Re-reading Harry Potter

I finished reading Harry Potter this week to my kids. This is my third time through the series. Each reading have brought fresh insights. I wanted to share some reflections on the last three books.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The genius of this book is that we see that Harry Potter is not perfect. We see that flaws exist in everyone. At different parts, Harry is not a likeable fellow. We also see that one of Harry's teachers tortures Harry. This woman is suppose to be fighting evil, but she uses evil to fight evil. This reminds one of Machiavelli's the ends justifies the means. In addition, Harry's intellectual curiosities leads to terrible results. He is warned against following them, but he is unable to restain.

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince: Harry finds a textbook that had belonged to the Half-blood prince. His book is filled with his markings and his notes. It is like two books in one. Some people say you shouldn't write in your books, but Mortimer Adler argued that is the way we gain ownership of the book. Marking your book will help you to be a more active reader.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: At the end of the previous book, Dumbledore gave Harry the job of destroying horcruxes. Voldemort has split his soul into seven pieces. These horcruxes must be destroyed for Voldemort to die. Harry, however, finds out about the Deathly Hallows which would allow one to be the master of all others. Harry cannot do both. He must choose between destroying horcruxes or acquiring the deathly Hallows.

 After Dumbledore's death, many unknown truths about Dumbledore becomes common knowledge. These truths cast doubt on Dumbledore's goodness. Harry struggles for belief in Dumbledore despite these doubts. I believe Rowling is alluding to the Christian's struggle to believe in God. I think this novel shows that we ultimately are free to choose if we are going to believe. In the last part of the book Harry sacrifices his life for others and comes back to life. I think Rowling is pointing to the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Harry Potter books are not perfect, but they are very good. Harry Potter, however, is fun to read and it points to the permanent things, like truth, goodness, and beauty.

Is Dumbledore Gay? : Can Literary Criticism Help?

A few years ago J. K. Rowling created a controversy when she announced that she had "always thought of Dumbledore as gay." When I first heard about this statement, I asked myself why would she make such a statement and why now. This was after the seventh volume had been published and the series completed. It seemed to me it would just give ammunition to those who are opposed to the Harry Potter series. The question this leads one to ask Is Dumbledore gay because Rowling says he is? There are at least three possible answers from three different theories of literary criticism. These three theories are intentionalism, structuralism, and reader-response theory. Karen Kebarble does a good job in showing how these three different theories could answer our question in her essay, "If Rowling Says Dumbledore is Gay, is He Gay? : Harry Potter and the Role of Authorial Intention" in Hog's Head Conversions: Essays on Harry Potter edited by Travis Prinzi. Kebarble argues the intentional view, but she notes, "What Rowling says in interviews does not determine the meaning of the texts, but what she intended as she wrote them does."

Kebarble and others think that the evidence in the text is non-conclusive. She gives possible reasons for this: Rowling was writing for both kids and adults and hid the meaning.; there was no intent; or Rowling failed to communicate. I find the evidence proving Dumbledore as gay lacking in the text. I think Rowling was making a political statement because she believes in diversity. I believe in author's intention, but they are not the only voice in the process of interpretation.

Hog's Head Conversations

Hog's Head Conversations: Essays on Harry Potter. Edited by Travis Prinzi. Allentown, PA: Zossima Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-9822385-8-5.

Since the publishing of the last novel of the Harry Potter series, scholarly and popular assessment of the series continue to pour from the press. Some of these books are pointed at the scholarly community and others at a more popular audience. I believe this book is pointed at both. The writing is clear and readable for the generally educated public. The more scholarly, academic essays are in the last section. These essays are fun to read and add new insights to Harry Potter. The authors include well-well known Potter scholars and even an Inkling scholar, Colin Manlove. Some of the other authors are John Granger, Amy H. Sturgis, James W. Thomas, and others. The editor, Travis Prinzi, authored an excellent earlier work, Harry Potter and the Imagination.

All of the essays are worth reading. Some of the best are Colin Manlove's "The Literary Value of the Harry Potter Books," Thomas's "Repotting Harry Potter," Tumminio's "God and Harry Potter at Yale," and Sturgis's "When Harry Potter met Faerie." Manlove defend Harry Potter as great literature. Manlove is an acknowledged expert on fantasy literature and has written books on C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of narnia, and Christian Fantasy. Manlove analyses the structure of Harry Potter and how it compares with great literature. Thomas also focuses on the literary value on Harry Potter. He is professor of English at Pepperdine university and has written Repotting Harry Potter: A Professor's Book-by-Book Guide for the Serious Reader. In his essay he addresses two different critics of the Harry Potter Books, professional critics like Harold Bloom and Conservative Christians. Trumminio who teaches theology explores theological themes in the series. She also teaches a class at Yale called God and Harry Potter. Sturgis's essay provides evidence how Harry Potter contains similarities with the Lord of the Rings and fits Tolkien's and Lewis's criteria for a Faerie story. She also addresses the complaints that Harry Potter is too scary for kids and too childish for adults to read. Would Tolkien and Lewis read it if they were still alive?


These are just some of the excellent essays in this book. It was fun reading and I gained new insights about the series. These essays reaffirmed that there is a great depth to Harry Potter.

Informed Learning and Hermione Part 2

2. "Informed Learning is Experienced as Sourcing Information to Meet a Learning Need."

This is something that Hermione does often. For example, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter is competing in the Triwizard tournament. The tournament consists of three tasks. Hermione helps Harry prepare for these tasks by researching with him in the library. She and Harry spends large amounts of time researching in the library's resources for clues on how to fight a dragon in the first task. In the second task, she is frustrated because she hasn't been able to find the answer to her question in the library's resources. Hermione assumes that if we have a question that we need answered, we can find the answer in a book or some other information resource.

The sad part is the librarian in the Harry Potter series does not seem much help. She is always shushing people and making sure they are following all the rules. In task number two, Harry is sleeping in the library after staying up all night studying in the library. That is an interesting thought. It is an house-elf, Dobby, who delivers the answer to Harry and Hermione's question. The Informed Learning Model emphasizes this relational element of information searching.

Informed Learning and Harry Potter Part 1

Bruce, Christine Susan. Informed Learning. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-8389-8489-5

Christine Bruce in chapter 3 of her book, Informed Learning, describes seven faces of informed learning. I want to look at Hermione, a character in Harry Potter, through these seven faces.

1. "Informed Learning is Experienced as Using Technology to Communicate and Keep Abreast of Developments in the field."

I would broaden this idea to beyond technology to all the different means we keep current in a particular field and discipline. This would include conversations with others, e-mails, blogs, and listservs.

Hermione is constantly learning in the Harry Potter series. For example, she has a subscription to the Daily Prophet, even though she does not believe everything in it. Hermione is a critical observer of media. She spends lots of time in the library doing research. She researches anything she is interested in at the time. I like to think that I received two degrees an an undergraduate. One was my formal education and its required classes and the second was the reading I did on my own. Ron in book 4 asks how Hermione can do all of this non-required reading and research with all the requirements of their schoolwork. Hermione somehow finds time to do both.

Hermione is an example of an inquisitive learner. She never stops learning. We are more motivated and focused when we are reading and researching topics that interest us.

Why Do I keep Re-reading Harry Potter

It is a strange thing, but I keep re-reading Harry Potter. I am now reading it for the 3rd or is it 4th time. I do not remember. I am now on the number 4 and am reading it aloud to my family. It works great as a read-aloud. I thought it was crazy when I heard that kids and Adults were reading it multiple times, such as ten times or more. I do not know If I will read it that many times. Why do people keep re-reading Harry Potter?

One reason is it is a pleasure to read. It is a sad situation that people don't read for pleasure. I have been told by many friends they do not re-read fiction books. Why not? I guess if you are reading for the plot, one reading is sufficient. So why do people keep re-reading Harry Potter since they know the plot. Rowling is a creative author. She is steeped in the classics and draws from many classic works. Jane Austen is her favorite author and she has read Pride and Prejudice several times. By the way, C. S. Lewis enjoyed Jane Austen too. Rowling even said Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia has had a great influence on her. Harry Potter operates on many levels so one can keep finding more in it in repeated readings.

Even Samuel Johnson said, "I am always for getting a boy forward in his learning for that is a sure good. I would let him at first read any English book which happens to engage his attention ; because you have done a great deal when you have brought him to have entertainment from a book. He'll get better books afterwards."

One thing I have noticed is that certain views changes after repeated-readings. For example, because of my evangelical background, I was first concerned about the magic in the series. After the second and third readings I noticed that magic is not really what the books are about. They are merely vehicles to tell the story. I think most people who are against Harry Potter because of literalistic thinking. They do not understand the concept of imaginative thinking. For example, Prof. Treelawny is actually critiqued in the books. If Harry Potter is about magic, it is the magic of love.

One aspect of the last book I have find quite interesting is the quest of Harry Potter. Harry Potter's task is to search for Horcruxes to destroy for them. This assignment is given to him by Dumbledore who is now dead. The interesting thing is that revelations have shown Dumbledore to have been not exactly as everyone believed him to be. Harry Potter struggles with doubts and his image of Dumbledore. Can he trust him? I think Rowling is depicting the quest for God and dealing with doubts and unbelief. She has referred to her own struggles to believe in God. I find this quest encouraging in my own quest for God. Another person that searches for God is Binx in Walker Percy's The Moviegoer, but that is a topic for another blog.

Liberal Arts Education

Gregory Bassham's essay, "A Hogwarts Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" (in The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy) notes the importance of a Liberal Arts education. First, he points out what is good with a Hogwarts education. It provides "hands-on-learning." The students come to school to learn how to do magic. For example, the students are upset when Umbridge provides them "purely theoretical textbook assignments." The students' training in magic is similar to an apprenticeship. The professor shows them how to do it and then they do it under his supervision. Coaching and mentorship is an important part of their training. Another positive point of their education is that it builds "on the natural interests of the students." Research has shown that students perform better and are more motivated on things that interest them. A third thing that Hogwarts education does is connect what they are learning to everyday life.

Bassham points out three bad things that characterize a Hohwarts education:

• The School is too dangerous
• There are too few qualified teachers
• Students don't get a well-rounded education. (215)

I will concentrate on the lack of a broad education. Bassham asserts that a Hogwarts education "offers a narrow and vocationally oriented education." Though it gives students the "tools of power," it does not give them the "wisdom to use them." Mortimer Adler noted three things that an education should provide: "to earn a living in an intelligent and responsible fashion, to function as intelligent and responsible citizens, and make both of these things serve the purpose of  leading intelligent and responsible lives---to enjoy as fully as possible all the human goods that make a human life as good as it can be."

When I first went to college, my goal was to get a degree so I could enter a particular field. Half-way through I discovered that learning is an end in itself. Learning is an intellectual good. Professional or career-oriented learning is not enough to live a good life.

Is Harry Potter Evil?

The Harry Potter controversy has been going on since the publication of the first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The controversy seems to have calmed down quite a bit since the publication of all seven novels and the release of all seven films. What was this controversy about? The major issue was over witchcraft and there were minor issues like Harry's practice of breaking school rules. Many Christians believed the books promoted witchcraft. Christians not only attempted to prevent Christians from reading the books, but non-Christians too. They even put pressure on schools and libraries to remove them from their shelves. On the other hand, many individuals praised the books and were excited about them. Many librarians and teachers were excited to see young people reading instead of playing video games. Not only teen-agers were reading the series, but it was also popular with college students and older adults.

I attended a church service where the quest preacher denounced Harry Potter. In his sermon, he declared that the Harry Potter books were evil and thought they promoted witchcraft. The sermon was well-timed since a new Potter book was coming out the next day. As far as I can remember, he urged the congregation to stay away from it and not to be one of the persons who bought a copy. By strange coincidence, I was one of the individuals who bought a copy the next day. I have tremendously enjoyed reading the Harry Potter novels. They both delight and teach. I think the Potter critics are wrong in asserting that they are not the same kind of books written by J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. I think the Harry Potter books are good companions to The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.

First Post-Harry Potter

This is my first post.

The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Muggles edited by Gregory Bassham. Wiley, 2010.

Having read the earlier book, Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Howarts which was published in 2004 with only 5 books in the series published and very pleased with it. I was wondering what these authors could add to the earlier book. The recent volume covers all seven volumes, but its main focus is the last two volumes. The new volume is a great complement to the earlier volume. Some of the themes explored in this new volume are "The redemption of Severus Snape," Dumbledore and the quest for power, free choice versus abilities and the contrast between Voldemort and Harry. This book will enrich the experience of reading Harry Potter. It will help the reader to see the great depth of wisdom that lies within the Harry Potter series.