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J. K. Rowling's Magical September 30, 2008 by Ari Armstrong The reader turns the final pages of any great work of literature with a melancholy heart. Yet the taste of that melancholy differs between the world of J. K. Rowling and other great worlds of fantasy. In Rowling's world, Harry Potter enters the magical world as a child and never leaves. In the worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander, the heroes enter a world of magic at birth, and in the end the magic fades. This fact reveals important thematic significance of Rowling's magical world. Consider first the words of the great wizard Gandalf to Aragorn, the human king, in the final pages of The Lord of the Rings: "This is your realm, and the heart of the greater realm that shall be. The Third Age of the world is ended, and the new age is begun; and it is your task to order its beginning and to preserve what may be preserved. For though much has been saved, much must now pass away; and the power of the Three Rings also is ended. And all the lands that you see, and those that lie round about them, shall be dwellings of Men. For the time comes of the Dominion of Men, and the Elder Kindred shall fade or depart. ... I shall go soon. The burden must lie now upon you and your kindred."1 In Alexander's The High King, after the heroes prevail over the forces of evil, Gwydion tells Taran, who is destined for a similar role as Aragorn, "[O]ne task remains. The Sons of Don, their kinsmen and kinswoman, must board the golden ships and set sail for the Summer Country, the land from which we came." The bard Taliesin explains that "the Summer Country is a fair land, fairer even than Prydain, and one where all heart's desires are granted." As Arwen abandons her heritage to marry Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, so Eilonwy must abandon hers to marry Taran. As Eilonwy contemplates the journey to the Summer Country, she complains about the bitter parting. Dallben asks her, "Do you truly wish to give up your heritage and enchantments?" She answers, "If enchantments are what separates us, then I should be well rid of them!" Dallben says she can use her magic ring to accomplish it; he encourages her, "Wish with all your heart for your enchanted powers to vanish." Only then can she marry Taran.2 In these earlier works of fantasy, in the end the magical community leaves nonmagical mortal men to run things. While the natural world and the magical world commingle for an extended age, finally the magic leaves this world to reside only in some magical otherworld. The world of magic and the world of nature irrevocably part ways. In Tolkien's work, the disappearance of magic marks the elevation of the (nonmagical) race of men. Gone is the magic of the elves and the wizards. Men must fend for themselves by their own means. For Alexander, the disappearance of magic also marks the advance of men, and more specifically it marks the adulthood of a single figure, Taran. Magic exists only for an immature human race or a child. The thematic significance of this is straightforward: as people mature, as a culture and as individuals, they stop thinking about the world in terms of magical forces and start to understand it through reason and science. Rowling's magical world serves quite a different purpose. Within the first dozen pages of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we discover that a magical world has long stood beside our own, in secret. Harry learns he is a wizard when Hagrid announces this fact and presents his invitation to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.3 At the end of the series, after Harry's allies have defeated Voldemort, Harry and his friends continue to live in the magical world. What is the meaning of this? As I write in Values of Harry Potter: "Until he enters the magical world, Harry lives a deprived life with his awful uncle and aunt, Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and their dreadful son Dudley. ... Yet Harry remains open to a life filled with values, and he begins to realize such a life when, on his eleventh birthday, he receives a letter notifying him that he is a wizard... This opens a new world for Harry -- one in which he is able to discover and actively pursue opulent values."4 What are these values? Harry develops deep friendships with Hagrid, the Weasley family, and Hermione. He comes to love Sirius Black as his godfather. He finds a mentor in Dumbledore. He discovers a loyal and heroic friend in Dobby. As he matures, his relationship with Ginny Weasley develops into romantic love. Harry also enjoys developing his magical abilities. He hones his abilities as a Quidditch player. He excels in defensive magic. He finds a new home in Hogwarts. He is passionate about his friends, his studies, his hobbies, and his life in the magical world. Thus, for Rowling, dabbling in magic is not a mark of immaturity. It's not the case that, as one matures, one "grows out of" magic. Instead, Harry is born with magic in him, and at Hogwarts he embraces that magic and celebrates his magical achievements. While Rowling creates a fictional divide between the magical world and the Muggle world, what's significant about her novels is that the heroes live in the magical world, embrace it, fight for it, and remain in it always. In the works of Tolkien and Alexander, the story arch involves humans moving away from magic. In the books of Rowling, Harry moves into magic. In the earlier works, abandoning magic is a sign of maturity. In Rowling's works, embracing magic is the beginning of maturity. Notably, Rowling's magic is available to us all. All of Harry's values have analogs in our world: friendship and love, studies and schools, families, careers, liberty, sports, and laughter. I write in the conclusion to my book: "As Muggles, we are not destined to fly by broom, duel with wands, or ride dragons. Yet the deeper magic of Harry Potter flows through our world, too. It is the magic of sharing friendships, finding love, and building families. Enjoying a fine sporting match, laughing at a well-crafted joke, and savoring an elegant dance. Finding inspiration in a great hero or mentor with the stature of Dumbledore and recognizing the goodness in a tragically misunderstood figure such as Snape. Developing our unique talents and skills and preparing for our futures with hope and anticipation."5 The melancholy of Tolkien's finale involves a sense of loss of the youthful period of our race. Once we walked with elves and wizards, once we witnessed the world of magic, but no more. Alexander likewise leaves behind the magic of youth; one must forsake magic to enter adulthood. The final pages of Rowling's series, like those of the earlier fantasies, evoke the sorrow of leaving behind familiar friends. The stories of Harry Potter and his allies have reached their final page, where the reader is forced to acknowledge that after all Harry is ink and paper, not flesh and blood. Yet, because Rowling's magical world lives on, the reader can also contemplate the fact that, in Rowling's world, Harry continues to live his life with his loved ones, in pursuit of his values. Thus, Rowling beckons the reader to continue to live in that magical world. We still cannot fly by broom or duel with wands. But the true magic of Harry Potter continues to be within our grasp, if only we will reach out to it with a welcoming hand. 1. J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, Houghton Mifflin, 1994, pages 949-50 ("The Steward and the King" in The Return of the King.) 2. Lloyd Alexander, The Prydain Chronicles, Guild America Books, 1973, pages 688-89, 700, 701 (the final pages of The High King). 3. J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic Press, 1998, pages 50-51. 4. Ari Armstrong, Values of Harry Potter: Lessons for Muggles, Ember Publishing, 2008, page 16. 5. Ibid., pages 97-98. Want more in-depth analysis of Harry Potter? Order |
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This book is a work of literary criticism. It has not been prepared, authorized, or endorsed
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