I’m fully aware that I’m late to the party. The original readers of The Sorcerer’s Stone are approaching middle age. For the longest time, I ignored the books (and movies). Still, I would like to give a critique after I read them after my daughter picked them up to read.
First of all, as an evangelical Christian, I just want to plead with fellow Christians, can we stop being the caricature of stupidity that so many would like to paint us as? Specifically, can we stop writing this?
And this?
I think the sample-size is large enough now to know that the Harry Potter series did not lead millions into the occult.
After reading the books, myself, I can see the attraction. They are obviously well-written. The characters are developed. The plots are thought out. Rowling, of course, did a great job aging the books as her audience aged.
My major grievance with the books is what they embody. I am attempting not to paint people with a broad, generational brush. The “Greatest Generation” had their share of the selfish and the miserable. And, I am convinced that there was nothing that shaped that generation more than the required dual sacrifice of coming of age in the Depression followed by the calamity and victory of World War II. Set the members of the Greatest Generation twenty years later, and they probably would become as selfish as the Boomers.
Still, much can be said about why the children who first read these books gravitated to them and why they kept reading them. Do these books have anything to say or shape the Millennials?
Out of all the series, my least favorite was the fifth, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (OOTP) I’m certain many will agree, one of the most despicable, least-liked character in the books, Dolores Umbridge. Professor Umbridge becomes an autocrat, almost destroying Hogwarts School and intentionally antagonizing Harry. She accuses Harry of lying when Harry has been speaking truthfully. She administers cruel punishments upon him. For most of the book, everyone is powerless to stop her.
Harry doesn’t hold up under Professor Umbridge’s tyranny that well. He fights. He rebels. He stands up to her in public.
I hope the Millennials reading this have not realized that in the professional world there are many Dolores Umbridges and that in some cases, hold a position of authority. I, myself, have had four such supervisors over me in my professional life. If I were to emulate Harry, I would be unemployable. If they haven’t, I’m sure they’ve received rude awakenings. Sometimes, in life, managers, bosses, and supervisors don’t treat you fairly and accuse you of lying, or other sins, that you are innocent of. That is life.
The core of Millennial selfishness shown in these books comes at the end of OOTP. After Harry loses his father-figure, he comes to Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore starts the conversation. “There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry.” (OOTP 823)
Harry proceeds to throw a temper tantrum, including throwing and breaking stuff around Dumbledore’s office. Dumbledore is nothing, but apologetic to Harry. Harry breaks something. “’By all means continue destroying my possessions,’ said Dumbledore serenely. ‘I daresay I have too many.’” (OOTP 825)
If Harry were my son/student/final hope for salvation, I would still have taken him over my knee and given him a good spanking.
And this is what I feel embodies the Millennial coddling more than anything else. Everything is subservient to Harry’s feelings. Dumbledore keeps apologizing and apologizing and blaming himself. It is the idolatry of a person’s feelings that reign supreme in this chapter. Harry rages in his temper tantrum. Dumbledore just takes it.
Again, I hope the original readers and the millennial generation has moved past this. In any employment setting, a manager wouldn’t hesitate a second to fire any person having a temper tantrum like this. Once the objects started flying, security would be called if not the police.
My favorite fantasy work is Tolkien’s. the themes of sacrifice and responsibility contrast sharply with the Harry Potter series. Frodo is the picture of sacrifice and responsibility and Tolkien is hard on him. Frodo saves all that is dear to him, only to discover that he no longer can inhabit that which he has saved. With a sense of loss, Frodo departs from the world of Middle-Earth forever. By contrast, Harry Potter blows up Voldemort to the cheers of the adoring throng. He’s LeBron James being feted after winning a championship. How many “likes” did Harry receive after conquering evil?
If a reader wants a better series that bring out eternal themes, read Tolkien. If a reader wants to understand the warts of a generation, dig into Harry Potter.
Comments