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Perspectives On Harry Potter
Anne Groenenboom
During the past year or so, there has been much debate in Christian
circles, about the suitability of the Harry Potter books for our
children’s reading. For those of you who have not heard of Harry Potter,
the story starts when Harry, upon reaching the age of eleven, discovers
that his parents (both of whom have been dead for ten years) were
wizards and that he himself is a wizard. Harry, who has been under the
care of his extremely cruel and unloving aunt and uncle (both of whom
are “muggles” or non-wizards), is summoned to attend a school for
wizards, remarkably similar to those traditional English boarding
schools much loved by children’s writers.
So far there are four books in the series, each dealing with a year in
Harry’s school life. The author, J K Rowlings, doesn’t really believe in
magic but enjoys thinking ”What if...?” and she has planned seven books
in all to cover seven years of schooling for Harry and his friends.
These books have been an outstanding success because of the response
they have received from both children and adults. Even children who have
previously had very little interest in reading are eager to read about
Harry and his often hair-raising adventures, as he copes with the more
obnoxious members of his peer group and also the evil Voldemort, master
of the Dark Arts and killer of Harry’s parents. When the much-awaited
fourth book was finally released for sale last year, hundreds of kids,
together with their parents, camped outside bookstores overnight, to
purchase it before stocks ran out.
When it was suggested that these books could be a topic for the T&S
Kids’ Page, I rather reluctantly started reading the first in the
series. Normally I dislike fantasy-type fiction, but I was surprised to
discover that I was enjoying the book immensely, so much so that I read
the others in rapid succession. Some Christians consider that these
books are totally unacceptable for children of Christian families,
because Christians should have nothing to do whatsoever, with the topic
of witchcraft. I have collected several HP reviews from various
Christian magazines and all but one recommended that the books should be
accepted as being suitable, especially if they are read with parental
input.
In the Scripture Union magazine, “Keeping in Touch” (issue 4, 2000) an
Anglican minister from England, is quoted “These books are being called
classics of English literature and are compared with “The Narnia Tales”
of C S Lewis or Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.” Harry Potter’s world is
one of make-believe rather than must believe. This is children’s fiction
not a DIY manual on satanism. If the fictional world of Harry Potter is
dangerous, then so is Narnia, with its equally supernatural setting of
witches, magic and talking animals.”
He adds, ”I want to protect my children against damaging influences and
I disagree with what witchcraft in the real world teaches, but I don’t
think this is what Harry Potter is about. I hope that sharing my
concerns with my children about the dangers of believing in magic as the
solution to life’s problems will be more effective if I allow them to
read Harry Potter and then talk about it with them.”
The one correspondent with adverse comments, the editor of the
“Evangelical Presbyterian” (Nov/Dec 2000) also mentions this comparison
with Narnia, saying that kids would see Harry as belonging to the real
world, whereas “we all know that Narnia is an imaginary world”. I
totally disagree with this statement. Kids ONLY know this because it has
been communicated to them somehow or other. All children have to learn
the difference between imaginary themes and what could actually happen.
We can’t just assume that they know these things. The use of stories
such as The Narnia Chronicles and the Jungle Doctor books are useless as
a means of communicating Bible truths UNLESS the association is clearly
explained and reinforced. I’m not merely talking about the difference
between fact and fiction, I’m talking about the difference between
fictional events which are within the range of possibility and those
that are not.
I once read Colin Thiele’s novel, “February Dragon” to a group of 6th
graders who related to the reality of it far too well and declared it
was a horrible story, simply because it was something that could easily
happen to them. (The story, in part, is about a bushfire that almost
destroys a farming community and a girl whose horse was killed because
she didn’t let it out into the paddock, as she had been told to do,
before she left for school.) When I commented to the class that most of
the stories they were reading had far worse happenings in them, the
reply was, “Yes, but they aren’t real!”
Certainly, most children these days are able to assess the reality or
otherwise of the fiction they read, even before they are old enough to
read the Harry Potter stories. This is taught as part of the literature
program in most schools and hopefully we have lots of input too, if we
make it our business to be aware of the content of what our children are
reading. In discussing the characters and plot, it is our attitudes and
explanations that influence what they believe.
The editor of “Evangelical Presbyterian” also makes this comment, “It is
extremely dangerous to let our children wander unsupervised around the
borderless land of fiction.” He states that while these books are a
brilliant read, they are dangerous because they move witchcraft to the
border of acceptability, as though there are aspects of it which are
really fun.
I would suggest that there are many, many books today, on children’s
reading lists, which should promote similar concern. I refer to authors
such as Paul Jennings, Roald Dahl, Robin Klein, Emily Rodda and so on,
to mention just a few authors well known to our kids. I’m not saying
that all of their books are questionable, but some contain elements of
magic and mysticism, some deal with questionable attitudes and some deal
with other issues, such as dysfunctional family situations, in a way
that promotes hopelessness. There are other authors who are bizarre and
ghoulish and their works are very popular too. I consider the Harry
Potter books to be more acceptable than many of these stories, simply
because they show that good triumphs over evil in no uncertain way.
Harry and his friends have a sort of innocent reluctance in the face of
the calamities that befall them. They don’t use their rather shaky
skills to make mischief or achieve their own ends, only as a means of
self-preservation.
Some reviewers have mentioned the fact that “fairy tales” such as
“Hansel and Gretel” mirror real life struggles and provide a tool for
younger children to work out internal conflicts and frustrations, as
they see right prevail. The stories of Harry Potter should help older
children to deal with the frustration they feel when things such as
bullying and unfairness occur. When we enjoy a good mystery ourselves,
it doesn’t mean we’re going to rob someone or kill him, does it? A lot
of our reading is sheer escapism, quite obviously removed from reality.
We know that stories are stories and so do our kids.
Let’s face it, if we are to ban Harry Potter, then we must also ban such
books and videos such as The Wizard of Oz and Mary Poppins and countless
other family favourites! Even “Babe” and “Charlotte’s Web” would be
suspect because the animals talk! Let’s not be superstitious about these
books, but let’s use them to teach our children and discuss them with
our friends. One reviewer says that since his boys have read the Harry
Potter books, they have developed much more of an interest in their own
“Defence Against Dark Arts” book, the Bible. No doubt this had to be
pointed out to them, but this parent’s input was obviously very
effective. Christ is our defender against evil and we should take every
opportunity presented to us to reinforce this with our kids.
Another reviewer comments, “How convenient for the powers of darkness
that we Christians waste so much time and energy trying to correct and
perfect each other and fighting over such trivia, instead of doing what
we have been called to do.” May you really experience the Lord’s
blessings as you to take a greater interest in your children’s reading
and use whatever you can to reinforce their understanding of what God
requires of them.
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