SCRIBBLE
THE MAGIC OF LITER ATURE Has Harry Potter been given the Dementor’s Kiss by literary critics? by Miss B Lord Harry Potter series above the often pejorative status of a children’s book.
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irstly, it’s not difficult to apply literary analysis to Rowling’s novels: Hermione makes a nice feminist figure, Ron is the stoical sidekick and Lord Voldemort a Satan-like force of evil. Harry’s move from Privet Drive to Hogwarts has been compared to the Dickens classic Oliver Twist while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has foundations in Chaucer’s The Pardoner’s Tale and Rowling’s brand of ‘Fictional Magic’ has been likened to the world of Narnia created by C.S. Lewis. Although these ‘borrowed’ elements have led authoritative literary critics such as Harold Bloom and Philip Hensher to criticise the simplicity of the novels’ plots, it is these allusions which have sparked literary debate.
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Image Mrs T Pardoe
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arry Potter has sold 375 million copies in 65 countries and was adapted into a multi-million pound movie franchise. Nonetheless, despite its unprecedented fandom with millions of people searching for outlets through which to further their passion for the books (including mounting their broomsticks in Quidditch societies, forming mosh pits at Wizard Rock gigs, or visiting the Harry Potter studios in their robed garbs), the door to the canon seems firmly closed to The Boy Who Lived. However, as the novel now finds itself on the A Level Lang/Lit specification and is featured in university degree reading lists, it is time to perhaps challenge the assumption that a popular children’s novel can not be classified as a ‘classic’ and explore how Rowling elevates the
