literary essay harry potter

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Without cookies your experience may not be seamless.

• Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter

In this Book

• Edited by Cecilia Konchar Farr
• Published by: University Press of Mississippi

Table of Contents

• Title Page, Copyright, Dedication
• Introduction
• Cecilia Konchar Farr
• Section 1. Horcruxes
• Ascendio: A Close and Distant Reading of Progressive Complexity in the Harry Potter Series
• Cecilia Konchar Farr and Amy Mars
• Said Hermione Earnestly: Harry Potter's Prose, and Why It Doesn't Matter
• Emily Strand
• Say the Magic Word: Spellwork and the Legacy of Nonsense
• Christina Phillips-Mattson
• Magical Medicine: Healers, Healing Spells, and Medical Humanities
• Jennifer M. Reeher
• Rowling's Paratextual Gifts: Thresholds to Community in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Marie Schilling Grogan
• Communities of Interpretation in Jane Austen and Harry Potter
• Beatrice Groves
• The Russian Formalist Heart of the Harry Potter Series
• John Granger
• pp. 106-118
• Section 2. Hallows
• Reading Harry with the Risk of Trust and a Hopeful Search for Meaning
• Patrick McCauley
• pp. 121-134
• "Always Dependably, Solidly Present": The Preeminence of Minerva McGonagall
• Kate Glassman
• pp. 135-153
• "Loony, Loopy Lupin": (Sexual) Nonnormativity, Transgression, and the Werewolf
• Jonathan A. Rose
• pp. 154-165
• Sorry, Not Sorry: The Limits of Empathy for Nonhuman Creatures
• Keridiana Chez
• pp. 166-177
• "All Was Well"?: The Sociopolitical Struggles of House-Elves, Goblins, and Centaurs
• Juliana Valadão Lopes
• pp. 178-187
• The Face of Evil: Physiognomy in Potter
• Lauren R. Camacci
• pp. 188-200
• Slytherin Safety: The Rhetoric of Antiassimilation in the Wizarding World
• Nusaiba Imady
• pp. 201-211
• Harry Potter and the Management of Trauma
• Tolonda Henderson
• pp. 212-222
• A Coda: She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
• pp. 223-226
• Contributors
• pp. 227-234

Additional Information

Project MUSE Mission

Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide. Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves.

2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland, USA 21218

+1 (410) 516-6989 [email protected]

©2024 Project MUSE. Produced by Johns Hopkins University Press in collaboration with The Sheridan Libraries.

Now and Always, The Trusted Content Your Research Requires

Built on the Johns Hopkins University Campus

Harry Potter and the surprisingly poignant literary theme

Professor, University of Waterloo

Disclosure statement

J. Andrew Deman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Waterloo provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.

University of Waterloo provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

View all partners

Harry Potter is the literary phenomenon of the past century, and while our society has had no difficulty celebrating J.K. Rowling’s work, the literary community has been somewhat slower in figuring out exactly what the series has to say.

We tend to think of Harry Potter as an escapist delight, but Rowling’s work also expertly constructs a poignant extended theme that has more in common with King Lear than most English professors might care to admit. This theme at the core of Rowling’s wizarding world speaks directly to a universal human reality: The struggle to come to terms with our mortality.

Death is obviously big in Harry Potter. Death initiates the core conflict of the series; death escalates in each text; death creates the tool by which Harry can defeat Voldemort; and death resolves the conflict in the end, since Voldemort’s death is the end of the war itself. Death recurs throughout the series, but recurrence is not enough to constitute a theme.

Literary theorist Roger Fowler notes that: “A theme is always a subject, but a subject is not always a theme: a theme is not usually thought of as the occasion of a work of art, but rather a branch of the subject which is indirectly expressed through the recurrence of certain events, images or symbols. We apprehend the theme by inference – it is the rationale of the images and symbols, not their quantity.”

Thus, a theme is a comprehensible viewpoint that emerges from a pattern of recurrence — a statement, if you will, that we perceive through progressive repetition and associated symbolism. Without that statement, a pattern is just a motif. If the author is using that pattern to say something, however, the pattern becomes a theme.

So what role does all this death play in the Harry Potter franchise?

Death in Potter

In his first adventure, Harry is tempted by the life-prolonging “philosopher’s stone” of legend.

At the end of that story, Harry is only able to obtain the stone from the Mirror of Erised because he does not want to use it. In this, he immediately establishes his contrast to Voldemort, who desperately seeks the stone in order to extend what the centaur Firenze calls “but a half life, a cursed life.”

Upon hearing this, Harry wonders “If you’re going to be cursed forever, death’s better, isn’t it?” thus showing us Harry’s internal perspective on Voldemort’s choice.

Dumbledore himself confirms Harry’s viewpoint at the end of the novel by telling Harry that “to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” If we put these pieces together, the death theme Rowling uses is all laid out within the very first book.

As the series progresses, it is death that defines Harry’s character development. Cedric’s death leaves Harry traumatized. Sirius’s death shows Harry the high cost of Harry’s mistakes and the extent to which death can alter his future. Dumbledore’s death, of course, leaves Harry rudderless and vulnerable, forcing him to mature to a new level of personal responsibility.

By Book Seven, Harry’s own death represents the ultimate boon that bestows upon him the power to at last defeat Voldemort, whose vulnerability is created by horcruxes, dark magic used to protect him at the expense of his living soul.

As Harry marches to his death, “Every second he breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on his face, was so precious.” In this moment, as Harry accepts death, life itself becomes sweet, even beautiful — a sharp contrast to the cursed life that Voldemort cannot escape from.

This contrast is again the pivot-point of the mortality theme that Rowling develops. Voldemort looks like death, he brings death wherever he goes, his army are the “Death-Eaters,” and several aspects of his iconography associate him with the Grim Reaper of legend.

It would be easy to conclude that Harry is simply fighting death in the series, but that role is actually reserved for Voldemort himself, whose name can be translated from the French to mean “flight from death,” not death itself.

The entire series is then the story of an antagonist struggling to deny death, matched against a protagonist who is maturing toward accepting it. If this sounds cynical, Severus Snap agrees with you when he laments that Dumbledore has “been raising him like a pig for slaughter.”

In spite of this objection, Snape is willing to die for the cause of righteousness, just as James and Lilly were, just as Sirius was, just as Dumbledore was, and just as all the casualties of the Battle of Hogwarts were. Even Harry’s poor owl, Hedwig, chooses to die to protect something she loves.

When perceived as a pattern, heroism in Harry Potter means accepting death. In contrast, fighting against death is analogous to raging against the storm for Shakespeare’s King Lear, who, like Voldemort, is reduced to a cursed existence in consequence.

Esteemed precedent

The notion of death in fantasy literature might seem counter-intuitive for a genre that’s commonly associated with escapism. The reality, however, runs contrary, and Rowling’s theme is well within the norms of the genre.

J.R.R. Tolkien, for example, once wrote an essay called “On Faerie Stories,” in which he describes the prominent role of death within the fantasy genre. Tolkien writes that:

“Few lessons are taught more clearly in [fantasy] than the burden of that kind of immortality, or rather endless serial living, to which the ‘fugitive’ would fly. For the fairy-story is specially apt to teach such things, of old and still today.”

For Tolkien, fantasy is a genre that frequently engages with themes of mortality and provides us with “consolation” for our universal fear of death. He refers to his own example, the elves of Middle Earth, to show how he portrays immortality as undesirable.

Tolkien’s elves don’t ever have to die — and their lives are miserable as a result. Though less evil than Voldemort, the nature of their immortal existence is actually quite similar to that of Rowling’s villain — again, a cursed existence.

The Tale of the Three Brothers

The strongest encapsulation of the mortality theme in Harry Potter is the story within the story, “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” which is told in the final Harry Potter book. Three brothers face death and respond in three different ways. Only the one who ultimately accepts death is spared a brutal and humiliating end. “And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.”

That “the boy who lived” is also the boy who died is not a paradox. Indeed, Rowling’s argument is that only by accepting our inevitable passing can we truly live a life of meaning and purpose.

To fly from death is to relinquish all the things that make life worth living. This is more than just a clever little message buried in a whimsical boy wizard story —indeed the resonance of this theme within all human beings may in fact be a huge part of the novel’s ubiquitous appeal. Harry Potter, you see, has something to say.

• Shakespeare
• Harry Potter
• J.K. Rowling

Case Management Specialist

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

Open at the Close

Literary essays on harry potter.

Request Desk or Examination Copy Request a Media Review Copy Ebook available

• Share this:

The first collection of essays focused exclusively on examining the Harry Potter novels as literature

Description

Contributions by Lauren R. Carmacci, Keridiana Chez, Kate Glassman, John Granger, Marie Schilling Grogan, Beatrice Groves, Tolonda Henderson, Nusaiba Imady, Cecilia Konchar Farr, Juliana Valadão Lopes, Amy Mars, Christina Phillips-Mattson, Patrick McCauley, Jennifer M. Reeher, Jonathan A. Rose, and Emily Strand

Despite their decades-long, phenomenal success, the Harry Potter novels have attracted relatively little attention from literary critics and scholars. While popular books, articles, blogs, and fan sites for general readers proliferate, and while philosophers, historians, theologians, sociologists, psychologists, and even business professors have taken on book-length studies and edited essay collections about Harry Potter , literature scholars, outside of the children’s books community, have paid few serious visits to the Potterverse. Could it be that scholars are still reluctant to recognize popular novels, especially those with genre labels “children’s literature” or “fantasy,” as worthy subjects for academic study?

This book challenges that oversight, assembling and foregrounding some of the best literary critical work by scholars trying to move the needle on these novels to reflect their importance to twenty-first-century literary culture. In Open at the Close , contributors consciously address Harry Potter primarily as a literary phenomenon rather than a cultural one. They interrogate the novels on many levels, from multiple perspectives, and with various conclusions, but they come together around the overarching question: What is it about these books? At their heart, what is it that makes the Harry Potter novels so exceptionally compelling, so irresistible to their readers, and so relevant in our time?

" Open at the Close has the potential to shift the currents in literary scholarship and Harry Potter studies alike." - Katy McDaniel, professor at Marietta College and host of Potterversity podcast

"Before your next reread of the Harry Potter series, read this book! It is guaranteed to guide readers into a deeper understanding of the Harry Potter books’ enduring legacy while challenging readers to look at the ‘real’ world in a more meaningful and critical way." - Karen Wendling, co-coordinator of the Harry Potter Conference at Chestnut Hill College

" Open at the Close is both an intellectually and emotionally stimulating read, probing the depths of the Harry Potter novels to uncover the appealing, comforting, disturbing, and confusing aspects that keep us not only rereading but still thinking and talking about these books years after their release." - Laurie Beckoff, MuggleNet.com

"A simply 'must read' for the legions of Harry Potter fans, Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter is a compilation of 15 erudite, informative, thought-provoking essays." - Willis Buhle, Midwest Book Review

(Stanford users can avoid this Captcha by logging in.)

• Send to text email RefWorks EndNote printer

Open at the close : literary essays on Harry Potter

Available online, at the library.

SAL3 (off-campus storage)

More options.

• Find it at other libraries via WorldCat
• Contributors

Description

Creators/contributors, contents/summary.

• Introduction / Cecilia Konchar Farr
• Section 1: Horcruxes. Ascendio: a close and distant reading of progressive complexity in the Harry Potter series / Cecilia Konchar Farr and Amy Mars
• Said Hermione earnestly: Harry Potter's prose, and why it doesn't matter / Emily Strand
• Say the magic word: spellwork and the legacy of nonsense / Christina Phillips-Mattson
• Magical medicine: healers, healing spells, and medical humanities / Jennifer M. Reeher
• Rowling's paratextual gifts: thresholds to community in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows / Marie Schilling Grogan
• Communities of interpretation in Jane Austen and Harry Potter / Beatrice Groves
• The Russian formalist heart of the Harry Potter series / John Granger
• Section 2: Hallows. Reading Harry with the risk of trust and a hopeful search for meaning / Patrick McCauley
• "Always dependably, solidly present": the preemincence of Minerva McGonagall / Kate Glassman
• "Loony, loopy Lupin": (sexual) nonnormativity, transgression, and the werewolf / Jonathan A. Rose
• Sorry, not sorry: the limits of empathy for nonhuman creatures / Keridiana Chez
• "All was well"?: the sociopolitical struggles of house-elves, goblins, and centaurs / Juliana Valadão Lopes
• The face of evil: physiognomy in Potter / Lauren R. Camacci
• Slytherin safety: the rhetoric of antiassimilation in the wizarding world / Nusaiba Imady
• Harry Potter and the management of trauma / Tolonda Henderson
• A coda: she-who-must-not-be-named / Tolonda Henderson

Bibliographic information

Browse related items.

• Stanford Home
• Maps & Directions
• Search Stanford
• Emergency Info
• Terms of Use
• Non-Discrimination
• Accessibility

© Stanford University , Stanford , California 94305 .

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

J. k. rowling, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: Introduction

Harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: plot summary, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: detailed summary & analysis, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: themes, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: quotes, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: characters, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: symbols, harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone: theme wheel, brief biography of j. k. rowling.

Historical Context of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Other books related to harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone.

• Full Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
• When Written: 1990-1995
• Where Written: Manchester, England; Porto, Portugal; Edinburgh, Scotland
• When Published: 1995
• Literary Period: Contemporary
• Genre: Children’s fantasy, children’s fiction
• Setting: England; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
• Climax: Harry finds the Sorcerer’s Stone and prevents Voldemort’s return to power.
• Antagonist: Voldemort, Professor Quirrell, and Draco Malfoy
• Point of View: Third person

Extra Credit for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Beginning with the End. Rowling has stated that within the first year of writing the Harry Potter series, she wrote a sketch of what one of the final chapters of the seventh book might be.

Harry Potter and the Dead Languages. As of 2018, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has been published in 75 other languages, including Latin and Ancient Greek.

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Art
• History of Art
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Environmental History
• History by Period
• History of Agriculture
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Regional and National History
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Browse content in Literature
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Browse content in Religion
• History of Religion
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• Political Sociology
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Native American Studies
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Gender and Sexuality
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Sociology of Religion
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Reviews and Awards
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

15 Harry Potter and the Management of Trauma

• Published: May 2022
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

This chapter focuses on Harry and his experience of trauma. The chapter’s meticulous reading opens new avenues for understanding the central character, particularly with Harry in the penultimate chapter of Deathly Hallows . Here, Harry finds himself in a liminal space working hard to construct his own trauma narrative and to overcome the barriers that would prevent his defeating Voldemort.

Signed in as

Institutional accounts.

• Google Scholar Indexing
• GoogleCrawler [DO NOT DELETE]

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Sign in through your institution

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

• Literature & Fiction
• History & Criticism

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Buy new: .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $65.00 $ 65 . 00 FREE delivery Friday, May 24 Ships from: Amazon.com Sold by: Amazon.com

Return this item for free.

Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select the return method

Save with Used - Very Good .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $6.48 $ 6 . 48 $3.99 delivery May 28 - 29 Ships from: HPB-Diamond Sold by: HPB-Diamond

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Reading Harry Potter: Critical Essays (Contributions to the Study of Popular Culture)

Purchase options and add-ons.

J. K. Rowling achieved astounding commercial success with her series of novels about Harry Potter, the boy-wizard who finds out about his magical powers on the morning of his eleventh birthday. The books' incredible popularity, and the subsequent likelihood that they are among this generation's most formative narratives, call for critical exploration and study to interpret the works' inherent tropes and themes. The essays in this collection assume that Rowling's works should not be relegated to the categories of pulp fiction or children's trends, which would deny their certain influence on the intellectual, emotional, and psychosocial development of today's children. The variety of contributions allows for a range of approaches and interpretive methods in exploring the novels, and reveals the deeper meanings and attitudes towards justice, education, race, foreign cultures, socioeconomic class, and gender. Following an introductory discussion of the Harry Potter phenomenon are essays considering the psychological and social-developmental experiences of children as mirrored in Rowling's novels. Next, the works' literary and historical contexts are examined, including the European fairy tale tradition, the British abolitionist movement, and the public-school story genre. A third section focuses on the social values underlying the Potter series and on issues such as morality, the rule of law, and constructions of bravery.

• ISBN-10 0313320675
• ISBN-13 978-0313320675
• Publisher Praeger
• Publication date May 30, 2003
• Language English
• Dimensions 6.14 x 0.56 x 9.21 inches
• Print length 248 pages
• See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Praeger (May 30, 2003)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0313320675
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0313320675
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.14 x 0.56 x 9.21 inches
• #311 in History & Criticism Fantasy
• #790 in Children's Literary Criticism (Books)
• #975 in Science Fiction & Fantasy Literary Criticism (Books)

About the author

Giselle liza anatol.

Giselle Liza Anatol is a professor of English at the University of Kansas. She specializes in Caribbean and African diaspora literature and multicultural works for young readers. Her debut picture-book is scheduled to be released in December 2023.

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

• Saint Francis University
• Research Guides
• Topic Guides
• Magical World of Harry Potter
• Criticism and Interpretation

Luminare! - Criticism and Interpretation

• Liked Harry Potter? You Might Want to Try...

• << Previous: Magical World of Harry Potter
• Next: Liked Harry Potter? You Might Want to Try... >>
• Last Updated: Oct 19, 2023 9:24 AM
• URL: https://libguides.francis.edu/magical-world-of-harry-potter

Saint Francis University is committed to making its websites accessible to all users. Please send comments or suggestions on accessibility improvements to disability services .

Saint Francis University Library 117 Evergreen Dr. Loretto, PA 15940-0600 Circulation: 814-472-3160 [email protected]

• University Home
• Library Home
• SOPHIA Home
• < Previous

Home > School of Humanities, Arts and Sciences > ENGLISH_FAC > 45

English Faculty Scholarship

Title of work.

Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter

Cecilia Konchar Farr , St. Catherine University

Document Type

Publication/presentation date, city of publication or presentation.

While philosophers, historians, theologians, sociologists, educators and children’s literature specialists, even business professors have take on Harry Potter in single-author studies and essay collections, literary scholars have yet to give these novels the careful attention they deserve. This book, “Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter ,” attempts to remedy that by assembling a series of scholarly articles on the Harry Potter novels from a variety of literary perspectives.

Recommended Citation

Konchar Farr, Cecilia, "Open at the Close: Literary Essays on Harry Potter" (2020). English Faculty Scholarship . 45. https://sophia.stkate.edu/english_fac/45

This document is currently not available here.

Since May 12, 2020

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• School of Humanities, Arts and Sciences Website
• Collections
• Disciplines

Author Corner

• Submit Research

SelectedWorks Author Gallery

Holman Tse, PhD

Susan D. Bosher, PhD

Juliette Lapeyrouse-Cherry, PhD

• View Gallery

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

• ☰ Harry Potter News | Essays | Crafts | and more!
• Potter News
• Potter Crafts
• Potter Essays
• Image Gallery
• Potter Parks
• About Leaky

Harry Potter and the Adaptation from Novel to Film

Submitted by: Robyn Joffe

Harry Potter and the Adaptation from Novel to Film  

By Robyn Joffe

For as long as people have been making movies, people have been making movies based on books. Films have also been adapted from several other forms such as television shows, theatrical plays and even other movies. More recently, entire book series have been adapted, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the still in progress Harry Potter series . With six of the seven books written, and five films finished (four of them released), the Harry Potter franchise has a lot to offer scholars interested in the how-to's and the results of adapting books to film.

The Harry Potter films, which started with the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the year 2001, depict the events covered in the books in a more filmic fashion. The films bring Rowling's words to life; however, as is nearly always the case in adapting work of one form to another, the transitions can be less than smooth. As Deborah Cartmell, senior lecturer in English writes, "An adaptation is undeniably an appropriation of the text, and although the plot remains the same, the telling ’ or the interpreting of it ’ radically changes from one generation to the next." 1

From time constraints to a director's need for artistic expression to casting choices to how a film is promoted, the process of transforming a book to a film can be fraught with peril. Other such issues surrounding direction, characterization, pacing and chosen content (among others) can also contribute to a film's eventual success or failure. Though the resulting movie may in fact be a good film, the question that must be asked is whether it is a good film version of the book . Though most published academic works covering the adaptation of a book to a film focus on classic novels, such as those by Shakespeare or Jane Austen, adaptations are not made merely from acclaimed literary masterpieces. What the Harry Potter series lacks in academic acknowledgment, it more than makes up for in mass popular appeal.

For this reason, this essay will dissect the Harry Potter books and their resulting films, paying particular attention to what issues in the process of adaptation were most relevant to each, and see what, if any, perils were encountered in the making of them. In doing so, this essay will make use of both scholarly and amateur sources, because while authoritative texts are more often relied upon (and with good reason) in essays such as this, the opinions fueled by the unquestionable knowledge of the Harry Potter fan base (in regards to the content of both the books and films), are not necessarily any less valid than their more academically informed counterparts.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)

Graham Greene, one of the first major literary talents to show an interest in writing for films (and one who often adapted his own short stories) once described the screenwriter as "a ˜forgotten man' once the film went into production, since after that point other hands might make alterations to the screenplay." 2 In a much more recent book, the same sentiment was expressed: "Despite the excellent compensation, a Hollywood scriptwriter is a low man on the totem pole, and much of his work ’ sometimes all of his work ’ is not used." 3 However, for Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves, working with director Christopher Columbus was an experience in the opposite. In fact, Columbus described their collaboration ’ which went from script development through production ’ as "something of a dream situation' 4 and Kloves further explained that "Chris has been willing to listen to any idea, and he doesn't think it's right until we both agree it's right, which is great." 5

Columbus also went a step further in welcoming the continued involvement of not just the screenwriter ’ but the original novelist as well; "My desire was to remain faithful to the story, the characters and the integrity of those characters ... I realized that I had found a solid collaborator [in Rowling]. And it was important because she knows this world better than anyone else." 6

Producer David Heyman also noted that Rowling "has been given the freedom to exert perhaps more influence on the Potter films than is usual when a book is adapted for the screen." 7 This is no doubt due to the fact that the book series is not yet completed, or as Kloves himself put it; "It's the only time I've ever been involved in a story without an ending ... And you would think [Rowling] would tell me something [about it], since I am writing it. But she won't." 8 Along with script approval, author J.K. Rowling had one other demand: that the actors playing the British characters actually be British. Thus, casting began.

Casting a film that is being adapted from a book can often become very controversial, especially if fans get wind of which actors are being considered beforehand. Because many novels that are made into films are not illustrated, the reader has created a picture of each character in their mind, according to any descriptions from the book, and accepting an actor who may not entirely fit that description or picture is something that many fans find hard to do. On the other hand, it is not always only a matter of a fan being unable to let go of his/her own interpretation of a character. At times, the decision to cast a certain actor in a certain role can be questionable no matter how good they might be.

An example of this would be the casting of Alan Rickman in the role of Professor Severus Snape. Though Rickman is a very talented actor, he was also fifty-five years old when the first movie was released, whereas at the start of the series Snape is supposedly only thirty-two years old. 9 While one might think that the age difference does not matter so long as the appearance is appropriate, the difference ’ particularly as it's more than twenty years ’ has an effect on that as well. In the book, part of Harry's perception of Snape is that "his eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels." 10 Snape's youth, coupled with his demeanor, present a more tragic juxtaposition in the book than they do in the film because in the film that juxtaposition does not even exist. How can it when the embittered contempt that emanates from the character is easily understandable, rather than jarring, in the lined face of an older actor?

The choice to cast Rickman has also lead to another unforeseen side effect among Harry Potter fans: Lust.

The newfound Snapemania was sparked in part by the casting of actor Alan Rickman ’ well-established as "the thinking woman's sex symbol" ’ in the role. Rickman's feline movements and mellifluous voice give the Potions Master a sensuality absent from the page. And beyond the shoulder-length black wig and black contact lenses Rickman wears, no attempt is made to ugly him up. 11

This has even led to Rowling herself questioning whether those who profess their love of the character are talking about Snape, or Alan Rickman, and (as the same thing has occurred in the case of Harry's nemesis, Draco Malfoy) lamenting the humanizing effect that an attractive actor tends to have on the villainous characters he portrays; "Isn't this life, though? I make this hero ’ Harry, obviously ’ and there he is on screen ... but who does every girl under the age of fifteen fall in love with? Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy." 12

Aside from these and other slight deviations, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States 13 ), is remarkably faithful to its source text. In fact, BBC film reviewer Adrian Hennigan wrote that Columbus treated "J.K. Rowling's debut novel with a reverence that wasn't even accorded to the Bible." 14

However, not all deemed such devotion praise-worthy, and the film "was criticized by many as being too faithful to the book." 15 One summed the film up as "an adaptation which paradoxically undermines itself by aiming at a faithful replication of the source text' 16 while others merely declared that "a commitment to fidelity (in response to the perceived demands of readers/viewers) compromises the processes of adaptation." 17 However, on the other side of the spectrum, respected critic Roger Ebert wrote that the film had succeeded in doing "full justice to a story that was a daunting challenge ... During [the film] I was pretty sure I was watching a classic." 18

There are a couple of issues that help explain this broad range of reactions ’ aside from the obvious reality of people having different opinions. One of these issues is that this book and film are the first of a series, and so while the actual plot is one of mystery, it doesn't appear until rather late in the actual story ’ the time up to that point being taken up by Harry's introduction to (and the setting up of) the wizarding world. In fact, in the shooting script for the film, the titular Stone is only very obliquely referred to for the first time on the twenty-second page; "Hogwarts business. Very secret' 19 and once more on the forty-third; "the third floor corridor ... is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death' 20 before the characters are confronted with the actual mystery on page fifty-five:

HERMIONE Didn't you see what it was standing on? [...] It was standing on a trapdoor, which means it's not there by accident. It's-

HARRY Guarding something. 21

This means that the actual plot of the first film doesn't start until fifty-five pages into the script, completely ignoring a rule that is not just for "adaptation, it's a rule of screenwriting in general. You've only got about thirty pages to set everything up. Establish your main characters ... ground the audience in the world where your story takes place, introduce the dramatic problem, and move into the second act." 22 Lagging with the opening could add to any pacing problems that might develop, as well as become the source of accusations of too much fidelity by critics. And yet, because this introduction is not just for this film but for the entire series, it's (arguably) necessary, because the plotline revolving around the Philosopher's Stone might be the focus of the first film, but Harry's place in the wizarding world remains a focus of each of the films that follow. To breeze through it would be inexcusable, making the resulting ambling movement towards the main plot of the film all but unavoidable. However, it is worth it to remember that that introduction is part of what the audience is there to see.

The other issue that must be highlighted when discussing the expectations of both fans and critics is the overwhelming, ever-growing Harry Potter phenomenon that accompanies the release of every single bit of news even remotely relating to the series. As Suman Gupta wrote in a chapter of his book entitled Movie Magic : "Very seldom have films been so preordained to be blockbusters, received so much media attention before they appeared ... been anticipated with so much informed readiness." 23

Perhaps Professor Philip Nel put it best when he wrote that "the film does no violence to readers' imagined versions of characters and events, but it does not offer its own creative vision." 24

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

This film, like the first, was directed by Christopher Columbus and written for the screen by Steve Kloves. Because most of the creative team was the same, most of the commentary towards the process of creating this film is similar as well. However, there are some significant differences and additional issues unexplored in the topic for the previous film that warrant its own ’ albeit shorter ’ discussion.

Structurally, the second film is quite different from the first, as the introduction to the entire Harry Potter universe isn't necessary this time around. As Rowling put it; "The first one is episodic ... And Chamber is a more linear structure so it was easier to translate to screen." 25 However, it is also the longest Harry Potter film (though, to be fair, it only beats Goblet of Fire by four minutes), and the pacing suffers for it. As one critic wrote, "You get the sense that its makers have tried to film a novel instead of make a movie' 26 while another pointed out that "watching the film, I mostly felt sensory overload as one special effect was piled atop another. In fact director Chris Columbus has scrupulously avoided anything like genuine emotion." 27

To be fair, he was worrying about other things - namely, his young stars.

Casting these kids at the beginning of Sorcerer's Stone was, in a way, horrifying. I spent the first two weeks on that film trying to get them to look away from the camera, stop smiling and be able to utter one line so I could cut around it. 28

The experience (or lack of same) of his actors contributed in a large way to how Columbus was able to shoot both of the Harry Potter movies he filmed. As none of the child actors had ever done anything professional before ’ aside from Daniel Radcliffe, who had only had a few small roles ’ the movie had to be shot and edited around them. The first two Harry Potter films owe their less-than-sophisticated look to the fact that prolonged camera shots and wide angles were simply not possible in most cases involving the young stars ’ and neither was the endless repetition that can otherwise be associated with film-making. In fact, Columbus "rehearsed very little with the children since ... he didn't want to lose their spontaneity." 29

In Columbus' words; "When we wrapped on Chamber of Secrets , their performances had improved immensely, and they had become seasoned professionals. I felt my job was complete' 30 and with his job complete, so was the second film.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

It is in the discussion of the third film in the Harry Potter series that a more intricate and varied discussion on the pros and cons of the adaptation process can truly commence. This is not to say that discussing the first two films is without merit, but that as the books get longer (indeed, the third one is the first of the series to break 300 pages), and the plots grow more complex, the resulting portrayals on film offer more topics to debate.

Another reason that this progression reflected so obviously on the film series was that Christopher Columbus, director of the first two films, stepped back into the role of co-producer (with David Heyman and others) on this film, leading to Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón being hired to direct. Having previously brought his unique visual style to films like A Little Princess (and consequently proving he could work with children), Cuarón was drafted to lead the Harry Potter series in a new direction: "My approach was that I wanted to do a character driven piece, with cool visual effects, rather than a visual effects movie with some characters running around." 31

At the same time, Cuarón was conscious of the fact that he was stepping into an already-established universe, admitting that "it was one of [his] hesitations" before accepting the position. 32 He solved that dilemma by resolving to serve the material: "and the material meant before anything else the book, and then secondly the position of this film in the franchise of Harry Potter." 33

His overall success may be debatable, but what cannot be questioned is the dramatic change made in the look of this third film. As Columbus remembers: "Most of our sets were already built, but Alfonso had a desire ’ as did our production designer Stuart Craig ’ to open up the picture." 34 Using more wide-angle and tracking shots to heighten the sense of drama, 35 Cuarón was intent on facilitating the overall flow of the film, as well as creating lasting visual connections throughout. 36 Particular focus was paid to images relating to time (Harry spends several scenes in and around a large clock tower at Hogwarts), and identity (there are numerous scenes that start or end on a close up of a character's eye), in keeping with the themes Cuarón had chosen to highlight. The use of darker colours, more haunting music and dramatic lighting ("high contrast, more shadows") also contributed to the "very different look and feel from the previous films." 37

Perhaps the most important decision made to create this result, however, was one that was more philosophical than technical: "One of the things we decided was that in order for the magic to spring forward more naturally, it had to come from a real and honest place ... What we sought to create was a sense of reality in which the characters interact with each other." 38

Cuarón felt that choosing Michael Seresin for the film's cinematography would help to achieve that goal:

One thing that I felt was perfect for Michael was that we have this magical universe that he could really ground. Because he has got that grittiness, and that grittiness comes from the fact that he is a single-source light cinematographer. He's very naturalistic in that sense. I felt it would be a good marriage with the material. 39

And he seems to have succeeded. As Sloan de Forest, editor and contributor to Scribbulus , writes: "[In] the third film, I saw an immense, imposing Hogwarts drained of its warmth but injected with a unique style and grainy realism not present in the first two films." 40 The film was lauded by both critics and fans as being "the closest any of the films has gotten to capturing the enormously pleasing essence of the Potter books' 41 and there seemed to be a tentative collective agreement that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was a truly great movie. But that does not mean it was a great movie of the book , and as this is the difference that this essay seeks to highlight, more in depth examination is necessary.

The unique thing about the book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , is that it is arguably not a story in and of itself ’ but the story of a story, which gradually unfolds throughout the book, finally leading to its climactic reveal and the ensuing repercussions. The book covering Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts is not about Harry Potter's third year at all, but about the events leading up to his parents' deaths twelve years before.

It is fitting, then, that with this book comes the introduction of several new characters, including two of particular importance: Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Remus Lupin, and the escaped titular Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius Black. One interviewer notes that their "connection with ... Harry's parents is a major factor in Azkaban's back-story' 42 but though most of that quotation is true, it is the use of the word "back-story" that is the problem.

As Amy Z wrote in her essay An Elegantly Woven Tapestry: Plotlines in Prisoner of Azkaban , "it's true that there is no single central plot in [the story], because one candidate (Quidditch) lacks gravitas, and another (Sirius [versus] Harry) proves to be an illusion." 43 Instead, in the absence of an obvious main storyline, it is the so-called "back-story" that takes centre stage; "while Harry is going about his life ... there is another drama mostly invisible to him (and to us, until the second reading): that of Lupin, Black, Snape, and, if you think about it, Pettigrew." 44 In Prisoner of Azkaban the back-story becomes the main plot, as even though the events transpired twelve years previous, they are unfolding to Harry in the present and the story's climax happens when the truth is finally revealed to all. In that way, there was no conclusion to the events in the past, instead, it was as if those involved were put on hold, held in stasis until Harry's third year at Hogwarts when they were at last able to play it out:

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter' said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself ” until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's Map never lies... Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."

"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus' said Black, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."

"Harry' said Lupin hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down ” but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father ” Sirius tracked Peter down ”" 45

As Amy Z writes: "We think the story is about Black trying to kill Harry, so the plot seems focused on that; but that's not what the story is about. It's about Sirius in a whole different way, and it's as much about Pettigrew." 46 With the misunderstandings cleared up and the truth of the events of twelve years before revealed, the climax of their story becomes the climax of the book itself ’ one which ultimately ends in near disaster, allowing the fallout to finally occur.

In discussing how she has conceptualized the third book, Harry Potter fan Kelly Parker writes:

I think the third book is more about setting up the series for later on and dealing more with the past and how it is affecting Harry and the entire wizarding world now. It's not so much about his schooling ... his schooling takes a back seat to finding out about his godfather and dealing with all of that. I personally think this is one of the most pivotal books in the series. 47

Unfortunately, Alfonso Cuarón apparently did not see it in exactly the same way: "This film is concerned with confronting [the characters'] innermost fears ... It's [also] a journey of a character's seeking his identity and accepting who he is. To step out of the shadow of his father, for instance, is one of the themes." 48 Putting aside the question of whether or not this is true, the difference of opinion as to the main focus of the story obviously resulted in the exclusion of certain things.

One of the most often cited examples of such an exclusion is the actual back-story of Harry's parents and their friends. Included in this example are several key pieces of information that are either missing from the film entirely, or mentioned in vague generalities that are easily glossed over. The most important piece of information that is introduced in this story is the betrayal of Harry's parents that led to their deaths. It is in this book that we learn that Voldemort could not just go and attack the Potters, and that they would have been safe had they not trusted the wrong person, because of the preparations they had taken before going into hiding:

"Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm."

"How does that work?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwick cleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell' he said squeakily, "involving the magical concealment of a secret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, or Secret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find ” unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!" 49

The fact that Sirius Black was thought to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper, and therefore the only person capable of betraying them, is rather central to how he became the titular Prisoner , having been sent to Azkaban without a trial. The fact that Peter Pettigrew was the actual Secret-Keeper, and therefore the only possible betrayer of the Potters: " ˜ Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it,' Black hissed ... ˜I thought it was the perfect plan... a bluff... Voldemort would be sure to come after me ... It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters,' " 50 is also central to understanding the story. However, interestingly enough, the word "Secret-Keeper" is never spoken even once during the entire film, and the importance of the role is instead glossed over, when it is referred to at all: "Well, now, years ago, when Harry Potter's parents realized that they were marked for death ’ do you remember? ’ they went into hiding. Few knew where they were. One who did, was Sirius Black ’ and he told You-Know-Who!" 51

Aside from being factually wrong, as it was Harry and not his parents who was marked for death, the use of the word "few" and the phrase "one who did" instead of " the one who did" would imply that more than one person knew where the Potters were hiding. This would, in turn, mean that more than one person would have been able to betray them, rendering Sirius Black's immediate condemnation inexplicable ’ and potentially Peter Pettigrew's later one as well.

Although it minimizes the betrayal of the Potters, the vagueness that resulted from the absence of the word "Secret-Keeper" could still have been explained had another piece of information been included:

Sirius here played a trick on [Snape] which nearly killed him ... [he] thought it would be ’ er ’ amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree-trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me ... if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf. 52

The knowledge that Sirius Black, at sixteen, sent a fellow classmate to his death without remorse (later saying it was just a prank), would have gone a long way to explaining why of the "few" who "knew where [the Potters] were", he was the most likely suspect: " ˜ Sirius Black showed he was capable of murder at the age of sixteen,' [Snape] breathed. ˜You haven't forgotten that, Headmaster? You haven't forgotten that he once tried to kill me ?' " 53 And although this might be considered a deviation from the central plot, or potentially slow exposition in a genre where showing is prized above telling , film as a visual medium allows for both to happen at once. This enlightening bit of back-story could easily have been accompanied by either a flashback or a montage of images, illustrating what was being said. However, this did not happen, and unfortunately, it is not the most important piece of information left out of the final film, by far.

The fact that Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter are the same Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs who created the map Harry is coincidentally given by his friends is never mentioned, even when ample opportunity arises ’ as seen in the following comparative examples:

Prisoner of Azkaban (the book):

"I happen to know that this map was confiscated by Mr. Filch many years ago. Yes, I know it's a map' [Lupin] said, as Harry and Ron looked amazed. 54

Prisoner of Azkaban (the film):

PROFESSOR LUPIN I don't know how this map came to be in your possession, Harry, but I'm astounded that you didn't turn it in....

Harry walks silently. 55

While this might seem a small, relatively unimportant piece of information, it would only be considered so in isolation. However, this is not so. The connection of each man to his nickname not only solidifies the reality of their once close friendship, but it also connects each to his animal form and the fact that three became Animagi for the fourth: "My three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month ... I was terrified they would desert me ... [but] they didn't desert me at all. ... They became Animagi ... They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals. A werewolf is only a danger to people." 56

The connection to Animagi is important because of the role that each man's form plays in the overall story. Peter Pettigrew is able to fake his own death and hide for twelve years as Ron's pet rat; Sirius Black is able to both keep his sanity while in and finally escape from Azkaban as a large dog; and Harry is able to discover and reclaim a part of his father, which he finds within himself, when his Patronus takes on the form of his father's stag. And while the first two are obvious in the film without the nickname connection, the fact that James Potter was an Animagus is not, and therefore the significance of Harry's Patronus is lost. This is particularly ironic considering that it is James Potter as Prongs who is arguably the link between the opinions of the fans already stated as to the main storyline of the book, and director Alfonso Cuarón's interpretation: "It has to do with Harry coming to terms with his male energy, his father and what his father is." 57

The absence of this information is notable not only because it details exactly "what his father is", but also because the information was there in the shooting script, but still didn't make it to the final cut:

PROFESSOR LUPIN Before I go, tell me about your Patronus.

HARRY Well. At first I thought it was a horse, or perhaps a unicorn, but I think it was ’

PROFESSOR LUPIN A stag.

PROFESSOR LUPIN Your father used to transform into one. That's how he was able to keep me company when I became... sick. ... There are stories about him and your mother, you know. Some are even true. But I think it's safe to say, in the end you'll know them best by getting to know yourself. 58

As the final cut of the film is decided on by the director (and the editor, at his direction), it is particularly peculiar that none of the dialogue in this excerpt ’ all of which would go towards emphasizing Cuarón's apparent vision ’ appears in the finished version. This would not be a problem were it not for the fact that in losing these aspects of the story, the viewer is treated to a film that is incomplete ’ not only in and of itself, but also as a part of the ongoing series.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

As with the third film, the fourth in the Harry Potter series invites a more detailed discussion on the difficulties and competing interests involved in adapting a book to a film. Fortunately for this essay, most of the issues raised in this discussion differ significantly from those presented in each previous film. One reason for this difference was the inclusion of a new director, filmmaker Mike Newell of Four Weddings and a Funeral fame, who, in his own words, had "never made a film like this before and [had] never made a film even a quarter as big as this before." 59 Unlike the other films in the series thus far, this film presented a directorial challenge even before shooting began. At 636 pages, Goblet of Fire is more than double the size of Prisoner of Azkaban (the longest of the previous three), and Warner Bros. Studio originally intended to split the story in half, shooting the two films back to back, and releasing them close together ’ similar to what had been done for the second and third films of the Matrix trilogy. 60 Mike Newell, however, thought this unnecessary: "As far as I'm concerned it's absolutely possible to do it in one. I think it would be slightly embarrassing to do it in two." 61

Aiming to avoid this, Newell pitched his conception of the story to the producers; "I said to them, I said, I can only make this if you will agree that what we're making is a thriller and we will ruthlessly take out stuff that doesn't go to that' 62 later adding that the whole point of the story was that the villain "needs one tiny, tiny little thing from the boy: three drops of blood." 63 As the first British director in the series, Mike Newell felt that he had the insider expertise necessary to bring an authenticity to the films that they were previously lacking ’ particularly in regards to the British school system: "It wasn't possible for them to get that right. They'd never been to such a school' 64 Newell said, further explaining:

I went through this sort of education. ... I wasn't at a boarding school ... but there's an enormous body of literature books ... and I had read all of those, and I'd been to a school just like it where you were beaten with a cane. I remember some of the teachers being really quite violent ... and it had a headmaster of whom one was likely terrified and then a descending order of authority figures, and then there was... and then there was us. ... I don't see how anybody who hadn't gone through that, who wasn't English, could possibly have suspected that. 65

There are two facets of this quote that require further examination, the first being Newell's view of Hogwarts as being just like all of the typical British boarding schools he never attended. Shaun Hately, author of the essay Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Context of the British Public Schools , writes that "Hogwarts is not a perfect exemplar of the Public School tradition ’ while there is a substantial influence, it cannot be assumed that Hogwarts always follows Public School traditions." 66 Further on in the paper, in discussing corporal punishment, Hately demonstrates that "At Hogwarts, such methods seem to have fallen into disuse' 67 citing a quotation from the first book in the Harry Potter series; "Oh yes... Hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out." 68

Additional evidence presents itself in the book from which Newell made his own adaptation, when Professor Moody transfigures a student into a ferret and proceeds to bounce him up and down, catching the attention of Professor McGonagall:

"Moody, we never use Transfiguration as a punishment!" said Professor McGonagall weakly. "Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah' said Moody, scratching his chin unconcernedly, "but I thought a good sharp shock ”"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!" 69

To J.K. Rowling, the "worst, shabbiest thing you can do" as a teacher "[is] bully children' 70 and corporal punishment has no place in Harry's world. And yet Newell, who admits that even real English schools have changed now, still felt the need to "[rewrite] a scene to add a glint of schoolboy mischievousness and the corporal punishment it provokes, in which dour Professor Snape ... bonks Harry and Ron in the head with a book for goofing off during a study period." 71 Snape does not appear at all in the scene in the shooting script for the film, 72 so it is obvious that this was a directorial decision. His selection is also unfortunate for the fact that his character is not one to be considered slapstick, nor is his hatred of Harry something in which to find comic relief. However, this twisted characterization appears to be a sort of specialty of Newell's, which is the second facet of the previous long quotation in need of examination.

As with the school he runs, Newell has also assigned headmaster Albus Dumbledore to a role in the film that is not in keeping with any other information readily available about him. His idea of Dumbledore as "a headmaster of whom one [is] likely terrified' 73 is directly at odds with J.K. Rowling's assertion that Dumbledore is instead "the epitome of goodness." 74 Indeed, Hately's essay specifies how the character "as presented in the Harry Potter books seems to fit neatly into the mould of the great benevolent public school Headmaster' 75 and as James A. Morone wrote in his article Cultural Phenomena: Dumbledore's Message , "[he] practically awards bonus points for breaking the rules' 76 citing this quotation from Chamber of Secrets as proof: "I seem to remember telling you both that I would have to expel you if you broke any more school rules ... Which goes to show that the best of us must sometimes eat our words." 77

The issue of the character and characterization of Dumbledore is a difficult one for numerous reasons. The choice of actor to play the role is very much tied up in that ’ especially because it was made twice. Richard Harris, a veteran of over seventy films, was initially cast in the role, which he played for the first two films. Critics wrote that his selection "was perfection; he had that twinkle in his eye and he conveyed that Dumbledore was as solid as a rock and as wise as readers of J.K. Rowling knew him to be. There was a certainty about him." 78

However, when Richard Harris passed away shortly before principal photography was to begin on the third film, a new Dumbledore had to be found. Michael Gambon made his Dumbledore debut in Prisoner of Azkaban , and his performance in both it and Goblet of Fire has garnered several comments ’ though, unfortunately, few have been complimentary: "I have to say that I thought Gambon's performance lacked some of the warmth and humour that Harris provided." 79 Newell, on the other hand, thought he was perfect:

I think that he had not wanted to be the same figure that Richard Harris had been, a figure of enormous Olympian authority who's never caught on the hop. He wanted something to do, simply because he isn't Richard Harris, and what he found in this one is that Dumbledore is fallible, not omnipotent, and indeed is behind the game. A great deal of what he does is about being inadequate rather than super-adequate, which is obviously much more interesting to play. 80

More interesting to play, perhaps, but woefully inaccurate. Even leaving aside the fact that if Gambon did not want to be the same figure Richard Harris had been, his decision to take over the role seems suspect; Dumbledore has been known throughout the series for being the only one Voldemort has ever feared. However, as de Forest points out:

for this fear to be plausible, Dumbledore needs to appear sharp-witted and not cross the line from affable eccentric to preposterous crackpot. ... How can [Newell] expect us to believe that anyone in the wizarding world reveres a panicky, absentminded grump who ... impulsively attacks his favourite student, throttling little Harry about the shoulders and neck? 81

And to Newell's argument that a fallible, inadequate, and behind-the-game Dumbledore creates a more interesting and more humanized mentor for Harry, M.Y. Simms asks in her essay Action! Harry Potter from the Page to the Screen :

Why would the greatest wizard in the world suddenly appear to suffer from chronic anxiety? I understand that things got serious in Goblet of Fire, but consider this: would Yoda, Merlin, Gandalf or Obi-Wan have freaked out when things got serious and danger loomed? ... I think not. ... Where did the ˜magic' of Dumbledore go? 82

In fact, far from being behind-the-game, J.K. Rowling's Dumbledore continues to run steadily ahead, even at the end of Goblet of Fire , after Harry's confrontation with Voldemort has already taken place:

"He said that my blood would make him stronger than if he'd used someone else's' Harry told Dumbledore. "... And he was right ” he could touch me without hurting himself, he touched my face."

For a fleeting instant, Harry thought he saw a gleam of something like triumph in Dumbledore's eyes. 83

Unfortunately, one repercussion from Newell's decision to have Gambon portray Dumbledore in this mistaken manner ’ a decision that is proved to be directorial rather than scriptural, due to the calmer version of the character evidenced in the shooting script 84 ’ is more detrimental than having raised the ire of fans; that being the effect it will have on the next installment of the franchise.

One of the main issues that Harry must deal with in the fifth book is his relationship with Dumbledore and how it has, inexplicably (to him), become estranged. This separation, or distance, that Harry feels causes him great distress as he wonders why the headmaster doesn't seem to care about him anymore. This leads to continued misunderstandings which result in the death of a main character and the discovery of a prophecy. Unfortunately, due to the portrayal of these relationships in the fourth movie, Harry would be unlikely to wonder if the headmaster cared about him in the first place, nor would it really matter to him either way. And the revelation given to Harry at the end, that Dumbledore "cared about [him] too much" and did all he had done because he "acted exactly as Voldemort expects [the] fools who love to act' 85 would scarce be believable from Gambon's discredited caricature. Of course, as Newell has not even read the fifth book, his failure to set it up properly is unfortunately explained.

What's not as easily explained is his failure in setting up even his own film, as he did read the fourth book in preparation. 86 As one critic wrote:

If the film version of [Prisoner of Azkaban] was missing some major plot points, and therefore felt like it was missing a vital organ or two, this one was like finding a skeleton that had been stripped of every conceivable scrap of flesh, leaving only the bare bones behind. Many character motivations were fuzzy at best; my mother, who hadn't read the book, had a million questions for me after we left the theatre. 87

But perhaps this weakness can be understood in reading Newell's approach to creating the film, in his own words: "What you do is you pack it with references and suggestions and so forth which, of course, you have taken from the book. So that a reader coming to the film goes, "Oh, I see. I get it. They did it that way." 88 The idea that fans would be appeased by a few references to aspects of the book, no matter what the quality of storytelling, is problematic at best, insulting at worst, and condescending either way. "The movie ticks through critical plot points like it's checking them off a list' 89 writes Anita Burkam in the article From Page to Screen: Mike Newell's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ; "All that's missing is reasonably paced and plotted moviemaking." 90 That, and the so-called "human truth" that Newell apparently prized above all else: "You become more interested in [Harry's] interior processes, his emotions, than just what goes on' Newell asserts, 91 though it is difficult to understand why he is convinced of this when he, as director, seems more interested in what he can do with Harry's external world than in how to express the character's internal one. "It's one of the most powerful and dramatic scenes' 92 producer David Heyman says, in praise of Newell's work. And which scene is he talking about? The maze in the third task, which, as Dumbledore mysteriously informs each champion, changes people? The graveyard where Harry watches Voldemort's rebirth, duels with him, and comes face to face with the ghost-like shades of his long-dead parents?

No, of course not, that would make sense . Instead, as Heyman clarifies, "We departed from the book a little bit in the sense that the dragon breaks free of the chain that ties him and it leads to a dramatic chase through Hogwarts. Let's just say it doesn't necessarily meet the happiest of ends." 93 Never mind the fact that, as no one dies and Harry completes the task successfully, it does actually meet the happiest of ends, Heyman is talking about a scene in which Harry faces off with the dragon during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. This is a scene which takes exactly two pages in the book (which includes the detailed description necessary of the medium), but in the film, it clocks in at nearly three minutes ’ a ridiculously long length of time on screen, particularly for Newell, who has said that "all of [these effects] would count for nothing if [audiences] simply didn't feel it." 94

Yet, as de Forest notes, "when a film jumps wildly from scene to scene, frantically flinging in new characters and situations willy-nilly, the seeds of authentic emotional reaction don't have time to be sown and flourish naturally ... the natural rhythm of reaction is massacred." 95 All of this leads to an ending of equal ruination, in what de Forest terms "a thrown-together mess of a conclusion. It seems unsure whether to end on a hopeful note, a tragic note, a portentous note, a humorous note or a poignant note, so it compromises by fizzling out with a flat uncertainty. ˜Everything's going to change now, isn't it?' asks Hermione. Yup. Sure is. Well. Will you sign my yearbook?" 96

While several critics enjoyed the film ’ and several film audiences, too ’ the question of whether or not Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was a good film is not the one that is asked in this essay. Instead, the question of whether or not it was a good film of the book must be considered, and while Mike Newell's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire might be considered a fun, and even wild ride of a film, it remains on the surface, granting only a superficial and distorted glimpse into the story of Harry's fourth year. J.K. Rowling's Dumbledore warned; "You have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy." 97 It is unfortunate that Mike Newell did not heed this advice.

Harry Potter and the End of This Essay (2007)

"Books have one of the highest ratios of conversion from development to film of any source, including original screenplays' 98 and yet the process of adapting the Harry Potter book series into films is unique in many ways. Perhaps the most important cause of its uniqueness is the fact that the seven book series is being adapted one novel after the other, and yet the seven book series is not yet complete. With the intense secrecy surrounding the story and revelations still to come from the original author, filmmakers must attempt to adapt each of these films from an incomplete overall source text. This only heightens the difficulty and the scrutiny that are already present in the adaptation process. That is why the question of fidelity, though it "cannot be considered a valid yardstick with which to judge any adaptation' 99 must figure in more heavily than it might otherwise. John Tibbetts and James Welsh wrote that "movies do not ˜ruin' books, but merely misrepresent them' 100 as "the accumulation of minor details can create a markedly different experience between a book and a film' 101 and while usually that may not create any problems, Mike Newell's Dumbledore aptly demonstrates that in an ongoing ’ and unfinished ’ series, certain changes have far-reaching effects.

Still, while fidelity holds more importance in this case than in others, "changes made by the screenwriter and director might not necessarily destroy the original. In the best adaptations, narratives are translated and effectively transformed into the medium of film." 102 With the seventh, and last, Harry Potter novel being released this summer, perhaps the remaining films will have a better chance of achieving this transformation.

Mireia Aragay writes in Reflection to Refraction: Adaptation Studies Then and Now , that the real aim of adaptation is

to trade upon the memory of the novel, a memory that can derive from actual reading, or, as is more likely with a classic of literature, a generally circulated cultural memory. The adaptation consumes this memory, aiming to efface it with the presence of its own images. The successful adaptation is the one that is able to replace the memory of the novel. 103

Although Harry Potter is not widely considered a classic of literature, the same philosophy can apply. An adaptation must be more than a filmed novel, without compromising the text it is meant to represent. A good film does not make a good adaptation, and though the Harry Potter film series had a promising start, future directors would do well to keep those words in mind. Notes 1. Cartmell, "Shakespeare on Screen' 33.

2. Tibbetts and Welsh, Novels Into Film , 279.

3. Havens, Genius Behind Buffy , 24.

4. Elrick, "Chris Columbus talks¦."

5. McNamara, "When Steve Met Harry."

6. Elrick, "Chris Columbus talks¦."

7. Hopkins, "Behind the Scenes¦."

8. McNamara, "When Steve Met Harry."

9. Vander Ark, "The Ages of Snape and the Marauders."

10. Rowling, Philosopher's Stone , 102.

11. Millman, "To Sir, With Love' 43.

12. Rowling, "Edinburgh Book Festival."

13. Scholastic editor Arthur Levine, suggested that Rowling change the title of the book for its American release as he felt it was "too esoteric' and the change would convey "more immediately the sense of magic that's in the book" (Heiberger). This, despite the fact that the Philosopher's Stone is an object of legend, often found in myth and folklore (Anderson), and referred to in many areas of study, including religion, alchemy, the occult ¦ while the Sorcerer's Stone means nothing.

14. Hennigan, "Films ¦ Philosopher's Stone ."

15. Krevolin, How to Adapt¦ , 52.

16. Aragay, "Reflection to Refraction' 20.

17. Cartmell and Whelehan, "Fidelity Debate' 37.

18. Ebert, "Sorcerer's Stone."

19. Kloves, Sorcerer's Stone, 22.

20. Ibid., 43.

21. Ibid., 55-56.

22. Krevolin, How to Adapt¦ , 54.

23. Gupta, Re-Reading Harry Potter , 143.

24. Nel, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bored."

25. Mzimba, "Conversation with¦."

26. Nel, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bored."

27. Butler, " Potter has the stuff¦."

28. Spelling, "Leaving School' 44.

29. Elrick, "Chris Columbus talks¦."

30. Spelling, "Leaving School' 44.

31. "Y tu Harry¦' 22.

32. Ibid, 19.

34. Spelling, "Leaving School' 44.

35. Puig, "Harry hits his teens."

36. Nazarro, "The New Magician' 39.

37. Puig, "Harry hits his teens."

38. Nazarro, "The New Magician' 38.

39. Trout, "Alfonso Cuarón Interview."

40. de Forest, "Fractured Fairy Tale."

41. Turan, "Prisoner of Azkaban."

42. Nazarro, "Alfonso Cuarón Interview."

43. Z, "Elegantly Woven Tapestry."

45. Rowling, Prisoner of Azkaban , 257-68.

46. Z, "Elegantly Woven Tapestry."

47. Kelly Parker, e-mail message to author, 12 April 2007.

48. Puig, "Harry hits his teens."

49. Rowling, Prisoner of Azkaban , 152.

50. Ibid., 271.

51. Kloves, Prisoner of Azkaban .

52. Rowling, Prisoner of Azkaban , 261.

53. Ibid., 286.

54. Ibid., 213.

55. Kloves, Prisoner of Azkaban , 80.

56. Rowling, Prisoner of Azkaban , 259-60.

57. Nazarro, "The New Magician' 38.

58. Kloves, Prisoner of Azkaban , 125.

59. Fischer, "Exclusive Interview."

61. Geri, "News: Mike Newell¦."

62. Fischer, "Exclusive Interview."

63. Ibid., "Interview: Mike Newell."

64. Associated Press, "Newell puts the Brit¦."

65. Fischer, "Exclusive Interview."

66. Hately, "Hogwarts School of¦."

68. Rowling, Philosopher's Stone , 181.

69. Ibid., Goblet of Fire , 182.

70. Fraser, Conversations with J.K. Rowling , 21.

71. Associated Press, "Newell puts the Brit¦."

72. Kloves, Goblet of Fire , 66-67.

73. Fischer, "Exclusive Interview."

74. Solomon, "J.K. Rowling Interview."

75. Hately, "Hogwarts School of¦."

76. Morone, "Cultural Phenomena."

77. Rowling, Chamber of Secrets , 243.

78. Simms, "Action! Harry Potter¦."

79. Aloi, "Grown Up Magic."

80. Whitehead, "Interview: Mike Newell¦."

81. Witherwings, "Fractured Fairy Tale."

82. Simms, "Action! Harry Potter¦."

83. Rowling, Goblet of Fire , 604.

84. Kloves, Goblet of Fire , 32.

85. Rowling, Order of the Phoenix , 739.

86. Fischer, "Exclusive Interview."

87. Moondaughter, "Under the Microscope."

88. Geri, "Newell discusses¦."

89. Burkam, "From Page to Screen."

92. Geri, "Update: Heyman talks¦."

94. Nathan, "This boy¦' 90.

95. Witherwings, "Fractured Fairy Tale."

97. Rowling, Goblet of Fire , 628.

98. Hopkins, "Behind the Scenes¦."

99. Aragay, "Reflection to Refraction' 20.

100. Tibbetts and Welsh, Novels Into Film , xvii.

101. Nel, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bored."

102. Tibbetts and Welsh, Novels Into Film , xx.

103. Aragay, "Reflection to Refraction' 20.

Bibliography

Aloi, Peg. "Grown Up Magic." Witch Cinema 19, 5 June 2004. http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_article.html?a=usma&id=8491 .

Anderson, Hans Christian. "The Philosopher's Stone (1859)." Hans Christian Anderson: Fairy Tales and Stories . 25 September 2006: http://hca.gilead.org.il/p_stone.html .

Aragay, Mireia. "Reflection to Refraction: Adaptation Studies Then and Now." Books in Motion: Adaptation, Intertextuality, Authorship . Ed. Mireia Aragay. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. 11-34.

Associated Press. "Newell puts the Brit back in Harry Potter ." MSNBC , 21 November 2005. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10054009 .

Burkam, Anita L. "From Page to Screen: Mike Newell's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." The Horn Book, Inc . http://www.hbook.com/resources/films/harrypotter4.asp .

Butler, Robert W. " Potter has the stuff but not the spirit." The Kansas City Star . 23 November 2001.

Cartmell, Deborah. "The Shakespeare On Screen Industry." Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text . Eds. Deborah Cartmell and Imelda Whelehan. London: Routledge, 1999. 29-37.

Cartmell, Deborah and Whelehan, Imelda. "Harry Potter and the Fidelity Debate." Books in Motion: Adaptation, Intertextuality, Authorship . Ed. Mireia Aragay. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. 37-49.

Ebert, Roger. "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." RogerEbert.com: Movie Reviews , 16 November 2001. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20011116/REVIEWS/111160301/1023 .

Elrick, Ted. "Chris Columbus talks about directing Harry Potter ." DGA Magazine: Directors Guild of America 27:5, January 2003. http://www.dga.org/news/v27_5/feat_columbus.php3 .

Fischer, Paul. "Exclusive Interview: Mike Newell for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ." Dark Horizons 24, October 2005). http://www.darkhorizons.com/news05/goblet1.php .

”””. "Interview: Mike Newell for Mona Lisa Smile and Harry Potter 4 ." Dark Horizons 9, December 2003. http://www.darkhorizons.com/news03/mona2.php .

Fraser, Lindsey. Conversations with J.K. Rowling . New York: Scholastic Press, 2001.

Geri. "Newell discusses the challenges of ˜ Harry Potter '." HPANA , 30 November 2004. http://www.hpana.com/news.18430.html .

”””. "News: Mike Newell won't split ˜ Goblet of Fire '." HPANA , 30 January 2004. http://www.hpana.com/news.17863.26.html .

”””. "Update: Heyman talks about first task and Fiennes." HPANA , 11 Oct. 2005. http://www.hpana.com/news.18913.html .

Gupta, Suman. Re-Reading Harry Potter . New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets . Directed by Christopher Columbus. Burbank: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2002.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire . Directed by Mike Newell. Burbank: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2005.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone . Directed by Chris Columbus. Burbank: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2001.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban . Directed by Alfonso Cuarón. Burbank: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004.

Hately, Shaun. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Context of the British Public Schools." HP InkPot , 13 December 2005. http://www.fictionalley.org/authors/shaun_hately/HSOWAWATBPS01.html .

Havens, Candace. Joss Whedon: The Genius Behind Buffy . Dallas: BenBella Books, 2003.

Heiberger, Sara. "Harry Potter and the Editor's Pen." Brown Alumni Magazine Online , November/December 2001. http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/storydetail.cfm?ID=421 .

Harry Potter Archive

Harry Potter Essays

Themes and Analysis

Harry potter and the philosopher’s stone, by j.k. rowling.

J.K. Rowling explores some essential themes within Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. An analysis of this book sheds light on how well structured and carefully planned most of the plot points of this book are.

Article written by Mohandas Alva

M.A. Degree in English Literature from Manipal University, India.

‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘  is a children’s book, but it has a lot of essential life lessons for readers of all ages . The world-building for this novel hooks the readers into staying engaged , and the third-person narration adds to the detailed storytelling ability of the book. Several themes that are crucial to a child’s development are tackled in this book. Themes like love, friendship, and life lessons to tell apart absolute good and evil form a major part of the wide roster of themes that reside in this book.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone  Themes

Love and family.

One of the ‘standout’ themes of ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, ‘ and by extension, the whole book series, is love. The very premise of Harry Potter surviving the killing curse of Lord Voldemort is based on the protection offered by Harry’s mother, Lily. By sacrificing herself to protect her son, she builds a strong magical shield around Harry, and Voldemort is destroyed by his very own curse as it rebounds.

Love is a recurring theme in the entire novel, and it dictates the dynamic of the plot. For instance, the lack of love from Harry’s foster family and his hatred towards them is in clear contrast to his desire to see his parents in the Mirror of Erised , which is fueled by love.

Although similar in many respects to love, friendship has a more nuanced role in ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. ‘ Starting with Hagrid, who is Harry’s first friend in the book, Harry goes on to make several friends, including Ron and Hermione. Furthermore, the idea of making friends is also of major importance in ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. ‘ 

When Harry meets Draco Malfoy for the first time in Madam Malkin’s shop, Harry has already formed an opinion of Draco, and during their second meeting, Harry rejects Draco’s hand at the friendship and remains loyal to the humble and kind-natured Ron. Harry says, “I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks.” which illustrates his confidence in making clear choices very early in this world he recently discovered. 

Another major theme in ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ is sacrifice. Harry Potter’s mother, Lily Potter, sacrifices her life to save him. Although Ron is partially responsible for Hermione being locked in with a mountain troll , Harry and Ron sacrifice their safety by choosing to save her from the troll and run towards danger knowingly. Hermione sacrifices her place in Hogwarts by saving both Harry and Ron from possible expulsion from Hogwarts and risking her own expulsion.

Finally, Ron sacrifices himself in the game of Wizard chess to facilitate safe passage for Harry and Hermione to protect the Philosopher’s Stone. While this being a children’s book allows for most of them to be unhurt despite sacrifice, all these choices to sacrifice themselves, made by the characters, involve accepting the possibility of death.

Courage and Bravery

An essential theme of ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, ‘ bravery plays a major role throughout the narrative. For example, Neville Longbottom is scared and nervous in most parts of the book. He gets bullied severely, especially by Malfoy and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle. However, taking Ron’s word of ‘having to stand up for himself’, Neville gathers enough courage to fight Malfoy during the Quidditch match. He goes on to even stand up against his very friends, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, when they are on the verge of breaking school rules.

Bravery is also portrayed by Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they persevere amidst challenges and keep their goal to prevent the stealing of the Philosopher’s Stone always.

Although an obvious theme, magic is an essential theme and is crucial in the details that build the story world. The major fascination in this book comes from a wide array of magical nuances that would be helpful to have in the real world. Spells, enchantments, potions, magical beings, artifacts, and several other aspects that make the story of ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ a great read for children play an important role in building the imagination of the reader.

Spells like  Wingardium Leviosa , flying broomsticks, or Madam McGonagall’s transfiguration into a cat are all impossibilities in the real world but add to the fascinating attraction that makes this book a memorable one. It caters to the escapism and fantastical requirement of the reader, thereby creating a sort of ‘magic’ of its own.

Intelligence

Another minor yet important theme in ‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ is intelligence. It is illustrated several times, starting with Hermione’s continuous application of her knowledge resourcefully with the spell Alohomora to open the door and her impressive application of logic amidst a stressful situation.

Ron’s intelligence in winning the game of Wizard Chess is another good illustration. Furthermore, the headmaster Dumbledore also plays a very clever role in showing Harry the mirror of Erised beforehand and using the subtle distinction between greed and need as a basis of his puzzle to retrieve the Philosopher’s stone.

Analysis of Key Moments in  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

• Harry Potter is safely brought to his Aunt’s House from the wreckage in Godric’s Hollow by Hagrid, and Dumbledore and Madam McGonagall place him on the doorstep.
• Harry Potter grows up to be eleven but is bullied by his cousin Dudley and ill-treated by his Aunt and Uncle.
• Harry encounters Hagrid, who conveys that Harry is a wizard and has been admitted to Hogwarts, to the dismay of his aunt and uncle.
• Harry buys all his things and visits Gringotts bank with Hagrid, who picks up a small package from there.
• Harry meets Ron and Hermione on the train to Hogwarts. Harry and Ron become friends.
• Harry, along with Ron and Hermione, is sorted into Gryffindor’s house.
• Harry learns how to fly and is selected as a seeker in his Quidditch house team.
• Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville encounter a huge three-headed dog in a corridor that is forbidden for students.
• Harry and Ron fight a mountain troll and save Hermione. They all become friends.
• Harry wins the Quidditch match by catching the snitch but is almost knocked off his broom during the match. Hermione and Ron suspect Professor Snape.
• Harry is presented with the invisibility cloak . He also encounters the Mirror of Erised.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione find out about Nicholas Flamel and the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Hagrid tries to tame a dragon and is unsuccessful. He is forced to send it to Romania with Ron’s brother’s friends.
• Harry, Hermione, Neville and Malfoy are sent with Hagrid for detention in the Forbidden forest. Harry comes across a cloaked figure who turns out to be Lord Voldemort.
• Harry, Ron and Hermione decide to go to the Philosopher’s Stone and protect it from Professor Snape, who they suspect are behind it.
• They make it through all the obstacles, and Harry alone enters the last room, where he finds out Professor Quirrell was the culprit. Further, Lord Voldemort resides in Quirrell’s head and is controlling him. Harry fights them and is victorious.
• Harry tells Professor Dumbledore about everything that happened. Later in the school feast, Dumbledore awards extra points to Gryffindor for their heroic actions. Gryffindor wins the House Cup.

Writing Style and Tone

‘ Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone ‘ is written with simple language and is easy to follow especially as it is a children’s book. The writing style is primarily in the basic third person without any evident experimental styles.

The tone of the novel is sometimes funny and even engaging. J. K. Rowling evokes humorous situations within the text by alluding to certain characters of the book whom Harry dislikes. Examples include Aunt Petunia, who is written as a nosy neighbor, Uncle Vernon as a rude, rule-following, and boring man, and his cousin Dudley as a spoilt brat who is pampered beyond repair by his parents.  

Analysis of Key Symbols in  Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Mirror of erised.

The Mirror of Erised is where Harry first sees the reflection of his parents and the rest of his family. It is revealed to show the deepest desires of the viewer. It works as an important literary tool in portraying Harry’s deep desire to be reunited with his parents, whom he never had the chance to know. It also does the same with Ron, who is revealed to want to be more successful than all his elder brothers, shedding light on his plight as a young sibling overshadowed by successful elder brothers.

The Philosopher’s Stone

Being an extremely valuable magical artifact, the Philosopher’s stone can create the Elixir of Life , which would make its drinker immortal. This symbolizes absolute power and demonstrates Lord Voldemort’s drive to attain dominion over others with this power. Furthermore, the fact that Harry could get it out of the Mirror of Erised illustrates his pure and incorruptible intentions and cements Dumbledore’s faith in him further.

What does the Sorcerer’s Stone symbolize?

The Sorcerer’s Stone, in its essence, symbolizes power in this book. However, it is an essential plot device and helps differentiate good from evil. Voldemort seeks the Sorcerer’s Stone for his selfish purpose of coming back to life as the tyrant he always was. On the other hand, Harry frantically attempts to prevent Voldemort from getting it, as he wants the collective good and peace of the magical world to remain.

What is the message of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ?

There are several messages in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. However, the most important message in Harry Potter is that love and friendship triumph over anything, no matter how fear-inducing the obstacles may be. Another message in this book is also that taking action in the face of adversity despite fear is the true sign of bravery.

What is written on top of the Mirror of Erised?

The engraving on the top of the Mirror of Erised reads, “Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.” When one reads this backward, the sentence becomes more apparent – “I show you not your face, but your heart’s desire.” This is the very purpose of the mirror, and the engraving works as a clever stylistic device to create mystery in the reader’s mind till it becomes apparent.

Summon your wit and wisdom—our Harry Potter Trivia Quiz awaits you! Do you have the knowledge to claim the title of Master Witch or Wizard? Take the challenge now!

1) What form does Hermione Granger's Patronus take?

2) What is the core ingredient of the wand owned by Harry Potter?

3) What animal represents Hufflepuff house?

4) What is the name of Harry Potter's pet owl?

5) What are the dying words of Severus Snape in both the book and the film "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows"?

6) What specific type of dragon does Harry face during the Triwizard Tournament?

7) What is Dumbledore's full name?

8) What does the Mirror of Erised show?

9) Who teaches Herbology at Hogwarts?

10) What does the incantation "Obliviate" do?

11) Which spell is used to open the Marauder's Map?

12) What is the name of the goblin-made object that is supposed to bring its owner prosperity, but also brings them into conflict with goblins?

13) In which Harry Potter book does Harry first speak Parseltongue?

14) What is the name of the train that takes students to Hogwarts?

15) What is the name of the book Hermione gives to Harry before his first ever Quidditch match?

16) What creature is Aragog?

17) What was the last Horcrux to be destroyed?

18) What is the effect of the Cheering Charm?

19) Who was the Peverell brother that owned the invisibility cloak?

20) What is the name of the goblin who helps Harry, Ron, and Hermione break into Gringotts?

21) Which object is NOT one of the Deathly Hallows?

22) What potion is known as "Liquid Luck"?

23) Which character is killed by Bellatrix Lestrange in the Battle of Hogwarts?

24) Who is the Half-Blood Prince?

25) Who originally owned the Elder Wand before Dumbledore won it?

26) Which potion did Hermione brew in her second year that allowed her, Ron, and Harry to assume the identities of Slytherins?

27) In the "Order of the Phoenix," who is NOT a member of the original Order of the Phoenix shown in the old photograph that Moody shows Harry?

28) Which creature can transform into a person's worst fear?

Your score is

Restart quiz

Join Our Community for Free!

Exclusive to Members

Create Your Personal Profile

Engage in Forums

Join or Create Groups

Save your favorites, beta access.

About Mohandas Alva

Mohandas is very passionate about deciphering the nature of language and its role as a sole medium of storytelling in literature. His interests sometimes digress from literature to philosophy and the sciences but eventually, the art and craft of narrating a significant story never fail to thrill him.

About the Book

The Harry Potter section of Book Analysis analyzes and explorers the Harry Potter series. The characters, names, terminology, and all related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros ©. The content on Book Analysis was created by Harry Potter fans, with the aim of providing a thorough in-depth analysis and commentary to complement and provide an additional perspective to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Discover literature and connect with others just like yourself!

Start the Conversation. Join the Chat.

There was a problem reporting this post.

Block Member?

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

• See blocked member's posts
• Mention this member in posts
• Invite this member to groups

Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

By j.k. rowling, harry potter and the chamber of secrets literary elements.

Fantasy, Mystery, Gothic, Horror, Adventure, Heroic journey, Coming-of-Age

Setting and Context

Number Four, Privet Drive; The Burrow; London (Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley, Flourish and Blotts in Diagon Alley, King’s Cross Station); Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (The Forbidden Forest, The Chamber of Secrets)

Narrator and Point of View

Third-person omniscient narrator, from Harry's point-of-view

Tone and Mood

Farcical, Wistful, Suspenseful, Despairing, Elated, Fun, Foreboding, Fanciful, Comical, Suspicious, Dark, Dramatic, Silly, Satirical, Scary, Witty, Terrifying, Puzzling, Triumphant, Adventurous, Heroic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonist: Harry Potter. Antagonist: Voldemort

Major Conflict

1) Conflict between Lucius Malfoy's pure-blood ideology and Mr. Weasley's Muggle Protection Act. 2) Conflict between Salazar Slytherin's desire to limit admission to Hogwarts to pure-blood wizards and the other three founders' desire to admit Muggles and half-bloods. 3) Conflict between Lord Voldemort's desire to destroy Harry Potter and Harry's desire to stay alive.

Harry (with the help of Fawkes, Dumbledore’s pet Phoenix) battles Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort (and his enchanted basilisk) in the Chamber of Secrets.

Foreshadowing

“Get the snitch or die trying” p. 170 “The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock.” P. 177 “They can carry immensely heavy loads” P. 207 “Riddle was a friend he’d had when he was small” P. 234

Understatement

According to "Literary Allusion in Harry Potter" by Beatrice Groves, the series contains literary allusions to Greek myth, Homer, Plato, Shakespeare, Ovid, Chaucer, Jane Austen, C.S. Lewis, Arthurian legend, and the Christian Bible.

A few examples:

A phoenix is a bird from Greek mythology. Fawkes the phoenix refers to Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the British Parliament, and is commemorated with bonfires and burnt effigies on Guy Fawkes day in Great Britain.

Percy's owl Hermes is named after Hermes, the messenger of the Gods in Greek mythology.

Minerva McGonagall is named for the Roman goddess of wisdom and war.

Parallelism

Harry Potter & Tom Riddle:

"There are strange likenesses between us, after all. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike..." p. 317

Metonymy and Synecdoche

Hagrid's dog's name "Fang" is an example of a synecdoche, or a part standing for a whole.

Voldemort's name is a metonymy, because it is a word associated with what is being named: "Voldemort" means roughly, in French, "running from death."

Personification

The Whomping Willow: Ch. 5 The Car: Chs. 5 & 15 The mirror over the mantlepiece: p. 42 The Howler: p. 87 The basilisk: pp.120,137, 138, 290 The spiders: Ch. 15 The diary: pp. 240, 322, 329 The Mandrakes: p. 93 Hedwig: p. 104 The rogue Bludger: Ch. 10 The Sorting Hat: p. 315 Fawkes: Ch. 17

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

After the boys arrived at the burrow,mrs weasly told her sons to

She gets them to the work of de-gnoming the garden .

What is impression Lockhart has of Harry?

Lockhart likes Harry because he believes that Harry's fame will open doors for him.

What age did Harry Potter end?

Do you mean how old Harry Potter was when the series ended?

Study Guide for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets study guide contains a biography of J.K. Rowling, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Summary
• Character List

Essays for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.

• ‘Life’ and ‘Death’ Upside Down in Harry Potter Series
• Mythical Norms in Kindred and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Segregation and Prejudice in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the End of Perfect Tales: Building up to 'Goblet of Fire'
• Harry Potter and the Human Behind “Lord Voldemort”