by Aura Nurmi
Are J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books political?
Yes.
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books have political meanings
The hit series of the past decade by J.K. Rowling is a story about a wizard called Harry Potter. He survived the attack of evil lord Voldemort as a baby, and is rumoured to be the one to defeat Voldemort once and for all in the future. Voldemort wants to rule all of the wizarding world and take the wands away from all witches and wizards who aren’t “pure-blood” (whose both parents aren’t wizards, that is). You wouldn’t necessarily think there’s something particularly political about Harry and the magic world in which he lives, but the more you look at it, the more political influences you can find. Here are some points that I think justify why the books can be said to have political aspects to them. See if you agree:
Some of the families in the wizarding world have one or many house elves, small creatures who work for their family (most of them happily), without a pay. The position of the house elves is similar to that of the black slaves who toiled in the cotton fields in the Southern states of America. The term for them was ‘field slave’, and the term for the creatures Rowling created has a similar structure: house elf. The elves are considered a thing owned by their master. They are also often taken for granted and everyone seems to agree that it is ok to use them – at least if you treat them well. You might imagine the cotton plantation owners thought much the same way.
Hermione Granger, one of Harry’s best friends, begins to call for the abolishment of the unjust treatment of the elves. She runs her Elf Liberation Front in a very realistic way, making badges, collecting member fees and demanding consumer boycott, very much like environmental or human rights groups do in the real world. Furthermore, the depiction of Hermione’s efforts is also realistic in the sense that she doesn’t reach results quickly, and she has to be ready to confront views different from her own. Some people make fun of her openly, others just smile to themselves: it’s not easy to stand up for what you believe to be right. What I think is particularly interesting is that one of Hermione’s best friends, Ron, disagrees with Hermione. An important aspect of politics is that there are various shades of grey between black and white: those who think differently from you don’t necessarily have to be your enemies. Ron and Hermione continue to be friends, but they keep comparing their views and arguments. In this way, the books give ideas on how to make a difference (through the detailed information on how Hermione runs her group), they teach you to understand people’s motives, and they also tell what to expect once you’ve voiced your opinion.
The main idea behind Voldemort’s plan isn’t anything new outside of fiction. Instead, it has been seen in world history many times. In the world of Harry Potter, there are people who can’t use magic (muggles), and witches and wizards who can. However, sometimes the children of muggles are born with magical abilities and, consequently, learn to cast spells and make potions just like children from old wizarding families. Voldemort is out to get all these people who have muggles in their family. Although Voldemort’s claim that pure-blood wizards should rule the world sounds outrageous and ridiculous, it’s not far from the views of Hitler, for example, who raised Aryan people to the top of creation. Naming one group superior, another group “impure” and trying to oppress the latter is a pattern that has reoccured in different parts of the world and exists even today. The themes of freedom, oppression and abuse of power are very relevant in our everyday lives. It wasn’t long ago that women couldn’t vote, not very long ago that black people were thought to be less intelligent than white people, and right now gay rights are a widely-discussed topic in many contemporary societies.
Finally, a thing that would seem to add to the political agenda of the books is that the themes of the main conflict are also present in the smaller, openly politicised issue of house elves. In the case of Voldemort and humans, probably all readers are opposed to Voldemort’s plans, but the situation of the elves is less obvious and more complicated, just like real-life situations tend to be. Drawing parallels between the two conflicts Rowling invites readers to look around in their own society, implying that there can be inequality and injustice, even where it doesn’t reach the obvious, epic proportions of Voldemort’s cruel plan.
Media reading skills play a prominent role in the books. Everyone probably remembers Rita Skeeter, the journalist who puts words into the mouths of her interviewees. Skeeter interviews Harry, and later the reader sees the final story in a newspaper. It’s not truthful at all. Everything Harry says has been changed or taken out of context. Later in the series, when Voldemort’s supporters are spreading in the ministry of magic and the major newspapers, Hermione can be heard making comments on, firstly, what is and what is not published (in other words, who has decided what is important enough to be in a newspaper), and secondly, how events and people are described in the papers. The reader soon learns that what is printed on the newspaper is not a list of god-given facts, but instead something that is chosen and presented by people. People who sometimes have their own reasons to, for example, leave out a certain story or make someone look good in an interview. Media reading skills like this are vital when making assessments of what is going on around us.
Some of these points I found in Brycchan Carey’s essay in the book Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays (edited by Gizelle Lisa Anatol). Carey’s essay can be read on-line for free. I first thought that “a political children’s book” sounded rather questionable. However, after thinking about the books for a while, I’m not sorry at all that Rowling decided to include some political aspects into her work. What do you think?
Aura Nurmi is a multi-interest translation student from Finland.