Thank you so much for the quick and extensive reply! My own comes a little late due to RL business.
It's true he didn't write allegory, but he did expect that his works would be applicable to our world, as, indeed, they are. And - Most fantasies do comment on right behavior and what it means to be a free, adult person.
I agree but I still believe, that while Tolkiens fiction (and other fantasies) comment on dateless values, HP in certain ways is (also) a comment on the modern western society.
I am inclined to agree with her. Even if you don't agree that Rowling's real bent is towards horror, I think it's pretty clear that her magical World is parasitic and intellectually, imaginatively, and morally stunted, as are most of its inhabitants. It's not a good place.
I totally agree! The strong ambiguity of all the characters and of the presented moral standards often gave me a really awkward feeling while reading. Come to think of it, this could be one of the reasons why I gave up on the books in mid-series years ago (I’m currently re-reading). On the other hand, I think, that this deeper layer of the text, which shows a very flawed world, is part of what makes the books so good.
And what I was saying with this essay is that perhaps Rowling means us to see that the Magical World is not a good place, and that it tends to stunt its inhabitants in various ways.
I see your point but I believe, that by presenting their Magic World as a bad place, the books present the real world as a not so good place in some ways, too. In my opinion HP contains strong references to the real world and presents a quite interesting study on how human relations might work.
By the way, I think we agree on the fact, that the HP books deface the virtues of classical fantasies by adding a dark aspect to them, e.g. friendship goes with social exclusion of “less deserving” individuals, fatherly guidance goes with manipulation and instrumentalisation – Dumbledore is Gandalf perfect counterpart. I find this to be equally disturbing and ingenious.
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Date: 2009-10-21 10:33 pm (UTC)I agree but I still believe, that while Tolkiens fiction (and other fantasies) comment on dateless values, HP in certain ways is (also) a comment on the modern western society.
I totally agree! The strong ambiguity of all the characters and of the presented moral standards often gave me a really awkward feeling while reading. Come to think of it, this could be one of the reasons why I gave up on the books in mid-series years ago (I’m currently re-reading). On the other hand, I think, that this deeper layer of the text, which shows a very flawed world, is part of what makes the books so good.
I see your point but I believe, that by presenting their Magic World as a bad place, the books present the real world as a not so good place in some ways, too. In my opinion HP contains strong references to the real world and presents a quite interesting study on how human relations might work.
By the way, I think we agree on the fact, that the HP books deface the virtues of classical fantasies by adding a dark aspect to them, e.g. friendship goes with social exclusion of “less deserving” individuals, fatherly guidance goes with manipulation and instrumentalisation – Dumbledore is Gandalf perfect counterpart. I find this to be equally disturbing and ingenious.