My Friend Harry
Have I mentioned that I have been insatiably consuming the seven Harry Potter books over the past three weeks?
I'm on book seven. Each one is between eight and 28 hours long. You don't need to tell me how pathetic I am. I listen every waking, non-class moment. Today I nearly spoke of "conjuring up" a batch of cookies.
I began listening just after Thanksgiving, soon after acquiring the electronic files from my buddy Greg. Prior to that point, I'd read only the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and that was in like, the eighth grade. It was the only book I've ever hidden under my mattress from my parents.
A couple of months ago my mom mailed me a paper copy of an e-mail, which the pastor of her church had placed in each church member's mail box. I've never felt particularly passionate either way about Harry Potter, although I know many Christians do. The e-mail was pretty to-the-point: Harry Potter, it claimed, was Satan in disguise. J.K. Rowling was Satan's best servant, and was jubilant at turning thousands or millions of children to Satanism with her books. Anyone who read Harry Potter was under the influence of evil, and anyone who allowed their child to read said books surely either didn't love God or didn't love their kid. First, I thought these ideas seemed a little rash. Second, I'd been certain that I'd heard that Rowling was Christian. So I googled a quote from the e-mail, and sure enough, the whole thing was a several-years-old hoax fabricated by a conservative Christian organization. Rowling's a Christian after all, and maybe, just maybe, Satan's still Satan and not some scrawny, fictional kid with nerdy glasses and bad hair.
I think my parents have been mildly worried for some time that I might take up reading Harry Potter, or at least that I might not think him absolutely demonic. Why else send me the e-mail? Wanting to see for myself what all the hub-bub's been about for the past decade or so, I started listening.
(Plus, my friend Ben recently challenged me to read all seven books in seven years--by the time I'm 30--and I thought I ought to get started.)
I was very shortly hooked. There's no getting around it, folks: Rowling is a master story-teller and a freakin' skilled author to boot. I can find no flaw in her technique. (My one, nit-picky request would be for her to use the attribution "asked" rather than "said" when a character asks a question, and that's just my personal preference!)
I tried to keep an open mind. I tried to see danger in her stories. I tried to see the magic as evil witchcraft. I couldn't find it. I see no more harm in Harry Potter than I do in the Chronicles of Narnia or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. At times, I think the magic in Harry Potter is actually less dangerous than that in Narnia or Disney or Tolkien, none of which the majority of Christians would eschew as evil. Harry's magic is purely mechanical--magician+wand+proper spell=desired magic--while the magic in the Narnia stories just seethes from the White Witch and her henchmen. That seems much more evil to me. I've heard the argument that children turn to the dark side from the Harry Potter books because the spells included there are "real"--but to me they just sound like English words endowed with a Latin-esque ending, and really folks, can merely saying a word like "expelliamus" turn you into a wizard and allow you to disarm someone else? I haven't tried it, but I'm doubtful.
I'm not quite finished with the books yet, but I think they're incredibly Christian. It's hard to get around the allegory there. These books are our stories. Harry is you. Harry is me. Harry might be Jesus too, but I haven't quite figured that one out yet.
I dread finishing the seventh book, which is the one I'm about half-way through now. I feel like it will be like experiencing a death (and if spoiler-sharing friends are to be believed, I will experience more than one in the last chapters of Harry). I will never again experience these remarkable stories for the first time. I will never again have the naive belief that a character I love will remain alive, or that one I hate but want to believe is good will not betray and turn evil, or that Harry can find love and vanquish evil and live happily ever after (I still don't know the answer to that one, and I'm cherishing the feeling of not knowing).
I see so, so, so much good in the Harry Potter books. They are entirely made up of the constant struggle of normal, flawed characters fighting evil and defending the good. These books are filled with people trying to love, but sometimes snapping at their best friends. Every one of them struggles and hurts and laughs and lives, trying to know good and make the world a better place, just like you and I. Like every truly epic story, Harry's speaks to the human heart, and has given me encouragement and insight and joy (not to mention entertainment).
I'm a Harry Potter fan. He's my friend, the same way that Lucy Pevensie or Frodo Baggins is. If you choose not to read Rowling's books due to your beliefs about witchcraft, I respect your decision. But if you believe them to be evil in nature because they include broomsticks and magic wands, I encourage you to read at least the first book before you cast judgment, and see if you can't find at least a glimmer of good in their pages. I'd love to lend you Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Maybe you'll find that Harry can be your friend, too.
Labels:
Books,
Christianity
11 comments:
Great post, Katie. I agree, as you know. And I know exactly what you mean about dreading the end of it all, when the last word is done, and you can only imagine what happens afterwards, and then take what you've gained, and make it real in your own life.
Love ya.
So I think I'm going to stir the pot (tee hee, no pun intended) when I say that after reading the first book, I wasn't hooked. Rowlings is a good story teller, I give you that...but not so much so that I feel I have to have the series read by yesterday. I do intend to read more of the series, but mostly because, whether I like it or not, I think it's classic material. And actually, that doesn't really bother me much, it's just not my preference.
So lets set something straight. The reason that I'm not that into them is not because of the witchcraft yadda yadda, it's more that I found the book to be more entertaining than epic. Whereas I find the Chronicles of Narnia to be hugely epic (and entertaining). But the fact that you have had a Jesus experience with these books gives me hope. Maybe I'll pick up the second one when I'm done reading the next three books on my list. :0)
I love you, and this was a well-written post.
Kristina, you're right. The first couple books are not that Epic. But as Harry matures, so does the story and what is being asked of him in each tale. I think Rowling also matured as a writer over the years she wrote them!
Give them another chance. I guarantee by book three you will be hooked and by the end of the last book you will be weeping and cheering and in a fit of gloom that they are finished.
Katie, I envy your position. I still get choked up when I think of them.
I haven't really gotten into the whole Harry Potter thing, but I also roll my eyes at anyone that gets so into bashing a book when there are much bigger things going on out in the world that we should be getting angry about. The one positive I have seen with Harry is it has gotten kids that normally don't read into reading, which I think is important.
An aside note, if you still have your finger lakes library system card they have started an electronic program where you can download audiobooks for free, some of them you can burn, others get erased after a week, they also have ebooks available (although I've found I really don't like reading books off a computer screen). Maybe the public library there does too.
"Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings."
Heinrich HEINE
Almansor: A Tragedy, 1823
Used as inscription on memorial at Dachau concentration camp
German poet (1797-1856)
"Books that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are the most useful after all."
Samuel JOHNSON
American clergyman, educator, and philosopher (1696-1772)
"(Some Potter fans, in fact, expressed anger online upon discovering they spent all these years reading a series that, in the end, they felt was trying to convert them.)"
--CCM Magazine, Sept. 2007
:) Oh, the irony of Christian culture's criticisms! Wait 'til you finish it!
[stands up and claps]
Well said, well said. Rowling is a master story weaver, and I have been a fan since I got the first book for Christmas ages ago.
I wholeheartedly agree with Kim: the fact that the series is reviving the practice of reading among the young ones is indisputably good. Story is an incredibly powerful medium, and there is much to gain from reading the books.
I am holding out on reading the last book until I get home and can read the entire series through. Aargh!! Only six months to go.
One summer about 3 years ago, I read books 1-5 in a matter of 3 weeks. That is what happens when you don't have a job and feel like being a lazy bum. I finally finished book 6 and 7 about 3 months ago. I agree that there is a savior theme running through them. Truly a inspiring thrilling series. So sum up the final few chapters "I laughed, I cried... it moved me Bob"
well actually, i don't remember ever believing in that harry potter is satan crap. i have considered reading the books. They are very intimidating to me though. All big and wordy, filled with quadrillions of lines. Thats a lot to gobble. I have also considered listening to it on my ipod. which is more reasonable. my uncle has them so i could easily get them from him. i think he has them anyway. i've watched every single movie so far except the latest. they are good-not as good as the books though. being a christian is rough. a bunch of critics telling us what we can and cannot do.
anyway, have a good holiday.
much love
ps. i agree with Kim. she makes a good point. whoever kim may be, hello out there in messaging world. :)
Captivating, entertaining and moving. These books had me on the edge of my proverbial seat--some I read in bed. My after thoughts? One--witchcraft is only from Satan; it's technically impossible for Satan to fight against himself, so I had trouble thinking rationally about the concept. :) Two--Rowling seems to say that the ends justify the means--the way Harry reacts to others because of his anger is okay since the "others" are bad. Teaching kids that hurting others is okay when they're angry is dangerous. (The end doesn't always justify the means). Anyway, I have to say that I was hooked too. Once I read the first couple I went to the end--but I won't again. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Katie. You have that knack for putting things clearly and succinctly. It is good to hear you're finding things out for yourself. Miss you! Emily
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