'll admit I wasn't as obsessed with them as many others are. I also wasn't really paying attention to the lessons on life that JK Rowling was trying to impart on me. What drew me to the story was the intricate world building that imparted a sense of whimsy. I too wanted to be told I was special and be sent off to learn wonderful things such as flying, drink delicious sweet butterbeer and eat enchanted chocolate frogs all while making equally special and magical friends. Any little kid wanted their letter to Hogwarts so that they could escape the boredom and disappointments of real life. What I didn't realize until I was older was the complexities and confusion that was present in the real world was equally present in the magical world of Hogwarts. Even in book one, Rowling let the reader know that the magical world of Harry Potter hosted a rising fascist, racist cult of personality not too unlike the political world of the United States today. Hermione Granger, one of the two best friends of our protagonist comes from a family of non-wizards and is called in-world slurs like mud-blood and treated poorly by some of the students and staff despite being an absolute child protégé. By getting to know Hermione as a main character and growing to lover her, we see this treatment and recognize it as wrong because we like Hermione and don't want to see her unfairly hurt. Even though it's an allegory rather than a real depiction of racism, young readers will be able to relate it to the real world and know that kind of behavior is wrong. Readers also learn a lot about the value and importance of being selfless by following the protagonist, Harry Potter. Harry had been dealt a harsh hand as a chosen one archetype, forced to step up and sacrifice, his education, friends, and nearly his own life in order to defeat Voldemort because he's the only one who can. Children are taught the hard lesson that you're not always rewarded for doing the right thing but you do it anyway because it is the right thing. I would be lying if I said that I was thinking of these themes directly when I was reading the book, but I can't deny that the lessons were still likely absorbed into my young shapable mind. Children are smarter than they know and what they see or read has an impact and I'm glad that Harry Potter has done far more good than harm.

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