Posted on 07/31/2007 5:00:07 AM PDT by ParsifalCA
Bottom Line: Harry Potter may be fictional, but there are important truths in his life . . . at least through book six!
I will let you know if I change my mind at the end of book seven . . . but so far there are five important themes in He Who Must Wear Round Glasses life . . . beyond the fact that inventing such a character and marketing him well will get you a castle of your own!
First, magic cannot solve real problems. For most moderns technology is magical . . . . allowing them to manipulate physical reality to do stupendous things. Magic in Potter is astounding, and technology in reality is amazing, but it men are still men. Deep human problems, hatred and pride, cannot be solved by waving a wand anymore than loneliness vanishes when you turn up an Ipod.
Second, like Harry many people get off to a bad start in life (losing parents is only the start for poor Harry), but a bad start does not have to control a person’s destiny. Finding good mentors really matters. Harry is blessed by having concerned friends of his parents who intervene into his dreadful circumstances . . . many real human beings can look about and find their own Hagrid or Dumbledore in school and church.
Third, some people choose to be wicked, enjoy being wicked, and cannot be helped in the end. Of course, (thank goodness!) many of us do bad things... [more]
(Excerpt) Read more at exilestreet.com ...
Is there such a thing as an "it man"?
Is that the guy to come fix your computer?
Any stamp collectors?
My daughters collect all things Harry Potter related- could I please have them?
Actually, the funny thing is that there is no wizard TV or wizard video games. Just the newspaper and chess and exploding snap, whatever that is.
This was actually clever on JKR's part. There is no reason for a telephone or radio to be invented for communication. And without a telephone or radio, there's no reason to evolve into television. And all pictures are "motion pictures" to some extent, so I'd imagine that wizard movies would never be the same twice as the characters might have minds of their own.
In book 7 there IS a wizard radio. The kids listen to a pirate station to get the real scoop about what’s going on.
But does the wizarding world do radio or were those the same wavelengths as muggle radio that the pirates were operating on? (Seriously, I don't remember the description at all.)
First, magic cannot solve real problems....Deep human problems, hatred and pride, cannot be solved by waving a wand anymore than loneliness vanishes when you turn up an Ipod.Second....a bad start does not have to control a person’s destiny. Finding good mentors really matters.
Third, some people choose to be wicked, enjoy being wicked, and cannot be helped in the end....Some people not only don’t do that, but are happy to be bad. They reject the ethical laws of nature and of Nature’s God and must be opposed with force.
Fourth....not to look to government for solutions to problems and that politicians sometimes like to deny rising evil to put off difficult tasks.
Finally....[grow] up. [Do] not try to stay a boy forever...
You don’t have to think to deeply to find holes galore in Harry Potter’s universe. Why doesn’t Harry just magic his eyes clear? Myopium Expeloamous!!!
The most important lesson of Harry Potter: cornpone is not just something you can eat.
Potter ping!
Thanks, sg. RK, ping the usual suspects and add secret garden to the list.
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