Friday, July 15, 2005
Harry Potter And World War II
**WARNING: Harry Potter plot spoilers ahead for Order Of The Phoenix**
Everyone else may have noticed the similarities between the plot of the last couple Harry Potter novels and pre-world War II british history, but I had not, until I read this article. Jonathan Last shows some wonderful parallels, which are powerful enough to convince me that J.K. Rowling has intentionally given her students a history lesson:
**WARNING: Harry Potter plot spoilers ahead for Order Of The Phoenix**
Everyone else may have noticed the similarities between the plot of the last couple Harry Potter novels and pre-world War II british history, but I had not, until I read this article. Jonathan Last shows some wonderful parallels, which are powerful enough to convince me that J.K. Rowling has intentionally given her students a history lesson:
"Order of the Phoenix" tells how, after nearly 14 years of peace, Lord Voldemort re-emerges to pursue his plans for dominion. As a Hogwarts divination professor explains: "The indications have been that Wizard-kind is living through nothing more than a brief calm between two wars."and:
Let's start with Voldemort, who makes for a fair Hitler: He is an aspiring dictator who wants to cleanse the world of "mud-bloods"--wizards who have normal, or "muggle," parentage. Dumbledore is clearly Ms. Rowling's Churchill. Like the British lion, Dumbledore is a part of the establishment, but when he tries to awaken people to the threat that Voldemort poses, he becomes unpopular. Ms. Rowling's wizards, like the British of the 1930s, are exhausted from their last war and unwilling to believe that it's time to take up arms again.The article keeps going, and is definatly worth a read for anyone who is interested in both Harry Potter and history. I am now interested to see how well this theme holds up in the next book, though I have made my friend promise not to lend me her copy of The Half Blood Prince until I am done with my tests in August.
Comments:
Well-stated, and fairly convincing. Has Rowling had much to say on the subject at all? I know Tolkien got annoyed at people that compared LOTR too much to WWII, but he was probably more anti-allegory than most of us are, and I'd say the connections are stronger with Potter.
Whatever Rowling thinks of it, I'm also a bit leery of doing this kind of thinking. It has a tendency to limit the writing's power: making it discuss one event, rather than making bigger comments about humanity in general, something I think is part of Potter's strength.
Not saying you're doing that too much with this, or that you're suggesting limiting it, just saying why I don't like allegory too much, either.
Whatever Rowling thinks of it, I'm also a bit leery of doing this kind of thinking. It has a tendency to limit the writing's power: making it discuss one event, rather than making bigger comments about humanity in general, something I think is part of Potter's strength.
Not saying you're doing that too much with this, or that you're suggesting limiting it, just saying why I don't like allegory too much, either.
# posted by 
: 7/15/2005 3:44 PM
: 7/15/2005 3:44 PM
Neal, I think that alluding to real-life events makes the themes comments about humanity stronger, not weaker. We are faced with the realization that this sort of fiction has some fact to it -- that it does and has happened in our life. Plus, it makes for great social studies lessons on WWI and WWII for middle school students. :) "How many of you have read Harry Potter? ... Remember where... Well, that's sort of like..."
WARNING DO NOT READ THIS NEXT POST IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE!
It is interesting to note that in the Half Blood Prince the "lion" of Churchill is not Dumbledore (he does not become the minister of magic) but instead a new character who is VERY much described AS a LION. (Looks like, etc.)
So, JK throws in a twist, but still holds to the theme.
ALRIGHT, THIS IS THE END OF THE SPOILER.
It is interesting to note that in the Half Blood Prince the "lion" of Churchill is not Dumbledore (he does not become the minister of magic) but instead a new character who is VERY much described AS a LION. (Looks like, etc.)
So, JK throws in a twist, but still holds to the theme.
ALRIGHT, THIS IS THE END OF THE SPOILER.
Heh, yes Laura, I can see why this allegory contributes to history lessons. It's why a strange part of me hopes Michael Moore will continue to make his claptrap: it makes it easy for me to give my students an example of a biased source.
I would say, however, that writing has plenty of power without alluding to real life events. As long as the emotions and characters are true, we can all see ourselves in that situation: whether it has happened in real life or not. I am hardly a hobbit, but I could hardly be pulled into LOTR without their similarity to people in our world.
I'd be interested to hear what Rowling has to say about this theory, because I'm not sure she's following it as closely with book 6. *SPOILER WARNING THINGY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 6. FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, LOOK AWAY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET*
I'm not sure how Dumbledore and Harry fit into things anymore, as Churchill's arguments closely synched up with Dumbledore's about Hitler in book 5. Now it's turned on its head. Yet we do have this lion character, hmmmm. I wonder if Rowling is making any judgements about Churchill's actions with the new minister of magic: disagreeing with a few of his iffy decisions in bombing German cities, etc.
I would say, however, that writing has plenty of power without alluding to real life events. As long as the emotions and characters are true, we can all see ourselves in that situation: whether it has happened in real life or not. I am hardly a hobbit, but I could hardly be pulled into LOTR without their similarity to people in our world.
I'd be interested to hear what Rowling has to say about this theory, because I'm not sure she's following it as closely with book 6. *SPOILER WARNING THINGY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 6. FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, LOOK AWAY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET*
I'm not sure how Dumbledore and Harry fit into things anymore, as Churchill's arguments closely synched up with Dumbledore's about Hitler in book 5. Now it's turned on its head. Yet we do have this lion character, hmmmm. I wonder if Rowling is making any judgements about Churchill's actions with the new minister of magic: disagreeing with a few of his iffy decisions in bombing German cities, etc.
# posted by : 7/20/2005 4:47 PM
: 7/20/2005 4:47 PM
Yes, interesting...
hm.
So, I have a new cell phone number. Steve's got our old home phone number, but you can feel free to call there, too. Do you have Verizon? If you do, free calls to your psudo-sis, any time, any day!
:)
-ex-Bliss
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hm.
So, I have a new cell phone number. Steve's got our old home phone number, but you can feel free to call there, too. Do you have Verizon? If you do, free calls to your psudo-sis, any time, any day!
:)
-ex-Bliss
