This was composed as an in-class essay for my 8th-grade Humanities students of 21-22. They were allowed to collectively come up with any four questions they wanted me to answer, from which I would select my favorite and write a one-hour reply. The question selected was "What do you think of the Harry Potter books?"
Most people have heard of the “elephant in the room.” That is, something that is well-known to everyone involved, but too embarrassing or prohibited from talking about. Some elephants, however, are too big to ignore. One of these elephants is the publishing phenomenon of J.K. Rowling—the Harry Potter series. Since 1998, Harry Potter has sold over 500 million copies (that’s one book for about every thirteen people on the planet, by the way). It’s been made into a play, eleven blockbuster movies, and enough themed parks, stores, and tourist attractions to fund a small country. No matter what you think of Harry Potter, it’s too big to ignore now.
The problem is, Christians (particularly Christian parents) often aren’t sure what to think of Harry Potter. The Bible has some strong words against magic and those who use it, after all. Just look at Exodus 22:18, for example: “You shall not suffer a witch to live.” Back in the 90’s, most evangelical Christians were deeply suspicious of a series that openly taught magic and talked of wizards, witches, spells, and secrets in such a positive way. But times have changed (we’re told) and the massive popularity of Harry Potter over the last two decades has overcome most of these concerns. Many Christian parents today toss their kids the books without a second thought. Something that well-loved must be good. After all, they’re fun, build character and friendship, and teach kids to love reading, right?
“Fun” they undoubtedly are. The note of light-hearted whimsy (particularly in the early books of the series) is one of the reasons the books have captured so many readers. Who can resist reading about paintings that come to life and visit each other, or staircases that go somewhere different on a Friday, or Bertie Bott’s Every-flavor Beans (and they do mean every flavor!)? When you’re stuck inside on a rainy afternoon, Harry Potter is a great way to escape. If fun is all you require from your reading, then these books are great.
But do they build character and friendship? Here we get into murkier territory. Harry has friends, yes—and it’s often noted that Harry would do anything for his friends. But in order to save his friends Harry often winds up doing illegal (and immoral) things—trespassing in forbidden places, stealing cars, torturing enemies. The line between good and evil that Rowling tries so hard to draw (the series antagonist is soooo evil that people won’t even say his name, after all) comes down to this—Harry is a good character because he helps his friends, Voldemort is a bad character because he doesn’t. And if you're helping your friends and saving the world, then all rules are off (including the "Unforgivable Curses" that are also supposedly so evil, of which Harry eventually and happily uses two out of three).
Is this really a standard you should be plopping uncritically in front of your average teenager? How many times does Harry convince himself he has to do something—usually without trusting the adults in his life—in order to save others? And how many times does this wind up getting his friends hurt? “Helping your friends” is simply an vastly inadequate standard of morals. What are you helping your friends to do? Why? If you become like what you love (one of the basic principles of classical education) then is Harry Potter really someone you want to imitate? Or is he someone that you couldn’t stand if you met him in real life? Let’s face it, the guy’s a real whiner half the time; throughout the middle books of the series, Harry is generally acting far more emotionally like a girl than a boy. Rowling is really bad at writing men, in my humble opinion. If you’re going to chase him around on his adventures for seven volumes and many hours, is Harry someone worth hanging out with?
As for teaching kids to love reading, that’s fine as far as it goes, but there are so many options here in modern times that this reason is disingenuous at best. I’ve known kids that love reading cereal boxes! Surely Narnia or Ashtown or Wingfeather or, shucks, Wind in the Willows would do the same. Harry Potter is far from the only (or even the best) way to get kids to read. What this is really “code” for is usually cultural relevance—kids need to love to read these books because these are the ones that will make them able to understand modern pop culture. Now this is not necessarily a bad reason: I read the entire series myself for precisely this purpose. I wanted to understand what others were referencing, noting, and being shaped by. But by that point I had the literary training to spot themes, inconsistencies, and immorality on my own. If you let readers love these characters before they can spot what’s wrong with them, then that is a good recipe for making sure they never will. When was the last time you calmly listened to someone insult your childhood heroes, even if they had a point?
So, is Harry Potter a fun, culturally relevant read? Sure. Am I going to let my children read it? Probably. But it is not the sort of book I intend to turn them loose in without fences. Rowling’s series is morally problematic at best, and her hero often isn’t one. When my children read Harry Potter, I want it to become part of the conversation that should flow around all books: what is there to like about Harry? What to dislike? How could this situation have been handled better? How could Rowling have improved the story here, or here? The last thing I want is for any child (or student) of mine to simply read to consume. A book should not be treated like a Happy Meal. Books are other people’s words that we bring into our lives. Once we bring them in, we have to live with them. If you have Harry Potter on your shelf, then you have to live with many things: Rowling’s view of magic, Harry’s temper tantrums, keeping secrets from adults, and Bertie Bott’s Beans. Don’t let the whimsy and fun blind you to the worldview and what’s going on. I think Harry Potter is worth a read. It may even be worth making one of your favorites (though I personally think it’s rather mediocre writing, particularly after the third volume). But just like a real-life friend, make sure you know what Harry’s flaws are, too—and count the cost before you invite him to live with you.
As for teaching kids to love reading, that’s fine as far as it goes, but there are so many options here in modern times that this reason is disingenuous at best. I’ve known kids that love reading cereal boxes! Surely Narnia or Ashtown or Wingfeather or, shucks, Wind in the Willows would do the same. Harry Potter is far from the only (or even the best) way to get kids to read. What this is really “code” for is usually cultural relevance—kids need to love to read these books because these are the ones that will make them able to understand modern pop culture. Now this is not necessarily a bad reason: I read the entire series myself for precisely this purpose. I wanted to understand what others were referencing, noting, and being shaped by. But by that point I had the literary training to spot themes, inconsistencies, and immorality on my own. If you let readers love these characters before they can spot what’s wrong with them, then that is a good recipe for making sure they never will. When was the last time you calmly listened to someone insult your childhood heroes, even if they had a point?
So, is Harry Potter a fun, culturally relevant read? Sure. Am I going to let my children read it? Probably. But it is not the sort of book I intend to turn them loose in without fences. Rowling’s series is morally problematic at best, and her hero often isn’t one. When my children read Harry Potter, I want it to become part of the conversation that should flow around all books: what is there to like about Harry? What to dislike? How could this situation have been handled better? How could Rowling have improved the story here, or here? The last thing I want is for any child (or student) of mine to simply read to consume. A book should not be treated like a Happy Meal. Books are other people’s words that we bring into our lives. Once we bring them in, we have to live with them. If you have Harry Potter on your shelf, then you have to live with many things: Rowling’s view of magic, Harry’s temper tantrums, keeping secrets from adults, and Bertie Bott’s Beans. Don’t let the whimsy and fun blind you to the worldview and what’s going on. I think Harry Potter is worth a read. It may even be worth making one of your favorites (though I personally think it’s rather mediocre writing, particularly after the third volume). But just like a real-life friend, make sure you know what Harry’s flaws are, too—and count the cost before you invite him to live with you.
