Week 7: The Novel of Spiritual Education

"Harry Potter"

J. K. Rowling 

Harry Potter has been one of my all time favorite novel and movies since I was very young. When I started reading the series, I read it in English then in Korean since my parents had told me to read it in both languages. If I remember correctly, the original was much more effective in telling the story as well as expressing the atmosphere JK Rowling was trying to go with. It wasn’t bad reading in a different language, but with the different grammars used in Korean just simply gave out a different feeling. 

I have watched the movies once again with the topic of this week in my mind. Harry Potter wasn’t the first book to introduce me into the world of magic since there were Asian novels and comics that had a good variety of magic, however it definitely was the one that introduced me into how world of magic may be connected with the modern world. As a young child, I always thought that if I had the ability of magic, I would show off in front of others, however in Harry Potter, there is a rule to never use magic outside of Hogwarts. 

Back then, it was quite popular for a story to have ordinary people to dislike those who were special. Like in Harry Potter, witches and wizards were seen in a quite negative way to those with no magic abilities. Also Harry had to deal with his relatives who disliked him due to jealousy toward his parents. As I grew older and continued reading and watching the novel, I gradually realize maybe in some ways being a witch or a wizard can be a downfall in one’s life. Especially having a life like Harry’s probably wasn’t the best since he was lead to dealing with “You-Know-Who”. 

JK Rowling has written the series in such expressive and creative way that the book is not only loved by teenagers, but also is loved by adults. It still does introduce us into the world of wizards and witches allowing us to experience the world through the book. 

I do enjoy fantasy, however I love it when there is a connection between fantasy and modern life that Harry Potter still falls under one of my favorite series. Magic may be the key point in the novel, however with a taste of reality just simply makes it so much interesting.