Blog Post 1- Jacob Zimmerman

What appeals to me about the first two books of Harry Potter is that they stand at the intersection of realism and fantasy. The fantasy in Rowling’s novels is often accompanied by realistic emotions, grounding the characters and therefore the novel in a relatable truth. Her combination of these two generic conventions makes this fantastical world an accessible one.

               In “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,”Harry accidentally discovers the Mirror of Erised, a mirror that shows “nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts” (213). For Harry this is his family whom he has never met. The Mirror of Erised is obviously not real, it is a fantasy, the type of fantasy one finds at Hogwarts. Yet it springs from such a poignant and realistic part of life. We all have experienced longing and loss. Everyone desires something, perhaps even something unattainable such as seeing your deceased relatives. This mirror is magic but Rowling imbues this fantasy with realism. Some other examples include Hermione struggling to fit in and Ron feeling eclipsed by his older brothers. These realistic experiences are understandable and relatable to us readers in the world, though their experiences are set in magical world where three headed dogs live and wizards travel through fireplaces.

               In “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” we encounter prejudice when Malfoy calls Hermione a “filthy little mudblood” (112). “Mudblood” is a pejorative used against wizards who come from muggle families. Again, wizards are obviously a fantasy, but prejudice is not. It is deeply real and prevalent throughout society and we have awful words against African Americans, gay people, and Jews, just to name a few. Rowling shows that the wizarding world is not immune to bigotry.

               The backdrop is the wizarding world but it is a world we can understand and relate to on deep level because Rowling uses very real aspects of life in it.