I finally finished all seven of the Harry Potter books, and I do have a few things to say about them.
1. Intended audience: I don't know for sure what age range J.K. Rowling intended the books for (according to this Stack Exchange post, she didn't know herself). From my own personal point of view, I wouldn't let anyone read them who is under 21. My reason is simple: Harry & Pals are not very good role models. If you give them to a kid who is Harry Potter's age, the actions will be thought of as coming from peers, which means that it is OK to do. In some cases, Harry is heroic, and in other cases, his friends are the noble ones while Harry is basking in a pool of his own whining. The older the child is, the greater chance he has to appreciate the difference between acceptable behavior and unacceptable behavior.
2. The amount of smooching: When I was 14, I was not allowed to kiss girls, and my sister was not allowed to kiss boys. This wasn't because my parents were mean, it is because they actually cared. They didn't want me to develop ties of affection to someone when in reality I was much too young to actually understand what those ties of affection mean. At 14-17, all kissing would do is arouse the baser passions. Maybe there are children out there whose parents raised them the right way to understand what kissing means, but I suspect that they are few and far between.
3. Good vs Evil: This concept is native to children. The good guys win, and the bad guys lose; maybe the bad guy gets the upper hand every so often, but they never win in the long run. While the Harry Potter books certainly stick to the tried and true method, there are a number of situations where good and evil are not very clear cut, and a young person who does not have a close connection with his or her parents to ask them to clarify what is good or evil in this or that instance might lose track of it.
4. Magic: Enough has been written in other places to caution parents whose children have overactive imaginations to avoid these books. Magic is real, the devil is real, and young people who seek magic will find it in the wrong places. Also, while shouting spells from the first or second year books might be cute, it is not cute in the least to hear anyone shouting out the torture or killing curses from later books.
This is just off the top of my head, but these sum up my main reasons for never giving these books to young kids. The mind and conscience isn't developed enough to handle the stories, characters, plot or actions well enough. Kids who have a good relationship with their parents and bring them questions might be allowed to read them, but that would be the call of the parents.
Anywho...
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1 comment:
This is a great analysis! I definitely concur with item #1 which is my biggest complaint about the books. I think it is symptomatic of a wider 'vulgarization' or 'de-nobilization' of character in our society. Many authors have a hard time writing convincing noble characters - people who are genuinely altruistic and idealistic (probably in part because the authors are insufficiently virtuous themselves).
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