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"Harry's Just Like Me"Mar 06 '00 (Updated Mar 15 '00) Write an essay on this topic.J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter books are endearing, mystical, and just plain fun. Librarians across the country report that boys in the middle grades, the age group that is most difficult to interest in reading, flock to Harry Potter (and, happily, go onto other titles.) Why? It's obvious that the wonderful and funny images make the stories irresistible. But beneath all of that, Rowling presents us with one undeniable fact: Harry is an ordinary kid in ordinary situations. Kids can relate to him. How can one call a wizard an ordinary kid? How can one call Harry's escapades ordinary situations? Here's how... Harry starts off as the underdog -- someone with whom kids can identify. He has normal desires and hopes, none of which seem attainable at first. And then something wonderful happens that makes him special. Even so, Harry is confused and unsure of himself. At times we see him struggling to learn his lessons in the wizard school. We see him and his friends become the victims of bullying or intolerant behavior. Harry's trials may take place in a school for wizards, but they also occur in the readers' schools and lives. In each book, we see Harry become more confident, overcoming the odds. What child can't latch onto that? It represents hope and achievement at the highest level! The situations that Rowling creates, while fantastic in their magic, are based in every day concepts. Prejudice, bullies, seeing the good in unusual people, doing the right thing, supporting friends -- all ideas that lend themselves well to teaching lessons. And Rowling teaches the lessons in the most unobtrusive and creative ways! She gives us everything: magic, surprises, fun, interesting plots, outrageous characters, fantastic creatures -- and a boy who has to deal with it all, just as every other kid has to deal with his/her environment.  |
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