Harry Potter has never
been of interest to me. Before this class, I had never read any of the books
nor watched any of the movies. Certain family and friends painted the Harry
Potter picture for me; it was dark, demonic, and a waste of time. However,
after reading just the first few chapters of Sorcerer’s Stone, I was hooked! Although I love this series, I
still began reading with that original judgment of the books in the back of my
mind. Therefore, I view the first two books as epics, more specifically ‘good
vs. evil’ types of stories. In Sorcerer’s
Stone, the first scene
where I truly saw good vs. evil come into play was when Harry meets Draco on
the train to Hogwarts; Harry initially picks up on Malfoy’s personality. Draco
assumes Harry will want to be his friend because of his high-class wizarding
family, and bashes the Weasley’s because they are the “wrong sort”. However,
Harry responds, “I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks,”
(Rowling 109). As this chapter proceeds,
Malfoy’s twisted personality clearly shows through to Harry, and they become
enemies, while he chooses to be best friends with Ron. In addition, Rowling perfectly
illustrates the importance and rewards of being ‘good’ when Harry acquires the
Stone at the end of Sorcerer’s Stone.
Harry obtains the stone because he doesn’t want to use its powers, while
Voldemort/Quirell want to use its powers for evil (Rowling 300).
In Chamber of Secrets, we see good vs. evil evolve as the
line between them slightly begins to blur. For instance, when Harry discovers
that he is a Parseltongue, he immediately has dark thoughts concerning a
relation to Slytherin; “Ah, said a
nasty little voice in his brain, but the
Sorting Hat wanted to put you in
Slytherin, don’t you remember?” (Rowling 197). Although Rowling writes this
to show moments of doubt within Harry, she always brings him back to good
thoughts and actions. The first two books do a great job of illustrating the
good vs. evil epic genre, and I can’t wait to read more!
I really loved your analysis on the whole concept of "good vs. evil." I was in the same boat as you were: I have a pretty negative preconceived idea on the whole series. However, just by reading the first few books, Harry Potter is so much more intense and enticing than I ever would have thought. I love the constant battle between good vs. evil, and I can't wait to see what happens to Harry and his friends!
ReplyDelete- Becca McHugh