To say I
love Harry Potter, might be an understatement. After all, it is a symbol of our
generation. I grew up along side Harry, Ron, and Hermione and for that they
will always hold a special place in my heart. It can be easily argued that they
Harry Potter books are good, quality books (more like amazing and can never be
out done, of course that’s harder to prove). Point being, they are good books
that have gained a lot of popularity. Why is it that Harry Potter is a good
book? I think that the answer can be found in the rhetoric and writing style of
JK Rowling.
First of
all it is detailed, highly detailed; the castle was described in near accuracy
to the place Rowling based it off of. Unlike Dickens who (in my opinion) bored
us with his details of mundane things, Rowling explains to us every detail of a
magical castle home to amazing individuals. All the wands, spells, creatures,
and so much more are all foreign to us therefore the details are welcome. The
characters have enough normal qualities so that we can relate to them. They are
normal kids, who are starting at a new school, with new friends and enemies;
for the most part they are just like us. It isn’t too hard for us to imagine
ourselves going to Hogwarts (I don’t know about you, but my letter is still in
the mail). In addition to the details, and the ability to relate to the
characters, there is a common place that Rowling uses through out the story
that has nothing to do with spells or potions or wizards. It is the idea that “good
will triumph over evil”. This is not a proven common place, but it is a common
place nonetheless. Rowling proposes this to us time and time again, and in
every case it is true. Good always wins; of course there are causalities and bloodshed.
However the important thing Rowling leaves us with is: we, with our actions,
not our abilities, have the power to make sure good will win over evil.
Another amazing thing that Rowling did was to allow the literature to grow with the reader. The first book is written for younger children. It's much more straight forward, good vs. evil. As the series continued the books got longer, and where written in a more adult fashion. Rowling introduced adversity and character flaws into her existing cast and they became truly believable. That woman is a genius.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that although Rowling wrote in detail, it was about something that we wanted to know about, something foreign and different. Charles Dickens was great back in the day for the same reasons. Most people didn't leave their small towns during their lifespan. What Dickens describes actually is foreign to them, and that captured their attention. Nowadays that glen or graveyard that Dickens was describing for a good 15 pages in Great Expectations is now only 15 seconds away on Google.
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