Harry Potter

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Trials, Allies and Enemies
Harry's trials had begun when he was a baby and Voldemort tried to kill him.
However his conscious trials begin on the train to Hogwarts when he overcomes Malfoy’s
threats. Soon Malfoy and Snape are his perceived enemies. He also learns of Voldemort’s
attempts to kill him, which establishes Voldemort as a perceived enemy. In retrieving
Neville’s Rememberall, a trial, Harry’s abilities on a broomstick are discovered. He becomes
friends with Ron on the Hogwarts train and he soon welcomes Hermione as an ally after
helping to save her from the trial of the troublesome Mountain Troll. These two young
wizards offer their own talents to assist Harry in his trials. Hermione helps discover
information about the Philosopher’s Stone and inadvertently helps save Harry when Quirrell
tries to kill him during a Quidditch match. Harry shows his talents in Quidditch by recovering
the golden snitch. By this stage Harry has begun to work out how his new world operates
(PS, 101- 141).
Approach to the Inmost Cave
Harry learns more about himself through the Mirror of Erised, which he discovers in a
darkened room. The Mirror of Erised will later be a key part of Voldemort’s quest for
immortality. Through this object Harry is able to see his parents. As with many quest stories
there is rescue of loved ones because Harry has now achieved a link with his parents. There is
also the harbouring of a potential monster, which is another element common to many quest
stories, as Harry, through the desires he views in the mirror, could be driven to madness.
With the help of Dumbledore Harry is able to overcome the temptation of the mirror, a minor
ordeal. Dumbledore has now become Harry’s primary mentor. He has provided Harry with
sound advice and with the elixir of the invisibility cloak (PS, pp. 148-157).

Ordeal
As stated above, the Mirror of Erised is a minor ordeal while the main ordeal for
Harry, in the PS quest story, is located further than indicated in Vogler’s general hero journey
structure. Vogler places the main ordeal after the Approach to the Inmost Cave (1999, p. 12)
but in PS the main ordeal occurs after the structural point entitled The Road Back. Such
variations in the hero journey are not unusual.
Reward
Harry has received the gift of the invisibility cloak earlier so that he can access the
mirror. It is a gift from the grave as it was his father’s. It assists Harry in sneaking around
Hogwarts to gather information and in providing cover for Hermione, Harry and Ron in their
final adventure in PS. He has also received Dumbledore’s advice regarding the Mirror of
Erised, which will later assist him in his confrontation with Voldemort/Quirrell. This is where
Dumbledore properly shows his mentoring role. Harry learns that desire can be one’s worst
enemy as it can literally destroy your humanity. This notion is demonstrated in Voldemort’s
quest for immortality and power that derives him of his humanity (PS, pp. 148-157).
The Road Back
Through the detention he receives Harry gains information that will help him on his
quest. During the trip to the forbidden forest with Malfoy, they find a hooded creature
feeding off the blood of a slain unicorn. The centaur Frienze saves Harry and also provides
information that explains why the Philosopher’s Stone is at risk (PS, 181-189).

Ordeal
Harry’s main mentor, Dumbledore, is away so Harry must face the main ordeal alone.
However, Harry starts this ordeal with his friends Ron and Hermione. Initially Harry and his
friends must overcome those who would restrict them. Harry must risk expulsion from
Hogwarts as he needs to break school rules to stop the rebirth of Lord Voldemort. Then
Harry, Ron and Hermione suffer the ordeal of stopping their friend Neville from threatening
their quest. Using their respective talents the trio must overcome a number of minor ordeals
until Harry faces the ultimate one. They descend past the three-headed dog, Fluffy (a
reminder of Cerberus, the guardian dog of the Underworld in Greek mythology) and then the
Devil's Snare plant. They then retrieve a specific flying key, compete against a group of huge
animated chess pieces, solve a riddle to avoid poisoning and complete a task. Ron and Harry
will suffer physically from these ordeals (PS, pp. 195-208). Harry, now the lone hero, faces
his key test/ordeal. He meets Voldemort/Quirrell alone. He must then look past the desire to
use the Philosopher’s Stone for himself in order to stop Voldemort/Quirrell getting the Stone
to provide Voldemort with eternal life. Dumbledore’s advice is instrumental here because he
told Harry that in the mirror you are able to see what you most desire, which in this case is
the Philosopher’s Stone (PS, p. 157). By looking in the mirror Harry sees the Philosopher’s
Stone placed in his pocket, which is where it suddenly appears. Harry then overcomes
Voldemort through the death of Quirrel (PS, pp. 195-214).
Resurrection
After struggling with Quirrell/Voldemort, Harry falls into darkness. He returns to
consciousness with Dumbledore in the hospital wing. Order has been temporarily restored to
the wizarding world and Harry has shown himself to be a real hero in his own right. Some
people may read this episode as a literal ‘resurrection’ in that Harry may have died and Dumbledore brought him back to life. This type of resurrection is found commonly in heroic
myths (Vogler, 1999, p. 22). Ironically, Harry has temporarily hindered Voldemort’s chance
of being resurrected to full life (PS, p. 214).

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Harry Potter as a “Hero Journey”
If a hero journey is attractive to us, speaks to us and teaches us values, it is necessary
to ask if the Harry Potter series is a hero journey. As previously stated a number of critics
(Applebaum, 2003, Nikolajeva, 2003, Alton, 2003, Schafer, 2002, et al.) have referred to this
aspect of the series. Schafer (2002) feels that Harry fulfils many of the criteria required to be
called a mythical hero including that he acquires self-knowledge, matures during his ordeal
and that readers are able to “identify with Harry’s experiences and recognize parallels in their
own lives” (p. 130). Pharr (2002) sees Harry as a hero in progress, a potential representative
of Campbell’s monomyth (p. 54) while Nikolajeva (2003) writes that “the movement of
Campbellian monomyth, . . . corresponds exactly to the master plot of children’s fiction . . .
most tangible in all Harry Potter novels to date” (p. 127). If we accept Harry Potter as a hero
in the sense of the monomyth it is necessary to relate directly some incidents in the Harry
Potter series to Campbell’s monomyth pattern.

Harry Potter and the “Hero Journey” form
There is no great surprise that the Harry Potter series draws from the hero journey
form because a large number of popular stories, both in the written media and other media,
draw on this pattern; it speaks to us psychologically as we are connected to this pattern
through our collective unconscious (Segal, 1999, p. 135). Campbell felt that a new set of hero
journey narratives was needed that drew on the world as we knew it, that allowed us to enjoy
the great stories of mythology in a new setting. “. . . mythology shows itself to be as
amenable as life itself to the obsessions and requirements of the individual, the race, the age”
(Campbell, 1993 p. 382). Some critics see the Harry Potter series and other works, such as
Star Wars (1977), as examples of these new narratives (Milum, 2003).
Throughout the Harry Potter series it is easy to connect events in the stories with the
hero journey or monomyth pattern as described by Campbell and others. Written below is a
depiction of the hero journey in PS. The structural outline and terminology used is taken from
Vogler (1999, p. 12).
Ordinary World
Harry lives at the residence of Mr and Mrs Dursley, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging,
Surrey. The creation of this address by Rowling indicates her desire to portray the Dursley
family as comical and distasteful early in the series. Privet refers to a shrub, which is
frequently planted in some numbers to be turned into hedges that are trimmed into
uniformity. Vernon and Petunia Dursley wish to be seen as conventional, in uniformity with
the rest of their neighbours (PS, p. 7), not connected with anything strange or mysterious,
especially witchcraft. They tend to be boring people rather than excitement seekers. The term
“whinging” is commonly used in the English language to describe the action of constant complaining which is one of the characteristics of Dursley family especially in regard to
Harry (PS. pp. 19-27). Harry is an orphan, small and skinny, with wild hair and a lightning
bolt scar. He is given old clothes to wear, requires glasses and is forced to live in the
cupboard under the stairs. Mr and Mrs Dursley reluctantly look after him and he has to put up
with his spoiled cousin Dudley, who is a bully. Both Vernon and Petunia do not wish Harry
to know about his origins as they lie to him about how his parents died (PS, pp. 19-27).
Call to Adventure
Harry is called to his adventure, initially a life of wizardry, through strange
occurrences. His hair grows back almost instantly after it is cut, one of Dudley’s large
jumpers refuses to fit over his head and he strangely ends up on the school roof when he was
only seeking to jump behind some bins. He has a dream about a flying motorbike then, on the
visit to the Zoo for his cousin Dudley’s birthday, Harry gets physical responses from a snake
he is talking to, the glass on the snake’s enclosure vanishes and while the snake escapes
Harry swears he heard it talk to him (PS, pp. 23- 26).
Refusal of the Call
Harry then receives strange letters that he is not allowed to open. On behalf of Harry,
but without his consent, Uncle Vernon refuses the call to wizardry by trying to stop the letters
arriving even though they now number in the hundreds. The Dursleys try to avoid the call by
fleeing with Harry to an old house on an isolated rock in the sea but Hagrid arrives and the
call is taken up (PS, p. 30-51).

Meeting with the Mentor
Harry has met one of his mentors, Hagrid, but he is yet to formally meet his dominant
mentor, Dumbledore. However, Dumbledore has already been involved in mentoring Harry’s
life, as he was responsible for Harry’s placement in the Dursley household when his parents
were slain. This action was undertaken to protect Harry (PS, pp. 15-16).
Crossing the First Threshold
In PS Harry must pass a number of thresholds rather than just one, to enter his new
wizarding world. These thresholds are not the dramatic episodes that occur in many hero
journeys but they do show Harry’s commitment to a new life. In London Harry is assisted by
Hagrid to get into Diagon Alley, a witches shopping area, which is hidden away from the
muggle world. He is also assisted by Hagrid to get some of money left to him by his parents
from Gringotts, a bank run by goblins that is positioned in the Alley, which will help him
break the shackles of poverty and enter a world of economic independence. He purchases
items that will assist him to live effectively in the wizarding world. These include a wand and
an owl. At King's Cross he is taught how to get through the protective barrier at Platform 9
3/4, so that he can get the Hogwarts train, the formal means of entering his new world/life.
Here he meets Ron Weasley and many of the Weasley family. On the train Draco Malfoy
threatens him with the same fate as his parents. Draco may be seen here as a Threshold
Guardian (Vogler, 1999, p. 129). Harry then has to travel over water, a common symbolic
threshold, to arrive at his new home, Hogwarts. Finally Harry must pass the Sorting Hat
ceremony. This hat takes some time in deciding whether Harry will go in the Gryffindor or
the Slytherin house. With his acceptance into the Gryffindor House Harry has now crossed
from the Dursley family into a new surrogate family (PS, 55-97).

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The “Hero Journey” and its relevance to our youth
Research undertaken by Campbell, Vogler and others indicate that people relate to the
hero journey form in its varied forms. As Vogler (1992/1999) observes, people find this type
of story attractive. His book, The writer journey: Mythic structure for writers (1992), and
subsequent revised editions outline how the hero journey pattern, as disclosed by Campbell
(1949/1993), has been used in many successful films. Our young people also view films in
which the hero journey has been used and many of those films have been highly successful with the youth audience. Examples are The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, E.T. the Extra-
Terrestrial, The Wizard of Oz and the Star Wars films (Vogler, 1999). More contemporary
examples would be Finding Nemo and Shrek. Our youth have been exposed to the hero
journey through films as well as through other forms of narratives including traditional
myths.
The recent Angus and Robertson survey of Australian children between the ages of
five and seventeen, in which 60,000 children voted for their favourite book, chose
adaptations of the hero journey in all of their top ten choices (Angus & Robertson, 2006).
These included the Harry Potter series as equal first choice, the Narnia chronicles (Lewis),
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Dahl, 1964) and Eragon (Paolini, 2003). Due to this
enculturation of the hero journey in our young people, particularly through our popular film
culture, it is reasonable to assume that they are comfortable with this form of narrative and
that they find it relevant because it continues to attract both young viewers and readers. This
connection with the hero journey is important because by using this concept in the education
of our youth we are providing a greater chance for the learning to be more effective as
students personally relate to the learning process (White, p. 130, p.168).
Modern Australian based research also supports the relevancy of the hero journey to
our youth. In a limited research project undertaken in the Wollongong area of Australia, with
a Grade Six class, the published results indicate that the hero journey does connect with our
youth. Kori Nemme and Phil Fitzsimmons (2004) based their study on Campbell’s views
about how a person’s interaction with a hero journey causes a natural response as they relate
that story to their own lives (pp. 5-7). In their research project they introduced students to the
concept and structure of the hero journey, and immersed students in the novel Rowan of Rin
by Emily Rodda (1993/2003). Importantly, the study undertaken showed how the hero
journey narrative could be used in a co-educational class with a varied range of abilities and culture backgrounds. The class contained seven children out of the class of twenty-eight who
were undertaking a reading-recovery programme and the class had a wide range of language
abilities with students mainly coming from Anglo-Saxon, Lebanese and Portuguese
backgrounds, including some with little use of English at home (Nemme & Fitzsimmons,
p. 9).
Through a shared book experience and set tasks, students were encouraged to apply
their understanding of the text to their own life journey. Without inducement from the
researchers students frequently responded with their personal experiences in relation to the
text (Nemme & Fitzsimmons, 2004, pp. 9-18). The results of the study indicate the suitability
of the hero journey narrative as an educational tool with contemporary students because
students connected with it.
The study found that there was a great deal of resonance with Campbell’s
(1991) notions of natural response when the ‘Hero’s Journey’ was introduced
into the classroom context through the shared book experience. The process of
resonance appeared lively and interactive and involved the interplay between
Campbell’s notions of natural response and the relationships and nature of
learning in the classroom. Students applied an archetypal resonance to the text;
undertook a personal resonance with the ‘Hero’s Journey’ to other narrative and
their own lives; and also developed a social resonance to other students and the
teacher (pp. 9-10).
The second relevance of the hero journey is in the way it relates to our mind,
whether consciously or subconsciously. While a hero journey describes a physical
journey to its reader, which often involves adventure and suspense, it is also an inward
journey that relates to its reader’s psyche. The reason this occurs, as Campbell perceives it, is because all hero journeys are actually about us. He speculated that
people related naturally with the narrative form, particularly the hero journey narrative,
because we are aware that our own lives are a narrative (1993). People also respond to
the archetypes present in hero journeys. The hero’s search connects with modern
readers because it is a reflection of their own search, through their unconscious, for
self-knowledge (Segal, 1999, p. 135):
Freud, Jung, and their followers have demonstrated irrefutably that the logic, the
heroes, and the deeds of myth survive into modern times. In the absence of an
effective general mythology, each of us has his private, unrecognised,
rudimentary, yet secretly potent pantheon of dream. The latest incarnation of
Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on
the corner of Forty-second Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to
change (Campbell, 1993, p. 4).
The hero journey also connects with people on the conscious level of our emotions. As
Vogler (1999) states:
In any good story the hero grows and changes, making a journey from one way of
being to the next: from despair to hope, weakness to strength, folly to wisdom,
love to hate, and back again. It’s these emotional journeys that hook an audience
and make a story worth watching (p. 13).
If we accept Campbell’s view then all myths are relevant to us and speak to us because they
are about us:
In the end we are all of us in a sense experts on stories, because nothing is closer to us
than to see the world in the form of stories. Not only are our heads full of stories all
the time; we are each of us acting out our own story throughout our lives. Outwardly
male or female, we are each of us, like David Copperfield, cast as the hero of the story of our own life – just as we are equally its heroine. And the aim of our life, as we see
from stories, is that those two should become one, to ‘live happily ever after’ (Booker,
2004, p. 701).
Lastly, myths, including the hero journey, speak to us about our values. While various
critics interpret myths in different ways most recognise them as a valuable instrument in the
reinforcing of cultural values including renowned mythologist, Bronislaw Malinowski and
Jung (Segal, 1999, p. 79). Jung felt that myth had a social function because he saw the
archetypes as models of how man [sic] should behave (Segal, p. 79). Malinowski followed
the socio-functional or structural-functional approach to myths, which studied them “ in
terms of their functional ability to provide social solidarity, to transmit cultural values”
(Doty, p. 46). This corresponds with an earlier statement in this thesis that stories are seen as
an important means through which societal values are taught.
Myths, particularly hero journeys, are also stories (Hourihan, 1997, pp. 1-4) and
provide the same sort of function as stories including the enculturation of values. They do
this through people encountering hero journeys in different media and relating their own
inner struggles with the struggles undertaken by the hero and the choices he (and
occasionally she) makes in overcoming these challenges. These choices, as mentioned
previously, are based on the hero’s personal values. This, in reality, presents a problem, as
outlined previously in reference to Hourihan’s work. She states that the values hero stories
espouse usually involve the upholding the values of the dominant societal group and the
glorification of violence to achieve victory (pp. 1-4). This is because the meanings of the
traditional hero stories include “the inscription of white European dominance, the
marginalisation of women and the privileging of action and extroversion over imagination and feeling “ (p. 10). Vogler (1999) also recognises that the traditional hero journey is more
masculine than feminine (pp. xviii-xix).
The masculine need to go out and overcome obstacles, to achieve, conquer, and
possess, may be replaced in the woman’s journey by the drives to preserve the family
and the species, make a home, grapple with emotions, come to accord, or cultivate
beauty” (p. xix).

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CHAPTER 5: HARRY POTTER, THE “HERO JOURNEY” AND OUR YOUTH
“Search for the hero inside yourself. Until you find the key to your life”
(M People, 1995)
“Heroes summarize individual and collective desires, and support the idea of the eternal
personal achievement which is therefore, the guide for the greatest advances of human race”
(Michelle Roche, 2003, pp. 24-25).
Introduction
Previous mention has been made of the relationship of the Harry Potter series to the
hero journey or monomyth. Many critics have commented on this relationship in their
opinions of the books (Applebaum, 2003, Nikolajeva, 2003, Alton, 2003, Schafer, 2000, et
al.). The connection between the Harry Potter series and the hero journey is an important one
because it helps us to understand one of the reasons that the books have been so successful in
engaging with our youth and how our youth can learn from the books.
What is the “Hero Journey”?
The monomyth or hero journey is a term used by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his
famous book, The hero with a thousand faces (1949/1993). This book built on the work of
German anthropologist Adolp Bastian (1826-1905) (Campbell, 1993, p. 18), who had
proposed the idea that myths from various parts of the world contained elementary ideas that
derive from the human psyche (Brennan, 1999, Booker, 2004). Campbell was also influenced by Arnold van Gennep’s (1909/1961) work on rites of passage (Campbell, 1993, p. 10).
Renowned Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, called these elementary ideas, “archetypes” which
he saw as the inherited, unconscious ideas and images that are the components of the
collective unconscious (Doty, 1986, pp. 148-158). Jung felt that while we could not see the
archetype we could see how the force had shown itself (Doty, p. 151). Jung claimed that we
needed mythical stories to help us:
make sense of the confusion of our society and our psyches. Myths voice the truths of
our unconscious selves, . . . the gods, goddesses, and heroes of myth embody aspects of
creativity, cleverness, grief, joy, aggression, and ecstasy. The monsters of myth are
really monsters of the mind (Mythology: Myths, legends. and fantasies, pp.12-13).
Campbell’s work took Jung’s theory of “archetypes” and looked for the common
underlying structure in the world’s myths and religions (Campbell, 1993, p. 18). He called
this common story pattern a “monomyth” (a term taken from James Joyce’s work Finnegan’s
Wake, 1939/1992, p. 581), yet it is now usually referred to as a hero journey. This story
pattern refers to the standard adventure path of mythological heroes, which Campbell divides
into three parts: departure (or separation), initiation and return. He saw these stages as a
magnification of the traditional rites of passage, which are separation, initiation and return:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of
supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory
is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to
bestow boons on his fellow man. (Campbell, 1993, p. 30)
In his research Campbell found that heroic adventure myths had similar stages even
though they came from all over the world. Even though others had noticed these story patterns too (Segal, 1999, pp. 117-118) Campbell published a more thorough analysis of
these patterns than had previously been produced. He divided each of the three parts of the
heroic adventure myths into a number of stages. They are:
Departure:
1) The call to adventure
2) Refusal of the call
3) Supernatural Aid
4) The crossing of the first threshold
5) The belly of the whale.
Initiation:
1) The road of trials,
2) The meeting with the Goddess
3) Woman as the temptress
4) Atonement with the father
5) Apotheosis
6) The ultimate boon.
Return:
1) Refusal of the return
2) The magic flight
3) Rescue from without
4) The crossing of the return threshold
5) Master of the two worlds
6) Freedom to live (Campbell, 1993, pp. 49-243).

Campbell did not state that each monomyth followed these stages exactly but he did
argue that there is little variation from this adventure path in most hero journey myths
(Campbell, 1993, p. 38).
Other critics have also analysed the stages of the hero journey (Brennan, 1999),
including David Leeming (1973), Michael Vogler (1992/1999) and Booker (2004). Leeming
settled on an eight-stage hero’s journey while Vogler settled on twelve-stages. The stages
outlined by these critics are very similar to those outlined by Campbell with Vogler
specifically basing his stages on Campbell’s work (Vogler, 1999, pp. 9-12). Vogler’s stages
are:
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir (1999, p. 12).
The hero journey occurs in some of the great stories of our world including that of
Moses, Jesus and Gautama Buddha (Campbell, 1993, pp. 30-40). A key structural stage of
any hero journey is when the hero has to face a number of trials. These can involve a hero undertaking trips to the underworld, labyrinths, caves, over seas, through the sky as well as
encounters with dragons (beasts) and confrontations with their opposite (Campbell, 1993, pp.
97-109).
While the Harry Potter series does draw strongly from the hero journey or monomyth
plot structure it is important to understand that it also draws from other plot structures as
well. Booker, also using a Jungian perspective, makes mention of seven basic story plots that
are found in stories (2004). These plots are labelled as: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to
Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy and Rebirth (pp. 21-213). While
the Harry Potter series draws mainly from “The Quest” plot, the series also draws from other
plots Booker cites, including “Voyage and Return”, “Rags to Riches” and “Overcoming the
Monster” (Booker, p. 319). This is not uncommon because, as Booker states, many stories
also draw from a number of these plots:
There are extensive areas of overlap between one type of plot and another. Indeed,
there are many stories which are shaped by more than on ‘basic plot’ at a time (there
are even a small number, including The Lord of the Rings, which include all seven of
the plots (pp. 5-6).

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Students were not specifically questioned on the humility of the characters in the
books but one student did see Harry as vain while another saw him as not being vain
(Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, p. 4). Many of the qualities students felt the good
characters displayed, such as a caring attitude, are usually those we would see as being
common to a person of humility. Qualities such as selfishness and putting people down,
which were commented on by students as qualities of bad/evil characters, would usually be
those we associate with a lack of humility.
There are instances in the series where Harry does show vanity. As previously
mentioned he gets jealous when he feels he should have been made a prefect (OoP, p. 152).
However, there are also incidents where Harry shows that humility rather than the seeking of
fame. As he states to Hermione he did not seek to be famous. “ ‘I didn’t ask – I didn’t want –
Voldemort killed my parents!’ Harry spluttered. “I got famous because he murdered my
family but couldn’t kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don’t they think I’d rather it’d
never -’ ” (OoP, p. 71) [Italics in original]. In the Triwizard Tournament, in GoF, Harry
could win the tournament, which would provide him with great glory and further fame above that which he already enjoyed as the boy who could not be killed by Lord Voldemort. Instead
Harry helps Cedric Diggory. Cedric offers him the cup, to win the tournament, because he
deserves to have it but Harry decides it should be a tie:
‘Both of us,’ Harry said.
‘What?’
‘We’ll take it at the same time. It’s still a Hogwarts victory. We’ll tie for it.’
Cedric stared at Harry. He unfolded his arms. ‘You – you sure?’
‘Yeah,’ said Harry. ‘Yeah . . . we’ve helped each other out, haven’t we? We
both got here. Let’s just take it together.’ (GoF, pp. 550-551).
Conclusion
“I think you understand that these books are fundamentally moral (that is how I see them, in
any case)”
(Joanne Rowling, 2000b, ¶ 78)
The personal choices displayed by Harry Potter are an essential part of the Harry
Potter series and those choices are based on Harry’s personal values, which are in consensus
with the personal values that are encouraged by both Federal and State Governments. These
values are also Christian-based and are expressed using free choice, which is also in
agreement with current Christian teachings making the series acceptable for use in teaching
Christian values.
Harry’s choices are shown as important because not only do they show his values but
they also indicate his growth as a human. Our young people need to also understand that the
choices they make, based on their values, are indicators of their growth as human beings regardless of their previous history. Their choices decide who they become. As Dumbledore
states to Cornelius Fudge, a government official, who stereotypes many characters due to
their origins, “You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they
grow to be!” (GoF, pp. 614-615). As Cecilia Hatt (2006) suggests the books contain:
a structure which gives coherence to moral choices, an assurance that being faithful in
little things will affect the larger ones, that a good deed mainly benefits the doer but
still makes a difference far beyond its immediate point of application (p. 43).
Contrary to what one might expect, the magic enables the realism, creating a world in
which the consequences of moral choice are immediately identifiable and this gives
urgency to the need to develop an informed judgement. In the Hogwarts world, the
characters may be observed as they formulate an ethic of justice, mercy and
forgiveness. Because they are physically much more able to effect what they wish
than ordinary people would be, they see and understand the results of their decisions
more starkly (p. 42).

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The ending of the HBP novel sees Harry taking offensive action, hoping to destroy
Lord Voldemort completely rather than continually fighting off his attacks. He is willing to
take the attack to Lord Voldemort by hunting down and destroying the Horcruxes that
contains the parts of Voldemort’s soul (HBP, pp. 467-470):
‘Then I’ve got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven’t I?’ said Harry,
his eyes upon Dumbledore’s white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of
the lake. ‘That’s what he wanted me to do, that’s why he told me all about them. If
Dumbledore was right – and I’m sure he was – there are still four of them out there.
I’ve got to find them and destroy them and then I’ve got to go after the seventh bit of
Voldemort’s soul, the bit that’s still in his body, and I’m the one who’s going to kill
him.’ (HBP, p. 606).
Grace is also a personal quality that critics recognised in the books. Grace, in this
work, refers to the showing of goodwill towards others or to provide them with a favour (The
Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 352). Furst and Heilmann (2001) refer to the
example of grace shown by Professor McGonagall when, rather than punish Harry for flying
his broom against a teacher’s instructions, he is made a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch
team (PS, pp. 110-113). They see this example as a good analogy for the grace shown by God
for us by allowing his Son to die for our sins (p. 109-111). Cherrett (2003) also relates the
grace shown by characters in the Harry Potter series with the grace shown by God (pp. 50-
68). Harry shows Peter Pettigrew grace in PoA when he tells Remus Lupin and Sirius Black
not to kill him (PoA, p. 275) while Dumbledore shows grace towards characters that have
been seen by others to do wrong. He provides Hagrid with a job even though he was expelled from Hogwarts (PS, p. 48), and Severus Snape with a job even though he was a Death Eater
(GoF, p. 616).
Forgiveness is closely connected to the quality of grace. Forgiveness derives from the
word forgive which means “to cease to feel angry or resentful towards (a person) or about (an
offence)” (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 315). Cherrett (2003)
highlights the close connection between grace and forgiveness in the series and connects
forgiveness with the forgiveness that God provides (pp. 65-68). She particularly highlights
how the act of forgiveness can strengthen a friendship as when Harry, Ron and Hermione
reconcile (p. 66) after the break-up over Hermione’s cat’s possible consumption of Ron’s rat
in PoA (p. 186). Personal relationships require acts of forgiveness if those relationships are
going to continue.
Mercy is another personal quality and is closely connected to forgiveness and grace.
Mercy is viewed as one of the basic virtues of Christian ethics, and refers to “refraining from
inflicting punishment or pain on an offender or enemy etc. who is in one’s power” (The
Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 525). Both Furst and Heilmann (2001, p.
116) and Cherrett (2003, pp. 73-74) comment on the mercy shown in the Harry Potter series
in its relationship to the Christian traditions. Harry shows mercy as well as grace towards
Peter Pettigrew when he does not allow Remus Lupin and Sirius Black to kill him in the
Shrieking Shack, after it is discovered that it was Pettigrew’s betrayal of James and Lily
Potter that caused their death:
Black and Lupin stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised.
‘You should have realised,’ said Lupin quietly. “if Voldemort didn’t kill you,
we would. Goodbye Peter.’
Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall.

‘NO!’ Harry yelled. He ran forwards, placing himself in front of Pettigrew,
facing the wands, ‘You can’t kill him,’ he said breathlessly. ‘You can’t.’
(PoA, p. 275).
This is the key example of mercy remarked on by critics. Furst and Heilmann (2001)
see this example as an analogy of the mercy God shows to us (pp. 116-119). In HBP the
concept of mercy is expanded on. Dumbledore, weak and suffering, loses his wand and Draco
Malfoy states that Dumbledore is now at his mercy. Dumbledore replies, “ ‘No Draco,’ . . . ‘It
is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now.’” (p. 553). This indicates a wider
understanding of mercy where the victims of cruelty need to show mercy towards those who
inflict cruelty on them if the inflictor is ever to find real peace. This is particularly shown in
the kindness Harry shows through his act of mercy and grace for his enemy, Peter Pettigrew
(PoA, p. 275).
In regards to the values of grace, mercy and forgiveness, students being surveyed only
made mention of the character of Dumbledore as showing forgiveness (Appendix 7: Student
Interview responses, p. 5) and no mention was made about grace and mercy. This does not
necessarily mean that students felt that characters did not show these qualities but it may be
that they simply felt the values of mercy and forgiveness are simply apparent when one is
being kind, just, considerate, caring, loving, friendly, etc and therefore there is no need to
make specific mention of them (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, pp. 4-5). While
students were not specifically questioned regarding the qualities of grace presented in the
books, they felt that key characters exhibited qualities closely linked with showing grace. To
show grace a person has to show qualities of forgiveness, kindness and caring rather than
vengefulness. As previously mentioned, students found that the “good” characters had these
sorts of qualities (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, pp. 4-6). Importantly, students also recognised qualities in bad or evil characters that are inconsequent with the qualities
needed to show grace, mercy and forgiveness to others. These poor qualities included:
• They hurt/kill people
• They seek power (without consideration for others)
• They are selfish
• They put people down
• Don’t value other people
• They take pleasure in seeing others suffer (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses,
pp. 7-8).
Love is also a personal quality critics found relevant to the Harry Potter series. Selfsacrifice
can be an explicit example of one’s love for someone else. Lily and James Potter’s
sacrifice of their own lives to protect their son’s life is an excellent example of love (PoA, p.
213). Cherrett (2003) makes mention of the important personal qualities that are shown in the
Harry Potter series including love (pp. 82-84). When Dumbledore asserts that there is a force
“that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than
the forces of nature” (OoP, p. 743), Cherrett presumes he is referring to ‘love’, which she
perceives as the most powerful of human qualities.
Students perceived a large number of examples of self-sacrifice in the series and they
also expressed opinions on the specific quality of love shown in the series. To the Focus
Group question, “Is there love, shown in the book?” responses were:
• “Yes.”
• “I think Harry and Hermione love each other.”
• “They do.”
• “Mrs Weasley shows love.”
• “Dumbledore”
• “Hagrid does. Like Hermione is called a mudblood, he comforts her.” (Appendix 8:
Focus Group responses, pp. 8-9).
Other personal qualities that students perceived characters exhibiting in the series can be
perceived as showing love. These would include kindness, honesty, courage, loyalty,
forgiveness, thoughtfulness, consideration and justice (Appendix 7: Student Interview
responses).
Truthfulness is another personal quality commented on by the critics. It is derived
from the word “truth” which is “the quality or state of being true or truthful” (The Oxford
reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 883). To fully understand “truth” it is necessary to
have an understanding of the meaning of the word “true”. Like many words it has a variety of
connected meanings. In this thesis it also has a number of meanings. These meanings include
“in accordance with fact . . . correct principles or an accepted standard; rightly or strictly so
called; genuine, not false …loyal, faithful . . . completely true to one’s principles; firmly
loyal” (ibid., p. 882).
In the series we find the manipulation of truth by the reporter Rita Skeeter (GoF, pp.
380-382, pp. 444-445, pp. 531-532) and others, and even Harry does not always tell the truth;
but when he lies it is for a higher good, a higher moral principle (Neal, 2001, pp. 165-172,
Bridger, 2001, pp. 67-71). This is related to Harry’s higher moral decision-making ability
previously mentioned. There are examples, in the series, where the key characters of Harry,
Ron and Hermione act dishonestly but they do so in pursuit of a higher goal. This pattern is
demonstrated in nearly every book as Harry and his friends break rules at key moments,
usually to stop Voldemort fulfilling his plans. In PS Ron, Hermione and Harry leave the
Gryffindor common room without permission (p. 198) and enter a forbidden area of
Hogwarts. In CS Ron and Harry go to Gilderoy Lockhart’s room when they should have remained at the Gryffindor common room (p. 216) and Harry eventually ends up in the
Chamber of Secrets. In PoA Harry and Hermione break the law and help Sirius Black escape
from the Ministry of Magic’s imprisonment at Hogwarts and his perceived fate of receiving a
Dementors kiss (p. 303). They do this because Sirius is innocent. This action will later assist
Harry in his fight against Voldemort, especially as Sirius Black gives his own life to help
Harry escape death from the Death Eaters in OoP (pp. 708-709). In the OoP the formation of
the “Defence Association” (DA) (pp. 303-310 and p. 347) is against the new school rule (p.
313) that bans student organizations, including groups or clubs, but the DA’s formation and
the actions of its members will help in the fight against the evils of Lord Voldemort and the
Death Eaters.
However, as Cherrett (2003) mentions, the truth helps Harry and others to grow
(pp.102-112). She contends that Harry’s continual discovery of the truth behind his heritage
helps him to develop into an individual in his own right (ibid.). Cherrett remarks on how the
series does value the truth (pp. 104-105). Dumbledore states: “that the truth is always
generally preferable to lies,” (GoF, p. 626), but he also warns us that the truth can be
dangerous: “ ‘The truth.’ Dumbledore sighed. ‘It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should
therefore be treated with great caution.’” (PS, p. 216). Beck also recognises truth and honesty
as being main themes in the series and that “honesty is the best policy and whenever
dishonest behaviour occurs, there are always negative consequences” (p. 53).
Students surveyed made useful observations in regard to the quality of truth. While
commenting on honesty students noticed that key characters, including those perceived as
good characters are not always honest in the books:
Q: Is there honesty in the book?
Yes, sometimes.
Q: Sometimes – that’s a good point. Is Harry always honest?
No [several]

Q: No? Is Hermione always honest?
No [several].
Q: No? So, when they’re dishonest, why are they dishonest? They may not actually
lie, but they bend the truth… Why do they do it?
To protect someone.
Q: To protect someone.
To get something done.
Q: To get something done? Anything else?
If they don’t want to make a big fuss out of something. (Appendix 8: Focus Group
responses, pp. 6-7).
Importantly, the series supports the view that in maintaining a personal friendship it is
necessary to be honest with one’s friends. Throughout the series key characters demonstrate
this honesty in being open to their friends. Examples include when Hermione is honest to
Harry and Ron telling them how insensitive they are in OoP (p. 405) and in HBP when Harry
is honest with Ron when he tells him that he has a mental problem regarding his Quidditch
ability rather than a co-ordination problem (p. 272).
Humility is also a personal quality examined in the Harry Potter series. Humility
means “to have a humble state of mind” (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p.
403). In this thesis humble is taken as “showing a low estimate of one’s own importance”
(ibid.). Cherrett (2003) highlights Dumbledore’s humility towards those who work under him
and how this is an example for all of us (pp. 127-128). Dumbledore almost provides a
stewardship model of leadership through the humility he shows to others over whom he has
authority. We see the way Dumbledore only uses his immense magical power when it is
absolutely necessary. This is best illustrated towards the end of GoF when Barty Crouch Jr., a
Death Eater, disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, teacher of Defence Against the Dark Arts at
Hogwarts, is about to kill Harry Potter. Dumbledore, accompanied by Professors Snape and McGonagall, enters the room after blasting his way in with a spell and causing the disguised
Barty Crouch Jr. to be thrown back:
At that moment, Harry understood for the first time why people said
Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. The look upon
Dumbledore’s face as he stared down at the unconscious form of Mad-Eye Moody
was more terrible than Harry could ever have imagined. There was no benign smile
upon Dumbledore’s face, no twinkle in the eyes behind the spectacles. There was cold
fury in every line of the ancient face; a sense of power radiated from Dumbledore as
though he was giving off burning heat (pp. 589-590).

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Harry escapes death here and numerous attempts to kill him in preceding books. This
is best illustrated in the graveyard scene towards the end of GoF where he escapes from
Voldemort and the Death Eaters:
And then an unearthly and beautiful sound filled the air … it was coming from
every thread of the light-spun web vibrating around Harry and Voldemort. It was a
sound Harry recognised, though he had heard it only once before in his life …
phoenix song…
It was the sound of hope to Harry (GoF, p. 576).
In reference to Cherrett (2003) and Griesinger’s (2002) statements relating the hope in the
Harry Potter series to the hope offered by Christ it is important to note that the Phoenix itself
a recognised symbol of Christ (Becker, 1994, p. 232). Fawkes, the phoenix, does give hope
to Harry in other parts of the series. He helped Harry defeat the Basilisk in the Chamber of
Secrets by blinding the beast and providing a sword to Harry through the delivery of the
sorting Hat. Fawkes also saved him from the Basilisk’s deadly venom with his tears and
carried Harry, Ron, Ginny Weasley and Gilderoy Lockhart to safety (CoS, pp. 232-239).
The theme of hope is also important in the trail of Voldemort’s past victims who
appear to Harry when he struggles with Voldemort as they both try to eliminate the other
with magic. Many of these victims have a message of hope and encouragement for Harry:
‘Hold on, Harry,’ it said. . . .
‘You fight him, boy …” . . .
‘Don’t let go now!’ she cried, and her voice echoed like Cedric’s, as though
from very far away. ‘Don’t let him get you, Harry – don’t let go!’ . . .
‘Your father’s coming …’ she said quietly. ‘He wants to see you … it will be
all right … hold on ...’ (GoF, pp. 578-579).

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Lavoie (2003) notes that the Slytherin house’s main task seems to be to test the
courage of those in Gryffindor, the two houses forming a duality (p. 42). She expresses the view that throughout the series the Gryffindor house members show their courage when faced
with adversity (pp. 38-44). There are exceptions to this, as she notes that Severus Snape, a
Slytherin, shows courage while Peter Pettigrew, a Gryffindor, lacks courage (p. 41). She also
contends that Harry inherits his courage from his two families, from Lily and James Potter
and from the Gryffindor house (p. 46).
The students surveyed also recognised courage as a key quality of some of the
characters in the Harry Potter series (Appendix 8: Focus Group responses, p. 1, p. 6). They
specifically recognised it as one of Harry’s qualities (Appendix 7: Student Interview
responses, p. 4, Appendix 8: Focus Group responses, p. 2). The courage of characters in the
books can also be recognised in many of the self-sacrificial and selfless acts that students
recognised in the series (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, pp. 9-10). This would
include:
• Ron getting injured in chess game in PS
• Sirius Black helping to save Harry (and others) against Remus’ werewolf in
PoA
• Severus Snape in trying to help Harry in Shrieking Shack
• Hermione Granger helping house elves
• Ron and Harry risking death in following spider trail
• Harry Potter entering Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny
• Hermione and Ron standing up for Harry over Filch’s cat’s petrification
• Harry risking life to save others in Triwizard Tournament.
These are good examples of courage, particularly Hermione’s efforts to improve the
conditions for the house elves. Her almost solitary stand is commendable because she is
seeking real change in the wizarding culture and is not receiving the best of support from her friends Harry and Ron (GoF, pp. 198-199). Another example of courage shown in the books
is Neville Longbottom’s efforts in standing up against Harry and his friends in the first book
when he tries to stop them leaving the Gryffindor common-room (PS, p. 198). Dumbledore
rightly makes much of this event and the courage Neville shows because it is always hardest
to stand up against one’s friends:
‘There are all kinds of courage,’ said Dumbledore, smiling. ‘it takes a great deal of
bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I
therefore award ten points to Mr Neville Longbottom.’ (PS, p. 221).
Hope is another personal quality that critics identified in the series. Hope refers to an
“expectation and desire” (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 395). In this
thesis it refers to an expectation or desire that encourages a positive outcome for those with
hope. We need to have hope as a personal quality so that we can be positive in our attitudes
rather than becoming despairing in our outlook. As previously stated it is closely connected
to choice because no-one would bother making choices if they felt there was no hope for a
better world. Heroes too, need hope because without it there would be no reason to undertake
heroic acts.
Carroll (2004), in her thesis entitled Imagination for better not worse: The Hobbit in
the primary classroom, stresses that children need hope to help them cope with the
adversities which they will face in life (pp. 25-28). Bettelheim (1989) stresses that the
primary importance of fairy tales and fantasy is to give children hope (p. 3-6). Cherrett
(2003) relates the hope depicted in Harry Potter to the hope in salvation through Jesus Christ
(pp. 50-68). Emily Griesinger (2002) also stresses the importance of hope in the Harry Potter
series. She feels that “Harry Potter articulates the hope that goodness will triumph over evil,
that wrongs done to the small and the weak will be righted, that courage, loyalty, and friendship will overcome hatred, bigotry, and fear” (¶ 39). Griesinger also feels that the hope
portrayed in the series will assist children in understanding the hope that Christ offers (¶ 4).
Students, in responding to specific questions, also found hope in the series:
Q: Do you think there’s hope shown in this book?
Yes. [several].
Like Harry brings hope to the like, um, to the Muggle borns.
Well, Harry shows hope to all the wizards by, like, kind of defeating Voldemort in
every book, in every movie, and shows hope that the next time he comes they he will be
able to protect them.
Q: What would be an example of the hope that’s shown in this book?
Well Harry can survive Voldemort’s Avada Kedavra.
Q: Good, Harry’s hope – he’s survived the curse… And is there any other side? What
are they hoping for in the book to happen? If there was one big hope – what are they
hoping for?
For Voldemort to be defeated (Appendix 8: Focus Group responses, pp. 7-8).
The whole Harry Potter series is based on the key hope that Harry will be able to
defeat Lord Voldemort. This hope begins with Harry’s escape from Lord Voldemort’s attack
on him as a child. It is greeted by the majority of the wizarding world almost in the same
manner as the resurrection of Jesus. The common biblical term “Rejoice” is even used:
“Don’t be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for
You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Muggles like yourself should be celebrating,
this happy, happy day!’
And the old man hugged Mr Dursley around the middle and walked off.
(PS, p.10).

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The Harry Potter narratives take place predominantly within a school setting, which
is a social setting, so friendships and other relationships are key themes in the book and the
qualities of these relationships, which are personal qualities, are aptly illustrated throughout
the series. Friendship derives from the word “friend” meaning “a person with whom one
enjoys mutual affection and regard (usu. exclusive of sexual or family bonds), (The Oxford
reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 321). In particular, friendship qualities include
kindness to one’s friends and making sacrifices for your friends, which have been previously
mentioned. Many critics made mention regarding aspects of friendship in the books
especially the friendship of Harry, Hermione and Ron.
Mendlesohn (2002) looks at the way friendship with members of the social hierarchy
has an effect on one’s acceptance in Hogwarts. She sees Hermione and Ron’s acceptance at
Hogwarts as almost totally dependent on Harry’s friendship towards them (p. 174) and
Crabbe and Goyle are also accepted only because of their friendship with Draco Malfoy (pp.
173-174). Therefore Rowling’s depiction of friendship is limited. Mendlesohn views Ron,
Hermione, Crabbe and Goyle as courtiers to the princely Harry and Draco (pp. 173-174).
Mendlesohn’s remarks on friendship are limited because she centres her statements
specifically on this aspect of friendship rather than the personal qualities that the friendships
in the books illustrate.
Beck (2001) cites the re-occurring theme of friendship in the books. She finds this
theme worthwhile for religious educators because Harry, Ron and Hermione’s friendship
grows as the years go on but their friendship also illustrates that other people move in and out
of such friendship groups and that other things happen in friendships: “As with all
relationships, there are times when the friendships falter, people are misunderstood and
doubted and for a time the friendship doesn’t exist” (p. 53). The rocky parts of friendships, as
illustrated by Ron, Harry and Hermione’s friendship, are also commented on by other critics.
Furst and Heilman (2001, pp. 142-145) and Neal (2001, pp. 81-82) view the friendships
illustrated in these books as useful starting points for discussing friendships with children. In
friendships, children will go through many emotions and call on their own personal qualities
as well as experience the personal qualities of others. These include qualities of selflessness,
kindness, fairness, tolerance, respect, loyalty, self-discipline, compassion, trust, honesty,
courage and mercy.
As previously stated, Kern (2003) mentions the importance of friendships in
relationship to Kohlberg’s model on moral decision-making (pp. 123-124). Kern views
aspects and actions such as friendships and kindness as representative of “attempts to make
society function smoothly through loyalty, sensitivity, and respect - all virtues pointing
toward the conventional level of moral reasoning” (p. 124). Plyming (2001) also stresses the
importance of friendships in the Harry Potter series because they illustrate that people can
only be their true selves through how they live with others (pp. 18-19). This view stresses the
importance of community involvement, which enables a Christian to live their faith. Neal
(2002), a Christian critic, also remarks on the importance of friendship (pp. 81-82) because
one’s friends influence one’s character development.
Granger takes a more symbolic view of the friendships exhibited in the Harry Potter
series. He sees the friendship of Harry, Ron and Hermione, and the abilities, qualities and talents that each contributes to the friendship, as symbolising the human soul’s three faculties
or powers, which Plato wrote about (Granger, 2002, pp. 114-122, Granger, 2004, pp. 87-91).
The friends represent our own soul and we can learn the importance of how our soul should
work by considering the actions of Ron, Hermione and Harry. Ron symbolises the Body,
Hermione the Mind and Harry the Spirit (Granger, 2002, pp. 115-119, Granger, 2004, pp. 88-
91). The combined actions of these three friends are symbolic of our own actions. When
Harry, Hermione and Ron work in unison by permitting the Mind and Body to be subservient
to the Heart then there is success. However, if this order is turned upside down then there are
problems (Granger, 2002, p. 120, Granger, 2004, pp. 90-91).
Harry also has a strong relationship with Albus Dumbledore for much of the series
and, as with most relationships, this one has its ups and downs but we generally see Harry
showing trust in loyalty to the older man. Cherrett (2003) refers to Harry’s personal
relationship with Dumbledore as being similar to a person’s relationship with Jesus
Christ/God (p. 48). In times of personal loss people often feel antagonism towards God and
this same antagonism is reflected in the temporary breakdown in Harry and Dumbledore’s
relationship when Harry wishes harm to the older wizard towards the end of OoP after the
death of Sirius Black, (p. 726). Neal (2002) focuses on the importance of trusting one another
so that God’s will can be done (pp. 151-152). She illustrates her point by referring to
Dumbledore’s comments to Severus Snape and Sirius Black to lay aside their old differences,
which began when they were students at Hogwarts, and unite so that through trust they can
help overcome Lord Voldemort (GoF, p. 618).
Many critics discuss specific aspects of Harry’s friendships because they illustrate
what sort of person Harry is and what personal qualities are needed to maintain relationships.
Students also found examples of friendship in the book and the qualities that are needed to
maintain friendships in any relationship. In Focus Group remarks students felt that there was friendship shown in the series (Appendix 8: Focus Group responses, p. 6). They specifically
mentioned the friendship between Hermione, Ron, Hagrid and Harry, between Malfoy,
Crabbe and Goyle and between Hagrid and Dumbledore (p. 6). Students also mentioned
personal qualities that they found in the books, which are qualities linked to maintaining a
healthy friendship. These included kindness, loyalty, treating people equally, honesty,
selflessness, being interested in others, friendliness, thoughtfulness (Appendix 7: Student
Interview responses, pp. 4-5). To the specific question of, “What did you learn about
friendship from the books?” (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, p. 10), students
responded with these opinions:
• Stick by your friends
• Nothing new
• If a disagreement happens don’t let it end the friendship
• Friendship can grow through/with unexpected people
• To value friendship more highly than previously
• Be loyal
• To make new friends you should really get to know them first
• Mixed friendships can occur
• Stick by your friends providing they are of good character
• Help each other
• Be nice
• Trust your friends
• Respect each other
• Look deeper into people’s emotions, actions, etc to judge whether they are
true friends
• True friendship is life long even if separated by distance
Friendships grow through challenges.
Courage is another personal quality in the Harry Potter series that is recognised by
critics. Killinger (2002) makes particular mention of the courage of Harry Potter, particularly
in his Quidditch matches (p. 73). He relates this type of courage to Christ’s courage in dying
on the cross, “It is the kind of courage that leads people forward despite powerful opposition
- even to a cross!” (p. 74). Other critics make mention of our own personal need to show
courage, as reflected in the character of Harry, if we are to overcome our own fears. Cherrett
(2003) states: “fears increase when we try to sweep them under the carpet…” (p. 23), hence
the Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson on defeating the boggarts in PoA (pp. 100-106).
She contends that we need to show courage if we are to confront the wrongs in the world
(p. 74, p. 87) and that the Harry Potter series demonstrates the type of courage needed as
shown through Harry and other characters (p. 80).
Neal (2002) also recognises the importance of courage to overcome evil, which is
shown in PS (p. 5). Courage means to show ”readiness to face and endure danger or
difficulty” (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 194). Lavoie (2003) also
notes the importance of Harry’s house, Gryffindor, valuing courage above all else (p. 38).
The Sorting Hat song states:
“ You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart; . . . . (PS, p. 88)

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While Mendlesohn’s observations on the depiction of kindness in the books are
legitimate, it may be that Rowling is actually reflecting the reality many people have of
kindness. People are willing to donate thirty dollars a month to help a child in a poor country
as an act of kindness but would never think of joining a political movement or social
movement which has as its aim to cause real change. This may involve change in
Government policies such as the implementation of true free trade policies so that poorer
countries are able to freely sell their goods in Western countries or the transfer of excess farm
produce to poorer countries from nations that subsidise their farmers to overproduce resulting
in dumping of excess produce where it is left to rot. Change in big companies’ business
practices can be encouraged so that production of items in poorer countries provides those
workers with a fair wage based on the price the products eventually sell for in Western
countries and that natural resources taken from poorer countries are paid for at a reasonable
rate. Such changes may enable the demise of world poverty and give all families in the world
an acceptable lifestyle. The payment of small amounts of money by kind hearted people so
that a child will survive in a third world, inevitably growing up into a culture of disease,
poverty and short life expectancy may be an accurate interpretation of one form of Western kindness. Rowling shows a flawed kindness, which is perhaps the real depiction of kindness
in the world of the majority of her readers.
It is important to note that there are numerous incidents of Harry Potter and his friends
being kind to those around them throughout the series. Hagrid is kind to both the students in
the school and the animals that he encounters as well as his giant half brother Grawp (OoP,
pp. 608-614). The trio of Ron, Hermione and Harry show kindness towards Neville
Longbottom even before they witness the condition Neville’s parents are in after being
tortured by the Death Eaters (OoP, pp. 452-455). Harry himself seems to be generally kind to
those around him except when Rowling presents the reader with the mood swings and
emotional minefield that can be part of being a teenager. Dumbledore is certainly depicted as
a kind headmaster who is always concerned for the welfare of his students regardless of the
policies that are being pushed onto him by the bureaucracy of the Ministry of Magic.
We are all flawed, as are the characters in the books, including the hero, Harry Potter.
We have some instances of moodiness exhibited by Harry when he is not so kind to those
around him. This is particularly illustrated in the fifth book in the series, OoP, where Harry
suffers moments of jealousy and anger towards his friends:
He could hardly bear to think of the pair of them having fun at The Burrow when he
was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he was so angry with them he had thrown away,
unopened, the two boxes of Honeydukes chocolates they’d set him for his birthday.
(p. 13).
But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.
‘SO YOU HAVEN’T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU’VE
STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN’T YOU? YOU’VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME,
I’VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS’ FOR A MONTH! AND I’VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO’VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS
IT – WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER’S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE?
WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?’ (p. 63) [Capitals
in original].
These types of feelings, while unkind, can be seen as examples of the feelings that
most teenagers suffer from. Ron also shows jealousy and betrayal towards Harry when he is
convinced Harry placed his own name in the Goblet of Fire (GoF. pp. 251-252): “ ‘Yeah?’
said Ron, and there was no trace of a grin, forced or otherwise, on his face now. ‘You want to
get to bed, Harry, I expect you’ll need to be up early tomorrow for a photocall or
something.’ ” (p. 252). Harry, like most of us, has a dark side, which is sometimes shown in
his actions and emotions. At one stage Harry cannot understand why both Ron and Hermione
are made prefects when he isn’t and he is upset and jealous over their appointment: “I’ve
definitely done more, Harry thought indignantly. I’ve done more than either of them!” (OoP,
p. 152). We all have moments of jealousy when others get something we may have wished
for and though we should feel happy for them in the success they have gained we instead find
ourselves resentful. Instead of criticising Rowling for this depiction of flawed kindness we
should be praising her. She portrays the sort of select kindness that we all exhibit because we
all have emotions, which cause us turmoil. By portraying a heroic figure with real emotions,
including those less attractive emotions, Rowling helps readers understand that no one is
perfect and the reader is more readily able to identify with that hero because of his flawed
character.
As previously mentioned, students included kindness as a personal value that Harry
exhibits in the books (Appendix 7, Student Interview responses, p. 4). Students perceived
kindness as the most popular personal value that Harry displayed with nine students expressing opinions on this value compared to the next popular value which was caring for
others with six responses (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, p. 4). Kindness is also
mentioned in other values people exhibit which include caring for others, helping others,
treating people equally, being interested in others and being thoughtful, which were all
commented on by students (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, p. 4). Students
recognised the values in other characters that are linked with kindness or included kindness.
Hermione showed kindness and a caring attitude, Ron showed kindness, a caring attitude and
consideration for others, Dumbledore was kind, caring and treated people equally while
Hagrid was also kind, caring, loving and helpful (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses,
p. 5).
Importantly children recognised that for a character to be good they had to exhibit
kindness and the qualities linked to kindness. In answering the question “What makes them
good?” students listed some qualities that relate to kindness. These included:
• They have good qualities (humour, smart, helpful/fun to be with, kind,
caring)
• They are caring
• Try to help others
• Don’t put others down (Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, p. 6).
It is also relevant that students made statements on values that are opposite to those that are
based on kindness to explain what were the qualities of bad/evil characters in the series
(Appendix 7: Student Interview responses, pp. 7-8). These included:
• They hurt/kill people
• They seek power (without consideration for others)
• They are selfish
• They put people down
They take pleasure in seeing others suffer
• Don’t care about others’ feelings
• Don’t value other people
• They’re mean
• Hate others

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Other personal values in Harry Potter
Selflessness is derived from the word “selfless” which is defined as “disregarding
oneself or one’s own interests, unselfish” (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986,
p.751). In this thesis the term “selflessness” refers to acts of unselfishness where people act
out of regard for other people’s interests rather than their own. Self-sacrifice is defined as the
“sacrifice of one’s own interests and wishes so that others may benefit” (ibid.). Selflessness
and self-sacrifice are key themes in the Harry Potter series. Critics express opinions on the
examples of selflessness and self-sacrifice in the books by Harry and other characters
(Bridger, 2001, pp. 91-93). Hermione even makes the comment that Harry has a bit of a
“saving-people thing” (OoP, p. 646). Examples include Harry’s mother’s sacrifice of her life
to protect Harry (CoS, p. 233 and GoF, p. 566), Harry entering the Chamber of Secrets to
rescue Ginny (CoS, pp. 221-240), Harry’s rescuing both Ron and Gabrielle Delacour from
the merpeople (GoF, pp. 435-436) and in PS when Ron sacrifices himself in the chess game
under Hogwarts where he could have been killed:
‘Ready?’ Ron called, his face pale but determined. ‘Here I go – now, don’t hang
around once you’ve won.’
He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard
around the head with her stone arm and he crashed to the floor” (pp. 205-206).
Bridger (2001) draws attention to the importance of this self-sacrificial love which he
views as a key Christian theme in the book and expresses the view that Rowling seems to embrace self-sacrificial love as a moral philosophy to live by (p. 31, p. 62, p. 90, p. 93).
Other critics also see this theme as important. Furst and Heilmann (2001), among others,
comment on the analogy of the sacrificial love of Harry’s mother with Jesus’ death on the
cross to take away our sins (pp. 104-105) but they stress that it does not offer the eternal
salvation Christ’s death does. Yet Furst and Heilmann see Jesus’ act as far more important
that the sacrifice provided by Harry’s mother because Jesus’ death provided eternal salvation
for humankind, whereas Harry’s mother’s sacrifice provides limited salvation for Harry
(2001, p. 107).
Other critics remark on the centrality of the theme of self-sacrifice to Christian faith
(Killinger, 2002, pp. 80-89, Neal, 2001, 195-196, Cherrett, 2003, p. 69). Cherrett and others
state that the acts of self-sacrifice in the books are specifically aimed at the defeat of evil and
are therefore closely connected with the Christian faith (Cherrett, pp. 80-82, Neal, 2001, pp.
195-196, Bridger, 2001, p. 31). Abanes (2001) takes a different view because he attacks the
sacrifices Harry makes as only being done for his friends (p. 135, p. 239). However, he has
conveniently forgotten Harry’s sacrificial actions in seeking to help Hermione when she was
not his friend (PS, pp. 129-132).
Dumbledore also provides a model of the sacrificial lamb, exemplified by Jesus,
through his actions in HBP. Before any action takes place in HBP Dumbledore has suffered a
blackened hand from his efforts over the summer break to try and retrieve Voldemort’s
Horcruxes (p. 50). Through his actions Dumbledore hopes to cause the ultimate defeat of
Voldemort. During the book Dumbledore suffers greatly while trying to retrieve a horcrux
from a cave (pp. 519-540). These actions have so drained Dumbledore that his enemies even
note that he is close to death: ‘He’s not long for this world anyway, if you ask me!’ (p. 555).
Dumbledore’s death is caused by his sacrificial act to save Harry from being noticed by his enemies. He is struck down by the Avada Kedavra killing curse because he is unable to
defend himself as he has had his wand dislodged by Malfoy in an early incident:
Then, by the light of the Mark, he saw Dumbledore’s wand flying in an arc
over the edge of the ramparts and understood . . . Dumbledore had wordlessly
immobilised Harry, and the second he had taken to perform the spell had cost him the
chance of defending himself. (HBP, pp. 545-546).
Plyming (2001) also highlights the importance of sacrifice in one’s relationships with
others. He comments on the sacrifices Harry’s parents made in trying to save him and how
“these events and the continual reliving of them shape and change Harry’s present existence”
(p. 19). Kern (2003) also notes the importance of sacrifices in relationships (pp. 73-74, p.
118), as does Neal (2002, pp. 65-66). Examples of the effect of people sacrificing themselves
for others are shown in other parts of the books and they have a profound effect on people’s
relationships. A key example, as stated earlier, is when Ron and Harry risk their lives to fight
off the troll that is attacking Hermione Granger. From this sacrificial act a seemingly
permanent friendship is born (PS, pp. 129-132). Kern sees Harry’s sacrificial activities as
very important to the books particularly as these actions support his view of Harry as being a
stoic figure (p. 115).
Students also responded to the presence of selflessness and self-sacrifice in the Harry
Potter series. Upon questioning students about the self-sacrifice shown by Harry’s mother
they were able to provide other examples of self-sacrifice in the series (Appendix 7, Student
Interview responses, pp. 9-10). These included:
• Ron getting injured in chess game in PS book
• Sirius Black helping to save Harry on OoP and dies
• Sirius Black helping to save Harry (and others) against Remus’ werewolf in PoA Sirius Black protecting Harry
• Severus Snape in trying to help Harry in Shrieking Shack
• Hermione Granger helping house elves
• Dumbledore in helping Harry at end of OoP
• Hermione and Ron suffering to help Harry get to Philosopher’s Stone
• Hermione and Ron helping Sirius Black escape
• Albus Dumbledore in all books
• Ron and Harry risking death in following spider trail
• Harry Potter entering Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny
• Snape helping Harry survive the Quidditch game in PS book against own house team
• Harry risking life to save others in Triwizard Tournament.
One of the key scenes mentioned by the students is Severus Snape’s rescue of Harry
from the supposed threat of Remus Lupin, the werewolf, in PoA (pp. 262-265). Snape
dislikes Harry Potter and in HBP appears to be a traitor to Professor Dumbledore. He is a
complicated character who is not always what he seems. He had previously saved Harry from
plunging to his death from his enchanted broomstick in PS (pp. 139-140) but in PoA he
actually places his own life in danger to protect Harry because he thinks Harry may be killed:
“Get out of the way, Potter, you’re in enough trouble already,’ snarled
Snape. ‘If I hadn’t been here to save your skin - ’
. . . ‘I have just saved your neck, you should be thanking me on bended knee!
You would have been well served if he’d killed you!’ (p. 265).
Critics make mention of the importance of the personal quality of kindness in the
series. Kindness is derived from the word “kind” which means to be “gentle or considerate in conduct or manner towards others” (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 454)
and is essentially a communal action, which is shown through one’s gentleness, consideration
and fairness to those around you. Farah Mendlesohn (2002) comments that the ideological
structure which Rowling uses for all her books is based on the manipulation of an uncritical
construction of fairness (p.159). Mendlesohn feels that this follows in the traditions of
Tolkien and Lewis’ message that “fairness and happiness can best be achieved when rules are
obeyed and heroes decided by destiny” (p. 160). By this she means that characters such as
Frodo Baggins have been chosen by destiny to do great deeds and that they generally follow
the rules of their time to achieve their task. Yet Mendlesohn seems mistaken in this
assumption because the key characters in the Harry Potter series, including Harry, Ron,
Hermione and Malfoy, constantly disobey rules. They may sneak out at night, go to forbidden
areas or indulge in magic spells that are not permitted for their age group. Also, as previously
stated, Harry’s future is not decided by destiny but by the choices he makes.
Killinger (2002) also emphasises the importance of kindness in the Harry Potter
books. He views the series as depicting Harry as the “seeker” of a “golden” existence based
on a set of ethics which are based on the Judeo-Christian tradition exemplified by Jesus
Christ in the Gospels (pp. 64-99). Neal (2001) also makes mention of this seeker motif and its
relationship to Judeo-Christian ethics (pp. 189-190). Jesus exemplified kindness in his words,
actions and the way he responds to others throughout the Gospels and Harry exhibits similar
kindness in his words, actions and the way he responds to others.
However, Mendlesohn (2002) makes further remarks about Harry and kindness. She
feels that Rowling’s depiction of kindness in the novels is flawed. While Harry shows
kindness to others it is limited because it does not offer real life change for those who are
oppressed. Mendlesohn feels that the books only argue superficially for kindness to others
because in reality they deny “the oppressed the agency to change their own lives” (p. 181). An example of this limited kindness is Harry being kind to the house elf Dobby. He helps
Dobby to be free of the Malfoy household at the end of CoS (p. 248) book but he does not
show the compassion that Hermione shows for the rest of the enslaved house elves through
her creation of S.P.E.W. (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) (GoF, p. 198). Harry is
quite content for house elves to continue to be enslaved in other wizarding households, as
well as providing him with all his cooking and cleaning needs at Hogwarts; whereas
Hermione understands that there needs to be real social and political change if house elves
are ever truly to be free.

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Lachance’s (2005) comments on Harry’s responsibility to make choices, because of
his hopes for a better world, are consistent with the Christian interpretation of choice rather
than just a humanist interpretation. Lachance seems to comprehend humanism in a limited
way. She seems to see it as referring to a rejection of the existence of God because humans
alone decide their fate through the choices they make. However, one can be both a humanist
and a Christian. Lachance even refers to Christian humanism when she comments that Harry
moral values correspond to Christian humanist criteria (p. 65). A Christian humanist can
believe in the power of God, who has provided humankind with freedom of choice, and also
believe that humans should not be reliant on God to save them from atrocities on earth but
that they have the power to make choices that will decide the fate of our world (Edwords,
1989, pp. 1-2). This is what Christian theologians refer to as creating the Kingdom of God on
Earth (Nolan, 1977, p. 46 and Hornsby-Smith, 2006, p. 41), where a new world order is
created based on “right relationships of justice, love and peace” (O’Murchu, 1991, p. 46).
Catholic theology would state that freedom to make one’s choice, which affects one’s
destiny, is an essential part of the Catholic faith and are shown through the freedom that God
allowed the mythical creatures of Adam and Eve to make their choices regarding picking and
eating the fruit. This Christian anthropological view of a God allowing human free choice
varies greatly to the view of God(s) found in other creation stories such as “the Babylonian
creation-story Enuma Elish, where humanity is designed to bear the burden of the
capriciousness of the gods” (Tuohy, 2004, p. 98).
Many contemporary Catholic theologians view the Fall Myth as central to the
Christian faith because it shows humans exercising their power to choose, their freedom of
choice, even if the consequences of such freedom may not always be so pleasant. It was
ancient man’s attempt to try and explain the differences between humans and other animals
that do not have the same power to make choices (Booker, 2004, p. 547). Catholic Church documents support the view that humans should exercise free choice and not rely on God to
make their choices for them:
It is, however, only in freedom that man can turn himself towards what is
good. . . . but that which is truly freedom is an exceptional sign of the image of God in
man. . . . Man’s dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice,
as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and not by blind impulses in
himself or by mere external constraint (Gaudium et Spes, 1965, ¶17).
“The right to the exercise of freedom, especially in religious and moral matters, is an
inalienable requirement of the dignity of man” (Catechism of the Catholic Church,
¶ 1747).
Choice, therefore, is a key component of freedom and in Christian tradition the
freedom of the human person has been linked to the belief that God has free choice, and as
we are created in God’s image, Imago Dei, then we share in the free creative activity of God
(Tuohy, 2004, pp. 97-98). We are God-like because we are able to choose. Harry Potter is
therefore following the Christian faith model as much as a Humanist one, even though
Christianity is not mentioned in the series in any important sense. Due to this interpretation it
is not possible to state that Rowling rejects the idea of faith in a supernatural being
(Lachance, p. 86).
Choice is also important because Harry needs to find the courage in himself to make
choices that correspond with his moral makeup. This is not always easy because such choices
affect those around him. Readers can learn much from the way Harry struggles with fear,
anxiety, concern and other emotions as he makes decisions. This is particularly apparent in
Harry’s guilty reaction to Sirius Black’s death: It was his fault Sirius had died; it was all his fault. If he, Harry, had not been
stupid enough to fall for Voldemort’s trick, if he had not been so convinced that what
he had seen in his dream was real, if he had opened his mind to the possibility that
Voldemort was, as Hermione had said, banking on Harry’s love of playing the hero …
(OoP, p. 723) [Italics in original].
However, through making these decisions Harry’s character and self-esteem are able
to grow. Harry, like all of us, makes mistakes but he does learn from them. He mistakenly
supports Ron in his criticism of Hermione Granger by not commenting on Ron’s verbal
attack on her:
‘It’s no wonder no one can stand her,’ he said to Harry as they pushed their
way into the crowded corridor, ‘she’s a nightmare, honestly.’
Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione.
Harry caught a glimpse of her face – and was startled to see that she was in tears. (PS,
p. 127).
Harry also chooses not to comfort Hermione when she is obviously distressed.
However, when Harry makes the choice, with Ron, to break the rules (PS, pp. 127-132) to
search for Hermione and save her from a mountain troll a strong friendship begins. “But from
that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend” (PS, p. 132).
Through his choices Harry gains greater understanding because sometimes his choices
help others and sometimes they cause others to suffer, the ripple or consequences effect of
choice. Through Harry’s choices students are able to experience the emotions that come with
both successful and disastrous consequences based on one’s choices. As stated previously
Harry feels guilty for the death of Sirius Black and this is because Harry dreams that Sirius is being tortured by Lord Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic’s Department of Mysteries and
believes it is true. “ ‘It’s time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter”
(OoP, p. 690), state his enemies. Harry chooses to lead a band of student wizards to the
Ministry of Magic thinking that he will be able to rescue Sirius Black (OoP, pp. 640-673).
The students are attacked by Death Eaters, and members of the Order of the Phoenix,
including Sirius Black, arrive to save them. The end result of this action is the death of Sirius
Black (OoP, pp. 710-711). Harry is heartbroken by his death, loses his temper and causes
destruction in Dumbledore’s office:
‘I know how you’re feeling Harry,’ said Dumbledore very quietly.
‘No you don’t,’ said Harry, and his voice was suddenly loud and strong; whitehot
anger leapt inside him; Dumbledore knew nothing about his feelings. . . .
Harry felt the white-hot anger lick his insides, blazing in the terrible emptiness,
filling him with the desire to hurt Dumbledore for his calmness and his empty words.
. . .
‘I DON’T CARE!’ Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing
it into the fireplace. ‘I’VE HAD ENOUGH, I’VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I
WANT IT TO END, I DON’T CARE ANYMORE-‘ (pp. 725-726) [Capitals in
original].
Harry is also free to make choices to disobey set rules, just as Jesus chose to disobey
the Jewish rule of not labouring to get food on the Sabbath when he picks and eats corn
(Matthew12: 1-8). Both Harry and Jesus are considering the greater good. Harry and Ron
leave their dormitory against Professor McGonagall’s instructions to get some vital
information to Gilderoy Lockhart in CoS (pp. 218-219) in the hope that he can save Ginny
Weasley from the monster in the Chamber of Secrets. In OoP Harry breaches the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery (pp. 29-30) by using a Patronus Charm
because he is trying to save both Dudley and himself from the Dementors (pp. 20-23).

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Human Freedom, Destiny, Choice and the Fall Myth
Choice is a key theme in the Harry Potter books because much of the series deals
with the choices people make, particularly the choice between good and evil. Choice is
therefore a key component in reaching a set of personal values from which we decide on
whether we are of good or bad character. Essentially the ability of humans to make choices
allows humans to develop a sense of morality based on the values they choose. Shannon (2006) suggests that there are a number of elements that lead to people becoming morally
responsible. Two of these key elements are, firstly, that we need “to become aware of the
embedded values in our way of life and to take responsibility for them by either affirming or
rejecting them” (p. 43), which is a personal choice, and, secondly, that we need to learn to
make a decision which also involves learning “how to identify what is different about each
part of the choice, how each part affects me, what are the consequences of my choice, and
how to move beyond simple choice to reasons for the choice” (p. 43).
Choice can only occur if people have the freedom to choose from two or more
alternatives, without such freedom it is not possible to have genuine choice. This freedom of
choice allows humankind to have a say in their future rather than their future being decided
by prophecy or by the whims of some supernatural force. In the Harry Potter book OoP there
is mention made of a prophecy, previously made by Professor Trelawney, regarding Harry
Potter:
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches … born to those who
have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will
mark him as equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either
must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives (OoP,
p. 741).
If this passage is taken in isolation then it may be argued that Rowling is providing
Harry Potter with little, if any, free choice regardless of Dumbledore’s previous statements
about choice being all-important in what one becomes (CoS, p. 245). This passage would
place Harry’s destiny out of his hands because it has been prophesised that he must kill
Voldemort to survive, as ultimately both cannot co-exist. Yet, as Granger (2002) states,
Harry’s “choices remain critically important, however, because this destiny is not a fate; he must choose to play the Harry Potter role . . . which is by no means automatic or predetermined
(p. 83). However, it is not until HBP that this is made clear.
In an exchange between Harry Potter and Dumbledore we have a clarification that
Harry does have the power of free choice regardless of the prophecy, which would initially
seem to argue against free choice:
‘But Harry, never forget that what the prophecy says is only significant because
Voldemort made it so. I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled you
out as the person who would be most dangerous to him –and in doing so, he made you
the person who would be most dangerous to him!’ . . .
‘If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled?
Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the
Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?’ . . .
‘You see, the prophecy does not mean you have to do anything! But the
prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark you as his equal … in other words, you are
free to choose your way, quite free to turn your back on the prophecy! But Voldemort
continues to set store by the prophecy. He will continue to hunt you… which makes it
certain, really, that –‘
‘That one of us is going to end up killing the other,’ said Harry. ‘Yes.’
But he understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell him.
It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle
to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people,
perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but
Dumbledore knew –and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did
my parents –that there was all the difference in the world (HBP, pp. 476 – 479)
[Italics in original].

This exchange illustrates that Harry’s free choice is not ruled out by a prophecy but one’s
choices are certainly limited by the actions of someone who believes in a prophecy and acts
on it. This is a reflection on life in general where we all have free choice but that free choice
can be limited by the actions of others. In modern society our free choices can be limited by
the actions of people such as terrorists or through a lack of opportunities because of
government policies, financial constraints, access to educational facilities, our place of birth,
etc.
In discussing the Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy,
Lachance (2005), argues that both groups of books make use of the concept of choice to
present a humanist faith (pp. 4-6, p. 63). She states that Pullman and Rowling make their
characters responsible for their destiny and conscious of the repercussions of their actions and
choices without involvement of supernatural forces although she does believe that both
authors follow a Christian narrative tradition (p. 4, p. 86). Instead of being protected and
guided by a superhuman being, the characters have to look within themselves for answers and
choose the path they believe is good according to their moral values (p. 16). The author of
this thesis fully supports this interpretation of choice in the Harry Potter series but does not
support Lachance’s argument that such an interpretation is inconsistent with Christian beliefs
and therefore needs to be classed as a humanist interpretation of choice. Lachance states that
Rowling rejects the idea of faith in a supernatural being (p. 86) but the author of this thesis
feels that a reading of the Harry Potter series does not support such a sweeping statement.
Lachance (2005) bases her view of both the Harry Potter series and the His Dark
Materials series presenting a humanist perspective on choice by stating that Pullman
deliberately reverses the Christian belief of the Fall Myth (pp. 20-21). The Fall Myth is a key
Christian concept that comes from a story found in the Old Testament book of Genesis. This
story refers to the fall of humankind from a state of innocence to a state of sinfulness because of an act of disobedience. The common Christian translation of the original Hebrew scripture
suggests that God created Adam and Eve, the first humans, in His image. Adam and Eve are
allowed to live in the Garden of Eden but are not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge because
to do so would show disobedience to God’s instruction. They were innocent beings but a
serpent tempts them to eat fruit from the forbidden tree and when they do eat the fruit they
are transformed. They become aware of a distinction between ‘Good and Evil’. They are
now superior to all forms of life, but their existence is filled with new troubles. They have
become self-conscious; they are ashamed of their nakedness, and conceal their reproductive
organs. God questions their actions and then expels them from the Garden of Eden. Finally
they know, for the first time, they are going to die (Booker, p. 546). All their descendants will
suffer and die because of their actions. Lachance states, in referring to His Dark Materials:
Pullman paradoxically uses the Fall Myth to illustrate his idea of secular faith.
Pullman's "sin" is that he uses a Christian myth to deliver a message that rejects the
idea of God and of religious faith. He uses the same images as in the traditional Fall
Myth: Adam and Eve, the serpent and the fruit, for example. However, Pullman's
version of this religious myth works as a central articulation of his idea of hope, of
humanist faith. He presents the coming of awareness of sexuality, the eating of the
apple, not as a "fall" but as a joyful discovery, as an enlightenment (pp. 20-21).
It is a view of hope that places emphasis on a faith in humanity to make the right choices
rather than a faith in a God to provide us with a good life (p. 3). Harry Potter does have hope
in a better future through the decisions he makes but this does not mean that he either accepts
or rejects the notion of a supernatural being in whom others may find hope. A person can
have hope in their own ability to make choices and make their life better yet it does not mean
that they reject or accept an ultimate hope in being at one with a loving God.

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CHAPTER 4: CHOICE AND VALUES IN HARRY POTTER
“Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of
choice”
(Michael Josephson, 2003).
Introduction
The Harry Potter series deals with a hero who struggles throughout his life. As Harry
continues on his life journey he, like all of us, needs to make a number of choices. These
choices are the key to discovering Harry’s values and the choices that we make are the key to
our humanity. In this chapter specific mention is made of the values that both critics and
students have recognised in the series. Comment is also made in relation to the Catholic
belief in the importance of humanity’s ability to make free choices because this freedom
separates humans from all other creatures and supports the Christian belief in their eternal
bond with God.
Critics, youth, Harry Potter and values
In essence, critics’ personal ideologies have dominated the opinions they have made
regarding the Harry Potter series. Critics have drawn from their own ideologies and referred
to aspects of the Harry Potter series which speak most relevantly to them at the time they
read and expressed views regarding the novels. All critics’ comments are relevant because
they bring meanings to the text which may differ to other people’s reading of the text.
People’s perception of the values in any text will also vary due to the different ideologies they bring to that text. This thesis, in seeking to reach an understanding of values that can be
found in the series, makes observations on values that both critics and young people found in
the books. It is through their opinions that a substantive understanding of values in the Harry
Potter series can be ascertained. As this thesis is considering the use of the series in teaching
Religious Education in a Christian context, the values that have been singled out for study are
those that can be classed as Christian values. These values, which guide the way we live, are
generally perceived as our personal values.
The qualities that a person demonstrates in their behaviour indicate the personal
values that the person has. These qualities are seen as being important for one’s development
because they are seen as essential to the formation of the self. Personal qualities are also
important in one’s religious beliefs. All religions carry some set of beliefs on the qualities we
should exhibit to fulfil our potential. The followers of Christianity would be expected to love
one another as Jesus loves humankind if Heaven on Earth is to be achieved, in Hinduism one
should refrain from killing if one wished to move further on the path to Moksha, and in
Buddhism truthfulness would be seen as a personal quality if one wishes to eventually
achieve Nirvana. However, one can also exhibit personal qualities without having any
religious beliefs and a person may exhibit qualities that are in opposition to their supposed
religious beliefs. Through the examination of and reflection on one’s qualities it is possible to
gain a greater understanding of ourselves and those around us. Personal qualities are
important in our spiritual and moral growth, regardless of our religious beliefs.
Critics have made statements on the personal qualities they found in the Harry Potter
series and their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with them. The qualities mentioned included
selflessness, self-sacrifice, honesty, kindness, fairness, tolerance, respect, loyalty, self
discipline, relationships, friendships, compassion, trust, courage, grace, need for justice,
mercy and hope.

Choice
“ ‘Life is a do-it-yourself project.’ Your attitudes and the choices you make today will be
your life tomorrow, build it wisely”
(Life is a do-it-yourself project. n.d. p. 1)
Choice derives from the word “choose,” meaning, specifically, to pick from a greater
number (The Oxford reference dictionary, Hawkins, 1986, p. 454). Choosing is defined as
“the act or power of choosing” (ibid.). Choice is also highlighted in opinions expressed by
critics because it is seen as important to the series. As Mimi Gladstein (2004) states,
“Rowling creates a world where what is and should be important is the “content of one’s
character” and the choices one makes” (p. 49). Plyming (2001) refers to the importance of
Harry choosing to want to be in Gryffindor rather than Slytherin. He justifiably mentions the
importance of Dumbledore’s statement in CoS that, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what
we truly are, far more than our abilities” (CoS, p. 245) (p. 14). We demonstrate our personal
values through the choices we make. Other critics see this as a key statement in the series
(Cherrett, 2003, p. 29, Bridger, 2001, p. 74, 2001, Houghton, 2001, p.17, Beck, 2001, p. 53,
Pharr, 2002, p. 63, et al.). In “the Harry Potter series, choice is used to deny the fixedness of
nature as characters are not good or bad in essence but in their choices” (Lachance, 2005, p.
75). Hélène Lachance (2005) also states that in making his choices “Harry (Potter ) shows a
string of moral values that corresponds [sic] to Christian humanist criteria: courage, loyalty,
love, forgiveness, altruism, nobility of the soul, spirit of sacrifice, etc” (p. 65).
Plyming (2001) highlights “This emphasis of choice over and against fate, peer
pressure and family pedigree”, as being at the heart of the spirituality in the Harry Potter
series (p. 14). He relates this choice to that preached in the New Testament and which provides guidance in remembering that we “are morally responsible people, who can make
choices and who must answer for them” (p. 15). Choices have consequences in real life and
they also have consequences in the Harry Potter series (Doughty, 2002, p. 249, Pharr, 2002,
p. 64). Plyming also emphasises that we “humans do not have to be slaves to the voices
without or the genes within” (p. 15). It is clear that through our choices we illustrate what sort
of person we are, what our personal values are (Cherrett, 2003, p. 32, Kern, 2003, p. 88).
John Granger (2002) also believes that the choices Harry makes define who he is (p. 77), as
does Killinger (2002, p. 94). As Granger states: “Harry makes two types of choices in every
book – about what sort of person he is and what to do in a crisis – and he chooses ‘what is
right’ over ‘what is easy’ every time” (p. 77). Often these choices cause Harry suffering but
this does not deter him from continuing to make the right decisions (Killinger, p. 99).
Bridger comments on the theme of choice that is apparent in the Harry Potter series
as corresponding to “one of the major themes of ethics – the relationship between freewill
and determinism ” (2001, p. 74). Beck also stresses this point when she states that the Harry
Potter series discusses the issue of free will “ that as human beings we were created to be free
to choose and then live with the consequence of such choices ” (p. 53). David and Catherine
Deavel (2002) also mention Rowling’s emphasis on choice versus destiny and “ how choices
must be made according to the criteria of truth and absolute moral limits ” (p. 49). Kern
(2003) states how important choice over fate is in the Harry Potter series (p. 54). Chantel
Lavoie (2003) also cites the important lesson of choice demonstrated by Harry Potter (p. 42).
She states children, too, have important decisions to make, and Rowling’s books emphasise
that children need to consider individual preference, conscience, and right and wrong rather
than what the majority think and do. These choices should be informed, reflecting both selfreliance
and cooperation-involving group or family loyalty and “grown-up” negotiations
between these shifting boundaries (p. 42). Rebecca Skulnick and Jesse Goodman (2003) recognise the importance of Harry not
blindly following institutional rules but basing his choices on “his sense of citizenship, his
ability to make concerted choices, and his willingness to negate or promote the rules of his
popular government, the Hogwarts institution” (p. 264). Some critics attack Harry for making
choices that are against set rules because they feel that this illustrates some sort of antiauthoritarian
stance which the series’ readers may adopt (Furst & Heilman, 2001, p. 135,
Abanes, 2001, pp. 260-261). However, Harry generally only breaks set rules for the common
good. In fact he often illustrates a higher level of moral development than many of the adults
in the series. If people are willing to break rules when a higher principle is at stake then they
are said to be at the Postconventional level under Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, a
level usually reserved for adults (Whited & Grimes, 2002, p. 195). With Harry being
predominantly at this stage of moral development he avoids being manipulated by those
around him. In essence it assists him in being a leader rather than a follower:
We cannot make good choices by mindlessly keeping to a set of rules and regulations.
In fact, if we never progress beyond an unthinking attitude of compliance with laws
handed down to us from above, we may even lay ourselves open to deception and
manipulation by authority figures who would wish to control and enslave us.
(Cherrett, 2003, pp. 35-36)
Other critics have also noted the importance of the choices characters in the series
make in relation to their moral development. They relate Harry’s development to Kohlberg’s
stages of moral development because Kohlberg’s work is still an acceptable criterion to
analyse a person’s moral development. Lana Whited and M. Katherine Grimes (2002)
undertake a study on the actions and attitudes key characters show in making choices to try
and ascertain at what level they are performing at (pp. 182-208). They place Draco Malfoy at Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience, based on his actions in the first book, PS (p. 185). In the
book GoF they feel Harry is predominantly acting at the Stage Three: Interpersonal level (p.
189) but has shown steady signs of movement into the Stage Four: Authority and Social
Order level and occasionally the Stage Five: Social Contract level in PoA and GoF (p. 199-
200). Kern (2003) makes mention of Whited and Grimes work in this area and while making
comment on the weaknesses in Kohlberg’s model and offering insight into others’ work
regarding this model, including Carol Gilligan’s (1982), he does believe that Harry’s stories
will help children with their moral reasoning because of the reasoning Harry and other
characters use in the series (pp. 123-127).
Cherrett (2003) also notes how the majority of Harry’s choices involve choosing
what is right over what is easy (p. 48). Pharr (2002) recognises that the thin but crucial wall
that separates us between being good and being evil is choice (p. 63). This choice, however,
can be guided by providing opportunities for students to experience moral behaviour. Thomas
Shannon (2006) states that adults:
can encourage moral behavior, we can help moral development, but at a certain point
individuals have to do it by themselves, on their own, without anyone observing them.
One has given them the moral map, helped them learn to read it, but now you hope the
map is internal and will help them to navigate their own way (p. 44).
Students surveyed in this study made mention of the importance of choice. To the
question, “What do you think Dumbledore means when he says to Harry, in Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets, ‘It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than
our abilities.’ (p. 245)?” students’ responses indicated an understanding about the importance
choice has in deciding who we are (Appendix 7, Student Interview responses, p. 3). Student
views included: Your actions show what sort of person you are or become. Your choices
decide your path in life
• Your actions are decided by your choices not anyone else’s. Choices can be
affected by background but still are your choices
• You can choose who you are and what you become
• Abilities you have, choices you decide, you can change
• You have to have the strength to choose what you think is right
• Choices decide what we mean in life, what we believe in life
• Your choices affect others
• Your personality is important. Your choices reveal who you truly are
• Making choices and decisions show what sort of person you really are
• Choices/decisions decide whether we are good or bad people
Throughout the Harry Potter series Harry and his friends and others make choices
from which the reader is then able to judge what sort of person they are, what values they
espouse. In the response to the question, “Can you please list for me some of Harry’s
personal values that you perceive from reading the book(s)?” students were able to provide a
extensive list of the personal values Harry exhibits (Appendix 7, Student Interview responses,
p. 4). These included kindness, courage, a caring attitude and loyalty. In focus group
discussions students also recognised personal values exhibited by Harry and others in the
books. They recognised values such as courage, cunning, loyalty, bravery and modesty
(Appendix 8, Focus Group responses, pp. 1-2).
At the end of HBP we see Harry prepared to be responsible for his own moral
behaviour rather than be guided by advice from those around him. He is now about to turn
seventeen and has grown in his ability to make choices. Harry has moved through Kohlberg’s stages of moral development and found both joy and tragedy through the consequences of
choices that he has made (Kern, 2003, pp. 121-127. Whited & Grimes, 2002, pp. 183-208). In
this way Harry is a model for other children because he has had to work his way through a
number of moral conflicts. Through the various experiences Harry has undertaken he gains a
greater ability to make educated moral decisions. His experiences provide examples for
children to analyse; they are able to study Harry’s “difficulties of moral conflict to have a
better sense of ethical problems and solutions. The non-threatening conditions of imaginative
play allow them to try out different approaches and to adopt different perspectives” (Kern, p.
40). As Kern (2003) suggests, fantasy literature, such as the Harry Potter series, offers youth
a chance to work through difficult moral questions in a safe and secure context (p. 120).
Whited and Grimes (2002) also reflect on Kohlberg’s theory of moral development and feel
that based on Kohlberg’s views “Rowling provides young readers with models of moral
decision-making via the characters who inhabit her magical and Muggle worlds” (p. 207). At
the end of HPB Harry has recently lost the guidance of Albus Dumbledore, the moral
lighthouse that has guided him through the dark times he has faced in his short life, and is
now ready to voyage out under his own steam, guided by his own choices, navigating his
own destiny.

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Generally the women depicted in the Harry Potter series serve these white males or
only appear in relation to the hero (Hourihan, 1997, pp. 1-3). Throughout the series
Hermione’s main role appears to be as a source of brainpower for Harry to use in his
endeavours. One might see her as a search engine for Harry to gather information from so as
to complete his assignment. Petunia Dursley is shown as a very inferior person and under the
complete domination of her husband and even Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress to
Albus Dumbledore, has a very limited role in the series. Both Mrs Weasley and Mrs Dursley
are portrayed as stay-at-home mothers with their whole being centred on their family, as they
seem to have no outside interests. As previously stated many critics have concerns about
gender bias in the Harry Potter books. Some believe strongly that Rowling’s portrayal of
women is gender-biased and depicts women in traditional subservient roles (Schoefer, Elliot,
Dresang, Heilman, etc). By this depiction of women Rowling is consciously or unconsciously
reinforcing traditional and unacceptable gender roles (Park, Zipes, Anatol, Dresang,
Westman, etc.).
Michelle Yeo’s (2004) remarks are particularly relevant in this area. She feels that on
a first reading women may appear in a good light in the early Harry Potter books. However,
with a deeper reading, using an analysis of the symbols in the books, the portrayal of women
in the series follows the “old representations of women as connected to evil, dark magic and
traditional roles of passivity and naiveté” (¶ 3). She does not blame Rowling for this but
feels that the underlying symbol system used in the books, which represents an unacceptable
view of women, is simply something that “is so deeply embedded in the cultural and
mythological history of our Westernized and Christian heritage that we embrace it without
question or thought as to its deeper meaning” (¶ 3).

On the other hand some critics feel that Rowling’s depiction of women places women
on an equal footing with men. As previously mentioned Gladstein (2004) states that Rowling
depicts a world with gender equality (p. 49). Ximena Gallardo-C and C. Jason Smith (2003)
feel that Rowling’s depiction of women does show them in a subservient role but that this
only reflects real life and that this will help readers to think about gender bias and what they
need to do to achieve gender equity. They also feel that Harry is a type of Cinderella
character, which enables girls to relate to him to a greater degree than they would to most
male heroes (p. 191). Other critics feel that Harry actually displays a number of feminist
characteristics. “Harry displays quite a few traits we normally associate with feminine
stereotypes. He is non-violent, non-aggressive, emotional, caring, and vulnerable, which
definitely makes him different from the conventional romantic heroes” (Nikolajeva, 2003, p.
135). Nikolajeva’s comments were made before OoP and HBP were published and, as stated
below, in these books we do witness aggression and violence from Harry but we also witness
other, gentler emotions. This show of emotions, by Harry, is in opposition to Hourihan’s
view that male heroes deny emotion and it is generally left for the male hero to wed a female
who provides, through her emotions, a balancing act for the psyche of the hero (1997, p.
199).
Many traditional heroes embody the superior terms of traditional Western culture
dualisms (Hourihan, 1997, pp. 2-3). In Harry’s case his enemies shows disrespect for human
life while Harry exhibits compassion and respect for life. Harry, also like the traditional
heroes, uses violence himself or needs others to commit violence to overcome his enemies.
This is most noticeable in the more recently published books. In OoP he smashes a Death
Eater in the face with his elbow (p. 694) and sends spells against others including the dreaded
and illegal Cruciatus Curse (pp. 696-715). He also chases after the Death Eater Bellatrix
Black Lestrange to kill her when she kills Sirius Black (p. 713). In HBP Harry, in a clash with Draco Malfoy, uses the Sectumsempra spell on him which causes bloody wounds to his
chest (p. 489). At the end of the book he uses curses in a battle with the Death Eaters
including the illegal Cruciatus Curse, the second time he has used it (pp. 558-563). As
Hourihan notices such actions imply that it is necessary and justifiable to use violence against
those enemies who are inherently evil (p. 103). In any use of the Harry Potter books it is
necessary to take into account these prejudices and how they may influence readers. If a
teacher uses the Harry Potter stories they also need to use other stories which provide a
different perspective, “which discourage the quest for domination use of force and violence
to achieve it, and encourage a respect for the environment and for men and women of all
cultural backgrounds” (Hourihan, p. 235).
The concerns raised regarding Harry Potter and other heroes are matters for deep
consideration by teachers when they use hero stories or any source material in the education
of students entrusted into their care. Teachers and parents also need to remember that there
are numerous other books that are popular with our children and which also depict
inequalities of some type. The books written by Roald Dahl certainly depict inequalities in
areas such as the exploitation of labour and gender roles. The Harry Potter series and other
books while containing ideas and views, which may cause some concern, also provide
educational opportunities. They provide teachers with a resource that can be used to assist
students in developing critical thinking skills. All students should be taught not only how to
read but how to read critically. They need to be able to analyse the texts they are provided
with, as well as those they choose themselves, so that they do not accept uncritically the
ideologies of the author and the cultural ideologies he or she writes from.

Conclusion
For a society to be long lasting and stable it needs to have a set of values that the
majority of its citizens support and follow. Children gain these societal values from many
sources including stories and schools. Values have been part of the instruction process in
Australian educational institutions since their inception, especially in schools established
around religious principles, but in recent years both Federal and State Government policy
statements have made it clear that specific instruction in values is a necessary component of
all schools. As schools are being encouraged to teach values and stories are recognised as an
established and successful means of values instruction, schools need to ensure that stories
used in educational institutions provide children with appropriate values from which they can
learn. While the Harry Potter series, like many books, contain elements that children and
teachers need to be concerned about and reflective upon they do contain a hero who, for the
majority of his time, follows a set of values that are in accordance with those values both
secular and religious schools in Australia would deem worthwhile. These particular values
will be discussed in the following chapter.

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Some concerns about the Harry Potter series
Values are found in all stories that children listen to, read and view and the Harry
Potter books are a series of stories full of values. Before looking at the Christian values
contained in the novels and commenting on their suitability for teaching values it is necessary to make comment regarding concerns expressed by critics about the possibility of readers
gaining unsatisfactory values and beliefs from the books. They have attacked the series for
containing elements of xenophobia, supporting inequalities in Western societies through their
portrayals of elements of those societies particularly in the portrayal of women, and of being
supportive of the current class system in Great Britain (Park, Dresang, Zipes, Westman, et
al.). There is no doubt that many criticisms of the novels are justifiable and that parents and
teachers need to have some understanding of these concerns. Part of the reason for these
attacks is because Rowling adopts a conventionality in her literary form that carries with it
some of the tradition prejudices associated with those forms.
The books reinforce traditional, ordinary, literary genres that readers generally find
attractive but that are not challenging to them possibly because Rowling herself is
comfortable with these genres. Sexism and other prejudices are apparent in the Harry Potter
books. The books seem to support the view that certain people/creatures are best suited to
certain roles in society, particularly that the house elves seem unable to cope with freedom
and may be better off as slaves. A passion for consumerism is also shown in the books
through Harry, Ron and other characters coveting the latest model broomstick or collecting
wizard trading cards. The series generally depicts foreigners, such as the students of
Durmstrang, and races, such as the Giants, in an unpleasant light. However, as stated
previously, interpretation depends on how one reads the text and what one is seeking from a
text. One could justify Rowling’s portrayal of women in the books and other aspects of the
books as being an accurate portrayal of the real world as it exists, not an ideal world of social
and racial equality (Gallardo-C & Smith, 2003). Some readers might want their emotions
shocked and their lives changed by reading a certain book but the Harry Potter books would
not provide this reaction. Rowling essentially does not enter new literary grounds and if
critics read her books hoping for something completely new or especially challenging then they will be disappointed. Many of these criticisms of the series can be traced to the use of
Harry Potter as a traditional hero, a character that has been part of our culture of stories for
generations, and due to this he suffers some of the weaknesses of those heroes.
As Harry Potter follows in the tradition of other heroes Margery Hourihan’s (1997)
work on literary heroes is relevant to the Harry Potter series because she specifically deals
with the problematic meanings young readers may acquire from reading hero stories
available to them (p. 5). She feels that hero stories are a powerful agent in shaping social and
political attitudes, and that their influence is always conservative (p. 21). While Harry Potter
shows some modern differences to traditional heroes, including some feminine attributes
(Nikolajeva, 2003, p. 135), Hourihan’s opinions on heroes are relevant in studying the Harry
Potter series because Harry is predominantly modelled on the traditional hero. Hourihan’s
views are referred to in more detail below.
The Harry Potter stories, like many other hero stories, show a view of the world that
is prejudiced. There are very few ethnic characters in the series that we are generally made
aware of. These include Angelina Johnson, a black girl, Cho Chang, of Asian ancestry, and
the Patil twins, Parvati and Padma, of Indian ancestry. The central characters, both good and
evil are white Europeans. Hagrid, who is half-giant, is the only exception to this but, while he
is shown in a good light, he is also shown as a person with limited intellect. As much of the
story occurs in the magical world non-human species are generally shown as inferior. Giants
are depicted as being violent and uncouth (OoP, pp. 377-383) and house elves are depicted as
being unable to cope with freedom from slavery as depicted through the character of Winkie
who declines into apparent alcoholism when freed from her slavery (GoF, pp. 466-467).
There are some exceptions to this dominant portrayal of non-human creatures but generally
white Europeans dominate the series, even if they are still in their teens. This would support
Hourihan’s (1997) view that white Europeans, in hero stories, are generally depicted as “the natural masters of the world because they are strong, brave, skilful, rational and dedicated”
(p. 1).

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Values Education is not only a key component of Catholic schools but is now
advocated as an essential element in all Australian schools. While many critics may dispute
whether specific Values Education should be part of any school system or children should
simply be educated to explore and develop their own values (Halstead, 1996, p. 9), the
Australian Federal and State governments have decided that there is a need for specific
Values Education in schools in Australia: “Our world-class school education, based on
agreed national goals, will provide the foundation for young Australians’ intellectual,
physical, social, spiritual, moral and aesthetic development. It will give them the knowledge,
skill, attitudes and values relevant to present and emerging social, cultural and economic
needs in local, national and international settings” (Australia’s common and agreed national
goals for schooling in the 21st Century, 1999, also known as The Adelaide declaration,
referenced under this title).
These governments recognise the important role that teachers and schools have in the
teaching of values. The Australian Government Values Education programme essentially
began with a Values Education Study that was commissioned in 2002, which involved sixtynine
schools. A final report entitled Values Education study: Final report was published in
August 2003 and after subsequent consultation, created some guiding principles. “These
principles recognise that in all contexts, schools promote, foster and transmit values to all
students and that education is as much about building character as it is about equipping
students with specific skills. Guiding principles also recognise that schools are neither valuefree
nor value-neutral zones of social and educational engagement” (Paving the way to
Values Education, 2005, p. 13). This study recognised that effective Values Education should
help “students understand and be able to apply values such as care and compassion; doing your best; freedom; honesty and trustworthiness; integrity; respect; responsibility and
understanding, tolerance and inclusion” (Paving the way to Values Education, p. 13).
An interesting appendix to the study indicated, through an online survey, that parents
only placed family members above teachers and schools in a question of whose responsibility
it is to teach values to students (Appendix iii: Report of the Online Survey, in Values
Education study final report, p.219). This would only reinforce the Federal Government’s
view that the education of values is one of the key responsibilities of schools.
The Federal Government, in its 2004-2005 Budget, promised $29.7 million in funding
for Values Education initiatives between 2004-2008. This included values forums in schools,
a values-based “Education Good Practice Schools Project” and the development of
curriculum materials (Paving the way to Values Education). A Draft National Framework for
Values Education in Australian Schools evolved and The National Framework for Values
Education in Australian Schools was released in 2005. It states that “Values Education is any
explicit and/or implicit school-based activity to promote student understanding and
knowledge of values, and to inculcate the skills and dispositions of students so that they can
enact particular values as individuals and as members of the wider community” (Paving the
way to Values Education, 2005, p. 6). The Values for Australian schools kit was released
throughout Australia in mid-2006.
Specific Values for Australian Schools were published in poster form, (Values for
Australian Schooling, Appendix 5) and include the values: showing care and compassion,
respect, honesty and trustworthiness, understanding, tolerance and inclusion. These values
also encourage students to do their best, to treat others fairly, be responsible for their actions,
follow principles of moral and ethical conduct and to stand up for the rights of others (Paving
the way to Values Education, 2005, p. 2). The Australian Government Values Education
programme also links to other Australian Government education initiatives (Paving the way to Values Education, p. 15), which support the values-education initiatives. These initiatives
include a Civics and Citizenship programme (http://www.civicsand citizenship.edu.au/), The
National School Drug Education Strategy (www.dest.gov.au/schools/drugeducation/
NSDES.htm), The National Safe Schools Framework (http://www.dest.gov.au/schools/
publications/subject_curriculum. htm) and the Mindmatters programme (http://www.
online.curriculum.edu.au/).
There are also commercial education teaching programmes, which promote the
importance of students having core values. One that is currently in use in many Tasmanian
Catholic schools is the Bounceback programme (McGrath & Noble, 2003). Units in this
programme include one specifically based on core values including honesty, fairness,
responsibility, loyalty, supportiveness, being caring, cooperation, understanding others,
respectfulness and friendliness. There are also units on showing courage, being resilient,
being positive in difficult times, dealing with one’s own and others emotions, relationship
skills, importance of humour, dealing with bullying and how to achieve success.
The Tasmanian Government has also encouraged the importance of Values Education
through the Essential Learnings Framework (2002), which is the central framework being
used in current curriculum development in both Government and Non-Government schools in
Tasmania. This framework is guided by a set of core values, which are:
• Connectedness
• Resilience
• Achievement
• Creativity
• Integrity
• Responsibility
• Equity (Essential Learnings: Framework 1, 2002, p. 9). These Essential Learnings values link with the National Values for Australian Schools in
many areas. Kiernan (2005) has outlined these connections in a grid plan (Appendix 6)
The Essential Learning Framework is based on five areas, which are:
• Thinking
• Communicating
• Personal Futures
• Social Responsibility
• World Futures.
Two of these areas are particularly relevant to Values Education. “Personal Futures”
consists of four key elements, which are: building and maintaining identity and relationships,
maintaining wellbeing, being ethical, and creating and pursuing goals. “Social
Responsibility” consists of four key elements, which are: building social capital, valuing
diversity, acting democratically, and understanding the past and creating preferred futures.
(Essential Learnings: Framework 1, 2002, pp. 24-33). These match with the values
recognised in the National Values for Australian Schools. Some of the National Values for
Australian Schools correspond with the Essential Learnings area of “World Futures”. World
futures elements are: investigating the natural and constructed world, understanding systems,
designing and evaluating technological solutions, and creating sustainable futures (Essential
Learnings: Framework 1, pp. 24-33).

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The teaching system that was “focussed preponderantly on the more academically
selective portion of the population, on the learning and cultural preference of the hegemonic
white, largely Anglo-Celtic population, on the essential literacies of language, mathematics,
science, history and the arts” (Lovat, 2005a, p. 2) has now changed. Schools are now
involved, to a greater degree, in a social agency role, which involves some transmission of
values. The need for schools to increase their role in Values Education has been caused by a
number of factors. These include the need for any society to undertake measures to protect its
values when they come under threat and the changing structure of Australia’s families.
Societies that are being placed under pressure by rapid changes will often reminisce,
usually through rose-coloured glasses, about the good old days and the values that were an
essential part of those times. In reinforcing these traditional values societal groups often hope
to relive these ‘golden’ days. In recent decades Australia has also seen a dramatic change in
the structure of its families. There has been a decline in extended families with “a
corresponding loss of supervision and support for young parents” (Australian Institute of
Criminology, 1991, p. 293). In the new millennium there is a higher number of families
where both parents work and subsequently there are now fewer mothers staying home to do
housework and childcare (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003a, ¶ 1). There has also been an
increase of 53% in the number of one-parent families between 1986 and 2001compared to an
increase of only 3% in the number of couple families with children (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2003b, ¶ 1). Due to these changes in family structures it is reasonable to assume
that a student’s school life is often the most stable part of their environment and because of
this stability school life is increasingly influential in the formation of a student.
Research undertaken in the 1990s also stressed the importance of teaching in the
formation of students. This research discovered that teachers, through quality teaching, could
effect real change in their students regardless of their students’ backgrounds (Lovat, 2005a, pp. 3-4). As Terence Lovat (2005a) states, research into quality teaching involves more than
factual learning but involves the engaging of “the whole person in depth of cognition, social
and emotional maturity, and self-knowledge” (p. 5). This will involve personal and social
values inculcation (Lovat, 2005a, p. 8). With this increased recognition of the importance of
quality teaching in students’ lives came changes in government policy related to the roles of
schools in Values Education.
The first noticeable, published change which indicated a Government move towards
secular schools taking an increased role in Values Education is to be found in the National
Curriculum framework on SOSE (Curriculum Corporation, 1994). For the first time, in a key
education policy document aimed at teachers in public schools as well as
independent/Catholic schools, outcomes dealing with morals were listed. In the strand of
Culture, two outcomes listed under “Personal, group and cultural identity” are:
6.9 Analyses the core values of groups and societies
8.9 Evaluates moral and ethical issues and justifies personal positions (p. 6).
Some state education authorities started to look at Values Education around this time (Hill,
2004, p. 9). From these beginnings in the 1990s there has been an increased push during the
early stages of this millennium for values to be taught in secular as well as religious schools.
These specific policy movements will be commented on below.
Approaches to teaching values
Schools and teachers have chosen different approaches to the teaching of values.
The Values Education Study: Final report (2003) gives little information on the ways values
have been taught to Australian school children in recent years, but it does state that many schools that took part in its study “sought a synthesis of two contrasting views” (p. 9). These
two views are:
􀂃 Advocates of the character education or more prescriptive approach primarily
argue that schools should play a more extensive role in the teaching of societal values
and favour instilling values via direct instruction, often using specifically-designed
programmes.
􀂃 Cognitive-developmental theorists have argued that values or moral education
should be promoted through the development of reasoning, and hence advocate such
teaching methods as moral reasoning using moral dilemmas to develop students’
moral judgements and values clarification. (Values Education study: Final report,
p. 9)
The first method involves schools using direct instructional techniques through their
teaching. Certain values are placed before the students as being necessary. This would be
classified by Straughan (1988) as “Value transmission”, which would also include the
everyday transmission of values by teachers through their words and actions, which affect
children’s beliefs and behaviours (pp. 13-15). The second method, mentioned above, would
seem to draw heavily on the work of Lawrence Kohlberg on moral reasoning in which he
theorises that people in all cultures progress through a set pattern of stages of moral
development (Straughan, p. 18). This method promotes the development of reasoning in
students through teaching methods such as using moral dilemmas. These dilemmas assist in
the development of students’ moral reasoning and enable them to clarify their values and
those around them. As Straughan (p. 22) states, it must be remembered that Kohlberg
himself changed some of his views on the education of students in morals, “The educator
must be a socializer, teaching value content and behaviour, not merely a Socratic facilitator
of development” (Kohlberg, 1978, p. 84). Generally, critics encourage a whole school approach to the education of values. This
involves the teaching of values across all the curriculum areas, including English, as well as a
curriculum area implemented for the specific teaching of values (Cooper, Burman, Ling,
Razdevsek-Pucko & Stephenson, 1998, p. 163, Straughan, 1988, p. 126). In a Catholic school
this approach would be seen as part of the Religious Education syllabus while in nonreligious
schools it might go under the title of “Civics and Citizenship” or something similar.
While the Values Education study: Final report (2003) does not suggest a specific Values
Education curriculum subject area it does suggest, “Schools apply their Values Education
priorities to their overall curriculum provision ” (p. 14). The National Framework for Values
Education in Australian schools (2005) states that schools should be “ensuring values are
incorporated into school policies and teaching programmes across the key learning areas” (p.
3). In recent Federal Government publications it is now suggested that schools should have
co-curricular programmes in Values Education (A whole school approach: Values Education
for Australian schooling poster, 2006).
Values Education in Tasmanian schools
Catholic schools are specifically established to promote Catholic values, which are
seen as an essential part of a Catholic school’s curriculum. Individual subjects, in a Catholic
school, are aimed not only at teaching knowledge but also at “the acquisition of values and
the discovery of truth” (The Catholic school, 1977, p. 34). “Every curriculum area or subject
that is taught within a Catholic school has a religious dimension, a capacity to assist students
to examine the world of human culture and the world of religion, providing knowledge and
skills, and fostering attitudes and values that are life-giving and that assist young people to
search for meaning and truth” (GNFL, 2005, p. 25). While values influence all aspects of a Catholic school they are particularly relevant
to the specific Religious Education curriculum of a Catholic school. The Religious Education
curriculum for the Catholic Archdiocese of Hobart, which covers all Catholic schools in
Tasmania, recognises the importance of values in Religious Education in Schools. This
curriculum, entitled Good News for Living (GNFL) (2005), emphasises the importance of
teaching values to students as a necessary component of an education in a Catholic school.
Among the core values and purposes listed as being essential to learning in a Catholic context
are:
• understanding, accepting and valuing differences among people personally, culturally,
spiritually and religiously.
• responding to situations with compassion and care for others.
• valuing the dignity of each person.
• being in solidarity with those who suffer.
• valuing and practising forgiveness and reconciliation.
• developing an informed moral conscience.
• being able to lead others, using the gifts of enterprise and innovation.
• seeking, speaking and living the truth.
• acting with an attitude of compassion and service towards others.
• upholding and protecting the most vulnerable lives.
• empathising with those who are poor, needy or marginalised.
• responding proactively to those who are poor, needy or marginalised.
• responding with compassion to those who are sick or in need.
• respecting the sanctity of life.
• valuing the freedom of all people.
• valuing human rights.
working for a just and compassionate society. (GNFL, pp. 86-87)

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CHAPTER 3: WHY VALUES?
“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are”
(Roy Disney, n.d.)
Introduction
This thesis deals specifically with the teaching of values to our young people and in
doing so it is necessary to comment on a number of questions related to this specific topic.
These questions include: Why values are important? How we have traditionally learnt our
values? and What has been the traditional role of schools in the teaching of values? This
chapter attempts to answer these particular questions and also notes the increased State and
Federal Governments interest and support for schools to play a key role in educating
Australian youth in values. Lastly, reference is also made to concerns about the Harry Potter
series because of its portrayal of certain aspects of society that may encourage the adoption of
unsatisfactory values and beliefs in opposition to established societal values.
The need for values
Values are a necessary part of any society, whether they been selected values that
belong to individuals or small groups, or values that are common to the vast majority of the
populace. While a society may be formed without a shared set of values it will not survive
for any great length of time because of the difficulty in reaching a consensus when major
decisions need to be made. As stated previously, values are “the priorities individuals and
societies attach to certain beliefs, experiences, and objects, in deciding how they shall live and what they shall treasure” (Hill, 1994, p. 7). Values guide us in our choices and in our
behaviour. If we believe that humans are capable of free choice then the choices they make
will be governed by their personal values.
We need values so that we are able to have some consistency in our behaviour and
expect some consistency in the behaviour of others. Without this consistency societies would
be unable to function because people would not be able to live with each other in stable
relationships. Furthermore, society would be unable to create long-term laws because for
laws to remain effective they need to be recognised by the majority of citizens as accurately
reflecting their wishes on what is acceptable behaviour. To a large degree there would be
anarchy because one person would be unable to trust another to complete a task whether it be
to provide them with an accurate diagnosis of their illness or complete the building of their
house. There would be no bonding of society members, no glue holding them together, so
there would be no society (Halstead, 1996, p. 7). In reality our values are an essential
defining factor in who we are and where we belong. In reality the values we exhibit through
our behaviour are one of the key ways in which people judge us.

How we develop values and what influences them
Individuals develop their set of personal values from their experience with external
values. This experience may come through their relatives, their friends, acquaintances,
teachers, different aspects of the society they live in, mass media, books they read, films they
view, a religion they become involved with, unpleasant experiences they may be involved
with and so on. By experiencing and observing these values people then choose their own set
of values. During their early years these values will change as children grow into adulthood
and their perceptions change. In adult life most people have settled on a set of personal values that change little for the rest of their lives. If a person changes their set of personal values
dramatically after they enter adulthood it is usually because they have undertaken some lifechanging
event.
Stories offer experiences of values, both negative and positive, without the reader
personally undertaking real-life experiences in these values. A person can experience the
effects of the persecution of the Jewish people by the followers of Nazism through the stories
of Jewish people who have written about these events. While a reader only receives a limited
perspective that is often enough of an experience to affect a person’s set of personal values.
In this way the Harry Potter series provides experiences of both negative and positive values
that, while set in an imaginary world, allow a reader to reflect on their own set of values. A
reader can experience the pain of Harry growing up without parents because of their death
due to the violence of another wizard seeking power. One can experience the embarrassment
of Ron Weasley due to the teasing of others because of his family’s poor economic situation.
This is exemplified when Malfoy and his companions discover Ron’s ancient dress robes,
‘Look at this!’ said Malfoy in ecstasy, holding up Ron’s robes and showing
Crabbe and Goyle. ‘Weasley, you weren’t thinking of wearing these, were you? I
mean – they were very fashionable in about 1890 …’
‘Eat dung, Malfoy!’ said Ron, the same colour as the dress robes as he snatched
them back out of Malfoy’s grip” (GoF, p. 150).
All stories that involve the depiction of people experiencing values provide the chance for
readers to experience the effect of those values without leaving the safety of their own
environment.

Education and values
As children are involved in educational institutions for a large part of their lives then
what occurs in those educational institutions will influence children’s values. Educational
institutions have commonly been viewed as containing a moral component (Straughan, 1988,
p.12). Through the daily interactions between teachers and students teachers are “seen to
support certain values by their encouragement or disencouragement of certain forms of
behaviour” (Straughan, p. 13). “More formally, the school, as an institution will, again
inevitably, underline certain values rather than others as a result of the particular style of
discipline it maintains and the rules which it enforces” (Straughan, p. 13). The school will
transmit values that they may not be aware of, part of a “hidden curriculum” (Straughan, p.
14). Catholic schools have, as a central aim, the transmission of values: “The Catholic school,
far more than any other, must be a community whose aim is the transmission of values for
living. “ (The Catholic school, 1977, p. 41)
This thesis deals specifically with the explicit, conscious attempts by schools to
transmit values and other critics, besides Roger Straughan (1988), also recognise this
relationship between schools and the transmission of values whether openly or through the
hidden curriculum (Halstead, 1996, pp. 3-4). In looking at the current teaching of values in
schools it is necessary to have some understanding of the history of Values Education in
Australian schools.
Australian schools’ history of Values Education
In the history of Australian schooling different approaches have been taken regarding
the education of students in values. In the 1860s to 1880s, both the religious schools and the state-funded schools of Australia saw that education involved more than achieving goals in
literacy and numeracy. Mary MacKillop’s Josephite schools, that began to be established in
the 1860’s, placed importance on educating students in Christian values because they were
Catholic school but even the charters of secular schools established in the 1870s and 1880s
stated that Values Education was a central aim of formal education because it was able to
assure “personal morality for each individual and a suitable citizenry for the soon to be new
nation” (Lovat, 2005b, ¶ 3). In the majority of the 1900’s Values Education was not seen as a
key outcome in secular educational facilities but there was certainly Values Education being
undertaken in both implicit and explicit ways. These values were seen as being an essential
part of the Australian culture and were generally centred on Christian-based, European/
Mediterranean values because the majority of Australia’s population had cultural ties to these
areas (Hill, 2004, p. 3). Many non-government schools, particularly those established by the
Catholic and Protestant Churches saw Values Education as a key part of their educational
mission. These values were of course Christian-based due to the religious affiliations of the
Churches involved.
With the cultural changes that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s many of these
communal values came under challenge. As Hill (2004) states, factors such as the advent of
global television, youth anger over the Vietnam War, and easy access to the birth control pill
helped cause changes in traditional values. Consumerism increased in 1980s and people
sought to satisfy their desires rather than communal ones. However, there was also a push for
rights for women and oppressed minorities (p. 3). Australia started to take immigrants from
other areas of the globe as the so-called “White Australia Policy” dissolved. Competing value
systems arrived with migrants who came from cultures that were not the traditional source of
Australia’s population. In the 1980s the Australian education system reacted to these cultural
changes.

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Is the Harry Potter series suitable for use in a Christian school?
As stated previously there have been spirited attacks on the Harry Potter series by a
number of critics which might indicate that the books are unsuitable for use in schools,
particularly those which are based on Christian values. The most publicised attacks have been
by religious groups. There were Harry Potter book burnings and removal of books from
school libraries (Killinger, pp. 2-3, Bridger, p. 4, Neal, 2001, pp. 5-6). These attacks on the
books may be seen as an indication of the moral right movement, the moral majority, which
has swept parts of the world, particularly the United States of America, where people wish to
return to (so-called) “old fashioned values” and protect their children from temptation
especially in an increasingly secular world. As mentioned previously critic Richard Abanes
also supports this view when he states that the series is “…steeped in a thinly disguised
occultism; it favors morally flawed, egocentric characters who lie with impunity, practice
occultic techniques, use profanity and refuse to repent; and it frequently depicts gratuitous
violence” (p. x). However, a reading of the books does not support Abanes’ view.
Other critics, besides Abanes and Dollins, have attacked the books as being
supportive of occultist practices, including Marian Horvat (2002) and Michael O’Brien (2001), yet it is important to remember, as mentioned previously, that the magic used in the
books is not of the occult type, as no supernatural power is called upon to provide one with
magical abilities. The magic depicted in the books is simply a talent that one is lucky enough
to be born with and, like all talents, can be developed. There have also been attacks on the
books because of their portrayal of other aspects of our society and these will be referred to
later in this thesis.
The ideologies of J. K. Rowling
As previously noted one’s interpretation of the Harry Potter series is always
influenced by the ideologies one brings to a reading of the text. Rowling, as mentioned, also
brings her own ideologies to the series. These ideologies are, of course, influenced by her
background (Shapiro, 2001, pp. 5-6), especially the loss of her mother, her bouts of
depression, her experience of welfare and her Christian upbringing and almost classical
education.
It is this author’s opinion that Rowling sees children’s literature as instructional in
focus. Harry is a child who teaches us about aspects important to one’s life although not in a
blatantly didactic manner. Through the actions, thoughts and comments of Harry, and other
righteous characters, we are given lessons in morality (Shapiro, 2001, p. 9). These include
lessons in the importance of friendship, the importance of choice, the need to show
forgiveness to others and that people have the ability to transform (Plyming, 2001, pp.10-21).
Rowling draws from her own history to illustrate, through Harry, the effects of depression
(Nel, 2001, p.21). The depiction of the Dementors is how Rowling felt when she suffered
from bouts of depression, that literally one’s soul was sucked from one’s body:

Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth. They infest the
darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair, they drain peace, hope and
happiness out of the air around them. . . . Get too near a Dementor and every good
feeling, every happy memory, will be sucked out of you. If it can, the Dementor will
feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself – soulless and evil.
You’ll be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life’ (PoA, p. 140).
Rowling also uses the character of Hermione to depict some of her own passions. This
includes trying to achieve justice in the world. Hermione is a mudblood who suffers her own
injustices. She fights for the house elves, which is reminiscent of Rowling’s work for
Amnesty International (Shapiro, 2001, p. 45). In addition Rowling and Hermione share a
great love of learning (Eccleshare, 2002, p.74 and Shapiro, pp. 5-6). Christian values
dominate Harry’s values as they did Rowling’s upbringing (Granger, 2002, p. x). The loss of
her own mother may have also influenced Rowling’s depiction of Harry’s loss of his parents
(Granger, 2002, pp. 46-47). While Harry’s parents died when he was very young he seems to
sense them close to him particularly in times of trouble and Rowling may feel the same about
the loss of her own mother. Rowling’s depiction of gender issues, as well as her depiction of
foreigners, are those that she is most familiar from through her British culture, particularly
traditional English children’s novels depiction of females and foreigners (Eccleshare, p. 81,
pp. 86-87). Throughout the Harry Potter novels there are limited female roles and there is
apparent discrimination in the depiction of foreigners. The French students who visit from
Beauxbatons have the attractive French accent and good manners (GoF, p. 221) and
Beauxbatons itself is French for “beautiful wands” (Colbert, 2001, p. 149). However, the
students from Durmstrang in Eastern Europe are not described so kindly, one boy is unable to
eat his food without spilling it on himself (GoF, p. 227), and their Head, Professor Karkaroff, is described as being thin with a weak chin, yellow teeth and cold eyes (GoF, p. 217), and is a
reformed Death Eater (GoF, p. 586). It is worth noting that the term Durmstrang is itself a
play on the German words for “storm and stress” which are “sturm und drang” (Colbert,
2001, p. 73) and that England fought Germany in both World Wars.
The format of the novels is influenced by the literature Rowling read and admired as
both a child and adult (Granger, 2002, pp. 30-34). The seven books in the Narnia chronicles
as well as the use of magic in the series may have influenced Rowling’s use of magic and her
decision to have seven Harry Potter books (Granger, 2002, p. 31, p.150). Her characters
draw their names and characteristics from books she is familiar with, particularly classical
books (Nel, 2001, p.16). Cedric Diggory’s name is a play on the character Digory Kirke in
the Narnia Chronicles, and the name of Hogwarts caretaker, Argus Filch, is a play on the
hundred-eyed Argus, son of Arestor, whom the goddess Juno asked to watch the heifer, Io, a
disguised maiden, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Nel, 2001, p. 16). Fawkes, Dumbledore’s
phoenix, is named after the famous English villain Guy Fawkes who attempted to blow up
the English parliament and Hagrid’s pet dog Fluffy reminds us of the three-headed dog
Cerebus found in Greek Mythology, especially when Hagrid “bought him off a Greek
chappie” (PS, p. 141). Other examples of these allusions to famous historical, fictional
characters and mythological creatures occur throughout the series.
Rowling’s view of authority, particularly government and bureaucracy, has likely
been influenced by her experience as a welfare mother under the Margaret Thatcher
government and her experience of New Labour (Granger, 2002, p. 90, Nel, 2001, pp. 39-40
and Blake, 2002, pp. 23-31). Rowling shows her love of books and her nearly classical
education (Granger, 2002, p. 151) through her depiction of educational institutions in the
series (Eccleshare, 2002, pp. 89-94). She values education highly but not necessarily some of
the pedagogies that dominate it. She also brings a particularly British perspective to class hierarchies in the series (Eccleshare, p. 80 and Nel, 2001, pp. 42-43). We see depictions of
privileged upbringing being attacked but our hero himself is privileged through the money
that is available to him. Harry and his friends illustrate the consumerism that Rowling herself
is familiar with from her own background (Westman, 2002). She also draws on the British
love of nostalgia, as Harry’s world is itself very nostalgic in its portrayal (Blake, 2002, pp.7-
15).
Rowling, like all of us, has been influenced by her past. She has her own ideological
perspective, which she brings to her writing whether consciously or unconsciously. Through
close reading of the text and the help of critics we are able to gain some understanding of
these ideologies.

hierarchies in the series (Eccleshare, p. 80 and Nel, 2001, pp. 42-43). We see depictions of
privileged upbringing being attacked but our hero himself is privileged through the money
that is available to him. Harry and his friends illustrate the consumerism that Rowling herself
is familiar with from her own background (Westman, 2002). She also draws on the British
love of nostalgia, as Harry’s world is itself very nostalgic in its portrayal (Blake, 2002, pp.7-
15).
Rowling, like all of us, has been influenced by her past. She has her own ideological
perspective, which she brings to her writing whether consciously or unconsciously. Through
close reading of the text and the help of critics we are able to gain some understanding of
these ideologies. our societies including the depiction of values which are consistent with those found in
modern Christian societies. The thesis author also felt that this study supported the view that
the books are suitable for use in our educational institutions including those catering for
students aged nine to fourteen years. Those critics who felt the series was dangerous for
young people to read were in the minority and their arguments were poorly grounded. This
study also caused the author to conclude that there was insufficient research into how young
people felt about the series.
The collective case study, both the interviews and focus group research, provided the
opportunity for the author to research how young people felt about the series and whether
they felt a connection with the books. Comments made by the students will be included in
later sections of the thesis but the research did indicate that many young people do generally
enjoy reading the novels, that they relate to the various characters in the stories and that they
comprehend that the stories are value laden.

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Where do we place the Harry Potter series in literature?
Based on critics’ responses and the reading of the series it is clear, as stated
previously, that the Harry Potter books are, “ . . . radically intertextual” (Stephens, 1992,
p.86). The series popularity may partly be explained through the large number of discourses
and genres that are apparent in the stories and therefore most readers can find something that
they relate to and feel comfortable with in the series (Eccleshare, 2002, p.15). The novels
draw on detective/mystery narratives, which have become a mainstay of modern literature as well as television and movie dramas (Alton, Elster, Zipes, Beck and Granger). Children are
familiar with the structure of such stories through the comics and novels they read as well as
the television shows they view and movies they watch. The popularity of television dramas
such as the various Law and Order and CSI programmes prove the continuing popularity of
the detective/mystery story in modern society. They also draw from the use of a serial format,
which provides ongoing adventures. Dickens used a serial form in many of his books, while
others have used it with characters in continuing adventures, such as Sherlock Holmes and
Tarzan. Modern society feels comfortable with this serial format through both literature and
other art areas such as television and movies, particularly those television series that are
classed as “Soap Operas”. We have serial characters such as Father Brown, Horace Rumpole,
Dr Who, Indiana Jones and James Bond, which have been very popular.
Rowling also draws from the boarding schools stories that have been popular in
English literature, most notably from the book Tom Brown’s Schooldays (Hughes, 1856)
(Alton, Elster, Skulnick & Goodman, et al.). Boarding school stories provide the audience
with an environment which would seem to provide a greater chance for adventure than the
family home. There are no parents around, food is always a topic of interest, large school
buildings provide hiding places, there is the competitive outlet of team sports and there is the
surrogate family consisting of the main character’s fellow schoolhouse members. The Harry
Potter series also draws from the key literary genres that have dominated story-telling for
generations. These are the genres of the Hero Journey/Quest, Mythical tales and Fairy
tale/Fantasy tales (Applebaum, Nikolajeva, De Rosa, et al.). Often these genres are
intertwined in literature but have become so familiar to us that we are comfortable with their
structure. This mixing of literary genres is particularly noticeable in The Lord of the Rings
(1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien. Harry is on a hero quest to struggle against those who wish to destroy him, usually
evil in character, and also to discover more about himself and the potential evil that lurks in
him. Such a hero is found in many stories including modern tales which students are aware of
including Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings, Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars series,
Simba in The Lion King, Shrek in Shrek or Neo in The Matrix. They are also familiar with
this genre in traditional tales including the story of Jesus. In the novels we are provided with
the traditional Archetypes, commented on by Carl Jung and others, especially the Child
(Harry) and the Shadow (Voldemort). The series also draws from the fairy tale tradition that
is still a prominent part of the Western education system. In particular, people have become
familiar with the traditional fairy tale happy ending after the struggle between good and evil,
therefore the endings of the published Harry Potter books are not unexpected.
While recognising that Rowling draws on a large number of literature genres and
combines them competently in her work, in the historic development of literature the Harry
Potter series is best placed in the Fantasy genre if one is to classify it into a particular genre.
While Rowling draws from many types of literature, her work is best classified in the Fantasy
genre because Harry spends the majority of his time in a fantasy world, the world of
wizardry. Rowling’s creation is closely related to fantasy literature in the tradition of C. S.
Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Lewis’s Narnia is also a fantasy land, it contains fauns, witches,
giants and other mythical creatures, while Tolkien’s Middle Earth can be seen as a
mythical/fantasy land in its use of magic, dwarves, orcs, trolls, wizards and dragons. In The
Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series these fantasy worlds
are also slightly blurred. Harry Potter’s world is meant to be our own world but one that is
hidden from us as is the world of Narnia, which is entered from our world, while Tolkien’s
Middle Earth is portrayed as occurring between the Second and Third Ages of the world
while we exist in the Fourth Age (Granger, 2004, p.7). However, Rowling’s work does not contain the allegorised Christianity that is an essential element in both Tolkien’s and Lewis’s
work (Blake, p. 95) but, as Kern states, with some reservations the Harry Potter books can be
read as Christian allegory (p. 219). Rowling’s work is similar to Lewis’s and Tolkien’s work
in that all three authors, through the use of fantasy, depict a moral hero on a quest. Like
Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings and the majority of the Penvensie children in The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter is seeking to discover more about himself as
well as save the world that surrounds him while making his decisions based on a moral code.

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Summary of themes in Literature Review
In summary, there are a variety of themes that come through in literature regarding
the Harry Potter series. As can be perceived from the previous statements of academic critics
further discussion of the subtexts of the books is required. There is much mention of moral
and spiritual messages that commentators feel influence those reading the series. As
mentioned, these viewpoints include that the novels promote occultism, that they are against
basic Christian beliefs, that they should be read only with parental guidance and that they
provide access to Christian beliefs which can be of benefit to all. There are interruptions of
the books as being modern-day morality plays (Granger, 2002), Harry Potter as a Christ
figure and the books as a modern day interpretation of the Gospels (Killinger, 2002), and that
the books are more an updated depiction of the Stoic moral system than of Christian beliefs
(Kern, 2003).
A large number of authors comment on the themes that are apparent in the novels
especially moral, social, political and spiritual themes. These include mention of solidarity,
empathy, self sacrifice, the nature of love, forgiveness, hope, faith, death, elitism, family, the
nature of inequality, injustice, prejudice, possibilities of transformation, ambiguity, making
choices, the nature of relationships/friendships, education, the nature of good and evil,
multiculturalism, the nature of authority and the exercise of political power. Different authors
provide opinions on the relevance of these themes to actions and events in the series (Cherrett, Eccleshare, Granger, Kern, Killinger, Neal, Plyming, et al.). Generally these
themes are seen as providing guidance in the religious instruction of our youth.
Many commentators and critics of the books make mention of the importance of the
names of the characters in the Harry Potter series and the names of places (Colbert, Nel,
2001, Killinger, Granger, Grimes, Schafer and Waters & Mithrandir). An example of this
importance is in the character of Professor Remus Lupin. If one knew that “Remus” was one
of the two brothers who was suckled by a she wolf in Roman mythology, that “Lupin” means
wolf-like in Latin and that the scientific name for the wolf is “Canis Lupus”, then a reader
may have worked out early in PoA that Professor Remus Lupin is a werewolf rather than the
announcement of his ailment over two thirds of the way through the book (Chp. 18). While
guide books often make reference to this, many of the more scholarly books also make
mention of the importance of names.
There are many articles and statements on what has been important in influencing the
creation of the Harry Potter series. Comments by critics provide information for the general
reader about aspects of the series that they may not be aware of. Many critics make mention
of the importance of archetypes, of the hero journey or monomyth in the creation of the
stories as well as the Arthurian legends and general mythical stories particularly those
featuring the clash of good and evil (Applebaum, Nikolajeva, Alton, De Rosa, Kornfeld &
Prothro, Nel, 2001, etc.). Many readers would be accepting of the series because they feel
comfortable with the literary genres that the series draws from. Critics assert that we have
become accepting of these types of stories because we come across them repeatedly whether
in books, films, television series or other mediums. This is important to understand as it
provides us with one of the reasons for the series’ popularity.
The importance of Charles Dickens, Roald Dahl and the Inkling writers, boarding
school stories, fairy tales, folk tales, magical tales and fantasy tales are also referred to (Granger, 2002, Alton, Elster, Lavoie, Park, McVeigh, Skulnick & Goodman, Zipes, Mills,
Beck, Black & Eisenwise, etc.). As with the hero journey, Rowling is drawing on literary
traditions that people identify with. These critics’ opinions make us reflect on the similarity
of Harry Potter to Cinderella, especially in their younger years, the depiction of characters in
the books, which are similar to those portrayed by both Dickens and Dahl. The critics’
assertions make us aware of the similarity of Harry to other wizardly characters such as Ged
from Ursula Le Guin’s The Earthsea trilogy (1979) or the students of Miss Cackle’s
Academy for Witches, from Jill Murphy’s book Adventures of the worst witch (1998)
(Cockrell, 2002, Pinsent, 2002).
Particularly relevant is the critical comment that is made on the importance of
Rowling’s social, political and cultural background on the ideologies that are contained in the
Harry Potter books (Westman, Blake, Gupta and Lankshear & Knobel). As many of the
readers of the novels are not British these statements make readers reflect on parts of the
subtext, which they would previously have found difficult to comprehend. Critics make
mention of Rowling’s depiction of government and bureaucracy in the books as well as her
portrayal of the education system and the media. Critics offer insight into these depictions
and their connection with Rowling’s background as a welfare mother, her experience of the
authority and power in Great Britain and her perceived feelings on the British education
system and the British media (Elster, Nel, 2001, Hopkins, et al.). From these critics we are
able to have some increased understanding of current and past political practice in both Great
Britain and the wider world and their apparent influence on the series, especially in areas of
consumerism (Blake, Zipes, Turner-Vorbeck, Applebaum, et al.).
Concerns are raised by a number of critics about the influence the books will have on
supporting inequalities that occur in our societies. These include areas such as racial
prejudice and gender bias (Gallardo-C & Smith, Gupta, Lavoie, et al.). These critics help us to perceive the complexities in trying to understand Rowling’s depiction of gender based on
how one interprets her text. Is her portrayal of gender objectionable because she is
reinforcing traditional and unacceptable gender roles (Park, Zipes, Dresang, et al.), or is
Rowling portraying gender as it really is to help us reflect on what we still have to do to
achieve real gender equity (Gallardo-C & Smith)?
Critics also provide perspectives on other aspects of the texts. Harry’s moral
development is referred to and its relevance to the readers of the series (Nel, 2001, Whited &
Grimes, Knapp, et al.). These critics provide us with some insight into Harry’s choices and
how they provide material to assist children in their own moral development. Harry’s
influence on boys reading (Doughty, 2002) is commented on as well as the problems in
translating Harry Potter into other languages particularly its Americanisation (Nel, 2002 and
Jentsch).
Through the increasing critical opinions that have been published about the Harry
Potter series readers are offered new interpretations of the text. Through these critical
comments readers are given the opportunity to gain more from the text than they may be able
to attain unassisted.

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6) Internet and Journal resources about the Harry Potter series
Internet sources also provide much information about the Harry Potter series. Due to
the large number of articles available on the Internet the author of this thesis has decided not
to express a view on them except in a general fashion. Many articles posted on the internet
come from recognised institutions and these reflect opinions about the series, especially in
regards to religious debate over the novels. The internet also provides a large number of
media stories about the series. Listed below are some articles that the author found of interest,
because they indicated the wide interest in the Harry Potter series as newsworthy.
• “Hogwarts Headache”, which is a medical condition apparently caused by reading a Harry
Potter book for too long at:
http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/04/stories/2003110402092200.htm
• Harry Potter books as being instructional books on the occult at:
http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n1380.cfm
• The Vatican supporting the reading of the Harry Potter books at:
http://www.natcatch.com/NCR Online/archives/022103/0221031.htm
• The Vatican against the reading of the Harry Potter books at:
http://www.envoymagazine.com/potter_warning.htm
• Symbolism and its importance in the Harry Potter books at:

http://homepage.mac.com/kia/potter/symbols.html
• Harry Potter and the theme of his hero journey at:
http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/editorials/edit-olanick02.shtml or
http://www.mythichero.com/new_world_mythology.htm
• Harry Potter as the new Prozac, relieving depression for children and others at:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story
Journal articles are fairly sparse regarding the Harry Potter series and also the
comments and ideas reflected in them are all found in the published books that have
previously been commented on. Generally, they have centred on views about the religious
debate over the novels, the literary value of the books and the series value in providing moral
guidance. The remarks on the series’ value in assisting readers with their moral education
would indicate some support for the series’ use in Religious Education.
Margie Beck (2001) emphasises the series’ value in teaching Religious Education
based on themes such as loyalty, friendship, trust and honesty. Colin Lankshear and Michele
Knobel (2001) remark on the metanarratives found in the series, particularly the triumph of
good over evil, and the humanistic metanarrative, which stresses the importance of
friendship, kindness and selflessness. Dan McVeigh (2002) comments on the traditions that
have influenced Rowling’s work including moral traditions. Sharon Black (2003) makes
mention of the way readers identify with Harry and the series relevance to Bettelheim’s work
on a child’s moral development and the need to identify with others. These opinions support
the view of the author of this thesis that children respond to books when they identify with
characters in the books. It also mentions that identification with a character is important for
children’s moral development and that moral development is an essential component of any
religious instruction. Nancy Knaap (2003) finds the books engaging and of literary worth,
especially in the manner in which they raise questions of moral significance for readers to consider. Mary Black and Marilyn Eisenwine (2001) mention varying views expressed about
the series but generally find that the series portrays positive messages, while William Louden
(2001) states how he identified with the characters and settings in the books.

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4) General literary criticism of the Harry Potter series
There is also another class of books written about the Harry Potter series and these
provide general information on and about the Harry Potter novels and Rowling. They are
designed for the general reader and discuss strengths, weaknesses, themes and issues raised in
the narratives. Authors offer varied perspectives on the series because of the ideologies that
affect their appraisal of them. As McGillis (1996) states: “all reading demands a theoretical
position on the part of the reader” (p. viii). McGillis also makes mention of the different
types of theoretical positions people bring to their reading of literature. These include reading
from a viewpoint based on an understanding of myths and archetypes, feminism, Marxism,
structuralism, formalism and post-structuralism criticism. Authors in this section and the
section below draw on these various theoretical positions to interpret the Harry Potter novels.
The most general of these critical books are: Contemporary classics of children’s
literature: A guide to the Harry Potter novels (Eccleshare, 2002), J. K. Rowling’s Harry
Potter novels: A reader’s guide, (Nel, 2001), and Beacham’s sourcebooks for teaching young
adult fiction: Exploring Harry Potter (Schafer, 2002). Julia Eccleshare (2002) is very general
in her approach to the Harry Potter novels but very perceptive in that she draws from a
variety of theoretical positions in reviewing the series without being overwhelmed by any particularly theoretical approach. She stresses the importance of the mythical hero in the
books and the use of archetypes for good and evil (pp. 17-18) and also speaks strongly on the
political and social views that Rowling supports in the books (pp. 74-93). Yet Eccleshare also
notes, from a feminist perspective, the unfavourable female stereotypes in the books (pp. 84-
88). Philip Nel’s (2001) work is in a similar vein to Eccleshare’s as he comments on the
different ideologies that are apparent in the series including racism, elitism, prejudice and the
abuse of power (pp. 42-46) and he also recognises the importance of the mythical hero in the
narratives (p. 36).
Elizabeth Schafer’s (2002) approach to the books is to analyse them from a number of
perspectives. She provides an overview of the history and cultural effect of the Harry Potter
series, a biography of Rowling, and an analysis of a variety of aspects of the novels including
the characters, themes, settings, school life, food, sports, curriculum, science and moral
codes. Schafer is particularly strong in the way she highlights the importance of myths,
archetypes and symbols in the series and other influences that affect Rowling’s work.
However, one may feel sceptical regarding some of her interpretations. One opinion that this
author was reluctant to agree with was the view that the Weasley’s flying car, which is able
to expand to accommodate the number of people who wish to travel in it as well as
accommodate their luggage (CoS), can be seen as a symbol of the womb (p. 225).
In this category are books that deal with the cultural impact of the Harry Potter series.
These books include Sticks and stones: The troublesome success of children’s literature from
Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter by Jack Zipes (2002) and The irresistible rise of Harry Potter
(2002) by Andrew Blake. Blake (2002) centres his work specifically on the cultural and
political phenomenon of the Harry Potter books and also mentions the importance of the
hero journey and Arthurian legends to the novels. He argues that the series is a product of
their political and cultural climate, which means that they are a reflection of current ideologies in Great Britain. Blake feels that the character of Harry Potter is a “retrolutionary”
(p. 15), rather than a revolutionary, because he represents “aspects of the future through terms
set by the past, in order to make it seem palatable” (pp. 8-9). Blake’s views are relevant as he
stresses that while the Harry Potter series explores the old and uses past literary forms, the
series deals with, under the surface, present concerns (pp. 17-26). However, Blake is limited
in his analysis by his pre-occupation with British society and culture and therefore fails to
provide his readers with an explanation of why the series has had remarkable success in other
parts of the world away from Great Britain. Blake gives many examples of how the series
reflects much of modern Great Britain’s culture and society, including politics, particularly
its consumerism and involvement in New Labour, as well as its nostalgia for its past.
Renowned literary critic Jack Zipes (2002) devotes a chapter of his book to the Harry
Potter series. Zipes work reflects his personal ideologies as he is a Marxist (Nodelman, p.
258), and a feminist interpretist of fairy tales (McGillis, p. 162). He points to the relevance of
the hero journey to the Harry Potter books, the use of fairy tale motifs and the use of
stereotypical female models in the novels. Zipes finds the novels tedious (p. 176) and
provides limited information on themes found in their covers. He feels that the series draws
on established literary traditions and that Harry Potter is just another Hardy boy with a
lightning-shaped scar on his forehead (p. 178). Zipes seeks books that will revolutionise
children’s thinking and provide them with new cultural and social models rather than make
them more acceptable of current social and cultural models (p. 188). He appears to be upset
with Rowling for not showing a new world view and he does not seem to understand that she
may rather be reflecting, through the books, on our current world situation. His research is
also limited in its reliability as he declares: “while children are not adverse to reading the
Harry Potter adventures and other books, they are adverse to spending money on them” (pp.
185-186), but bases this statement on the comments from one child he spoke to. 5) Academic publications critically examining the Harry Potter series
There is a group of books published specifically about the Harry Potter series that
may be classed as academic or scholarly texts. There are five published books in this area
which are: Re-reading Harry Potter, by Suman Gupta (2003), Reading Harry Potter: Critical
essays, edited by Giselle Anatol (2003), Harry Potter’s world: Multidisciplinary critical
perspectives, edited by Elizabeth Heilman (2003), The ivory tower and Harry Potter:
Perspectives on a literary phenomenon, edited by Lana Whited (2002) and Harry Potter and
Philosophy: If Aristotle ran Hogwarts, edited by David Bagget and Shawn Klein (2004). In
each of these books the authors also bring their ideologies to their study of the Harry Potter
series and therefore a wide variety of interpretations of the text and how it speaks to people
are provided.
Gupta’s (2003) book is, in many ways, particularly disappointing. He uses a “text to
world” methodology which has as its key objective “to understand how specific texts and
their readings lead outwards towards and devolve from the world they occur within” (p.22).
This approach assumes “the content of texts and their possible readings have something to do
with their social and political effects, and indicate something of the social and political
effects, and indicate something of the social and political circumstances they derive from” (p.
22). In reality Gupta really only states what has already been stated previously, particularly
by Blake (2002) and Zipes (2002), which is that the Harry Potter series is based on aspects of
Rowling’s own culture and society (pp. 50 – 52). Gupta’s aim is to concentrate on the
“political and social effects that constitute the Harry Potter phenomenon” (p. 14). The book
tells us something about the social and political world we inhabit (p. 13). This includes
observations on gender, class and slavery. Much of Gupta’s book is a simple reflection on the
realities of our world, both good and bad, e.g. the type of advertising we are inundated with is reflected in the world of Harry Potter (pp. 133-140). A large section of the book contains
long statements on academic controversies or on Gupta’s own views on various areas
including his view that “belief in a Christian world-view seems no more ‘real’ than belief in a
magical world view” (p. 74). This is a particularly controversial comment.
The remaining books in this area contain a number of worthwhile articles, too
numerous to analyse individually. All the articles are by scholars and/or teachers and provide
insight into a large number of areas including the cultural phenomena of the Harry Potter
series as well as many literary aspects of it that have been raised by other critics previously
commented on. Heilman’s (2003) book categorises its contents by the perspectives that
contributors have written from. Tammy Turner-Vorbeck, in her article Pottermania: Good,
clean fun or cultural hegemony? takes a Marxist approach, like Zipes, to the series because of
the way in which the novels seem to support a certain cultural and social model and
encourage this model’s continuance (p. 14), while Maria Nikolajeva’s article, Harry Potter-A
return to the romantic hero (2003), takes a literary perspective in looking at the hero journey
in the series.
An article that I found relevant for this study was written by Hollie Anderson (2003),
a Navajo Indian, who took a reader-response perspective to the books. In the article, Reading
Harry Potter with Navajo eyes, she states that she had been sent to boarding school and found
that in reading the series of books she found “many of the themes pertinent to me personally
as an alien student disconnected from the familiar and also to the experiences of my parents,
both of whom attended boarding school” (Anderson, 2003, p. 97). Thus, she responded to the
series on a very personal level. This particular article shows how one person related to the
Harry Potter narrative, they identified with the novels. It is this connection with narratives
that make them a powerful tool in education. If students relate in a similar way to aspects of
the series then they are more likely to learn from it. Whited’s (2002) book also offers a variety of articles but is dominated by seven
articles which take a particularly literary perspective of the Harry Potter novels in seeking to
trace the influences that have led to their creation. A well-written article is Mary Pharr’s
article In medias res: Harry Potter as hero-in-progress (2002). This article looks at the
central character of Harry Potter as being one who brings with him the wisdom of a myriad of
earlier heroes, especially the so-called monomyth, and with each of his adventures he refines
that wisdom with modern knowledge (p. 66). There are also a number of articles on the social
and political aspects of the books including its relationship not just to New Labour but also to
Thatcherism (Westman, 2002), the series’ value as a means of generating income for
commercial enterprises (Borah, 2002) and the contradictions in the series over issues of
equality versus privilege and exceptionalism (Mendlesohn, 2002).
Anatol’s (2003) book also is separated into sections. One section provides articles on
reading the series in relation to childhood theories, another section is on literal influences on
the books and the third section is on morality and social issues in the novels. All the articles
are useful as they provide input into various areas including both Jungian and Freudian
interpretations of the books, how children acquire knowledge in similarity with the characters
in the series, how Harry’s actions and decisions can assist children in the moving from the
simple black and white issues to the more grey areas, issues of racism, materialism and
slavery portrayed in the books, technology and its effect in alienating people, legal concepts
in the magical world, further discussion on the British love of nostalgia as portrayed in the
books, class prejudices and gender issues. Many of these articles offer new light or reinforce
previously-published views.
Bagget and Klein’s book (2004) takes a philosophical view of the Harry Potter series.
It has specific chapters on the ethics in the series particularly the battle between good and evil
(Deavel & Deavel, 2004, Weed, 2004). Mention is also made of Harry’s virtues and their relevance to his success (Morris, 2004, Hsieh, 2004, Walls, 2004, Patterson, 2004). There is
also a chapter by Mimi Gladstein (2004), which strongly supports Rowling’s depiction of
gender. Gladstein feels that the Harry Potter world is “a world where equal opportunity
among the sexes is a given” (p. 49). These four edited books also show how the novels have
made people reflect on the Harry Potter series in regard to their own beliefs.

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3) General guides about the Harry Potter series
A number of general guides have been published which provide further insight into
the books, particularly in the creatures and names Rowling uses in the books. The authors of
these texts provide information for the readers of the Harry Potter series so that they may get
more meaning from the text. These writers generally have the ideological presupposition that
the readers of the Harry Potter series will gain more from the novels by comprehending more
obscure details including the apparent meaning of characters’ names in the book, the history
of alchemy and the myths that involve creatures mentioned in the books. These guides stress the importance of intertextuality, which is “The production of meaning from the
interrelationships between audience, text, other texts, and the social –cultural determination
of significance” (Stephens, 1992, p.84). They assume, perhaps rightly, that modern youth are
not as well educated in the classic literature as older readers may be and therefore they want
to assist readers in gaining more from the Harry Potter series. Through this intertextuality we
gain greater meaning for ourselves (Nodelman, 1996, p. 22).
These books include The sorcerer’s companion: A guide to the magical world of
Harry Potter (Kronzek & Kronzek, 2001), Ultimate unofficial guide to the mysteries of Harry
Potter (Waters & Mithrandir, 2002-2003), New clues to Harry Potter: Book 5: Hints from the
ultimate unofficial guide to the mysteries of Harry Potter (Waters & Mithrandir, 2003), The
magical worlds of Harry Potter (Colbert, 2001) and A muggle’s guide to the wizarding
world: Exploring the Harry Potter universe (Boyle, 2004). David Colbert’s book is the most
useful in amplifying meanings that can be found within the text of the Harry Potter series. He
is particularly vehement in stressing the literary traditions Rowling draws upon - the tales,
myths and legends that are relevant to her work, and the literal meaning of Latin words used
in the books. His notes on the real-life alchemist, Nicholas Flamel, and the use of the
Archetype hero story plot structure found in Rowling’s works are particularly valuable.
Granger (2002) also mentions this connection (p. 26-27), as does Houghton (2001, pp.16-18,
pp. 35-36). Houghton also comments on the importance of myths in assisting us in reaching
an understanding of some profound truths about human existence (pp. 36-41). Allan and
Elizabeth Kronzek (2001) are particularly emphatic regarding magical connections in the
Harry Potter narratives, while Galadriel Waters’ and Astre Mithrandir’s books (2002-2003,
2003) are aimed at the youth audience, as they call their readers “Harry Potter Sleuths”. Their
books provide a chapter by chapter guide to each Harry Potter novel offering clues, Rowlinguistics (names used by Rowling that originate in French, Latin and other languages),
and miscellaneous curiosities and oddities.
A more specialist guidebook is Roger Highfield’s book The Science of Harry Potter
(2002). While limited to the area of science it is useful in that it provides insights into topics
such as astrology, the history of witchcraft, alchemy, etc. It also provides an understanding of
the connection between science and much of the magic exhibited in the book series.