While J. K. Rowling has described herself as a Christian many times, she has often emphasized that she did not write the books with the purpose to promote her faith. “I did not set out to convert anyone to Christianity. I wasn’t trying to do what C. S. Lewis did. It is perfectly possible to live a very moral life without a belief in God, and I think it’s perfectly possible to live a life peppered with ill-doing and believe in God” (Gibbs, 2007).
Nonetheless, many have noted the religious – especially Christian – undertones in her work and Rowling too has acknowledged the influence of her belief on her writing. “Personally”, she says of her religious faith, “I think you can see that in the books” (Lindell, 2007).
Although there may not be
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In an interview after the book had been published, Rowling acknowledged the religious subtext in the story:
“There clearly is a religious undertone. And – it’s always been difficult to talk about that because until we reached Book Seven, views of what happens after death and so on, it would give away a lot of what was coming. So … yes, my belief and my struggling with religious belief and so on I think is quite apparent in this
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The belief in the triumph of good over evil, the principle of loyalty, honesty, self-sacrifice, moral courage and the willingness to stand up for what is right, are all values that are being taught in the Bible. Harry Potter’s story consists of these ideals and principles as well, some which he had to learn in order to continue his journey.
An example is the Christian belief that evil can be overcome with the power of love. In Harry Potter, love is the most ancient and powerful magic of all. Harry was able to survive Voldemort’s killing curse because of his mother’s love, which became like a protective mark when she sacrificed herself for him. In the wizarding world, love is the only defence against the temptation and power of the Dark Arts, which stem from hateful emotions (cf. Granger, 2008, 64-65; Rowling, 2010,
Throughout history there have been many influential people. For example, individuals influence the world by protesting, discovering something new, or using their resources to help others with their generosity. Specifically, Desmond Doss is someone who has influenced millions of people. Desmond Doss is influential because of his accomplishments, his beliefs, and his braveness.
C.S Lewis gives us many insights throughout The Magician's Nephew, and shows allegory between the Christian story and the Narnia story. Allegory is a way in which literary work contains two meanings, one literal and one more symbolic. The events, settings, objects, or characters stand for ideas or qualities beyond themselves. Polly and Digory encounter a lot of choices and are tempt multiple times throughout their adventure into Narnia; just like Adam and Eve in the Christian story. C.S. Lewis uses animals to represent Adam Eve in the Christian story.
In the first subcategory of Book Two, Lewis discusses his conversion from atheism to Christianity and how it relates to his worldview. When he was an atheist he convinced himself that he was smarter than the majority of the world. This was debilitating and caused him to have a narrow outlook on existence as he could only see one side of the question
It must have brought her comfort when her father died and while they were suffering from the effects of a bloody war. She was subjected to the harsh cruelty of the reality forcing her to grow up but she sought after the books in order to maintain what little remained of her childlike innocence. She took the comfort offered by it because of wanting to escape her world much like the tale of Princess Moanna. Princess Moanna’s tale started with her escape from the Underground Realm. We are familiar with the negative connotation of hell, a place where eternal suffering was to be found.
However, the logical connection between these two quotes -virtually identical in length and taken from different books - and Rowling's prose is preposterous. Additionally, in this particular case, Pennington does not even give any example of stylistic differences between the quotes, leaving the task to the astute deductions of the readers. Thus, this paucity of examples and quotes is a symptom of the global lack of credibility of Pennington's claim that "Harry Potter […]
Ever since the first came out in 1997, the Harry Potter novels have been a point of debate between readers, with some instantly attaching to the series, while others have been disgusted by each and every novel in the series. This major split seems to be between older traditionalist readers who are against the novels, and younger readers that see the books for what they are as entertaining and appropriate for young readers. Regardless of any single person’s viewpoint, the books rapidly became popular and weaved their way into pop culture. As a result, critics rushed to get their reviews of the novels out and give their opinion on the novels sweeping the world by storm. Two of these critics, Joan Acocella and Harold Bloom, were among these critics
Harry Potter lives a balanced life in accordance with his values and teachings, which allows him to surpass Voldemort in strength. Harry grows as a character through his hardships and perseverance and works hard to become the person he believes he needs to be. On the contrary, Voldemort’s beliefs are rooted solely in power and domination; he values strength over morality and seeks only to impose fear upon those who oppose him. This dichotomy between lex orandi and lex credendi creates a moral divide between the two characters, making it clear that Harry’s values are based on an ethical code while Voldemort’s are rooted in selfishness and
Rowling has been very famous for her “Harry Potter” series which is very similar to “A Wizard of Earthsea.” Although Le Guin’s book is very old, the impact of her story lives on even in our society today. Le Guin was able to pave way for many of the authors of today when it comes to fantasy. Many of her books are very popular and different that it set high standard for many authors to strive for. It is not just her books that were influential, but her whole writing career as a whole.
Kautz 2 (Corinthians 8:6) Dumbledore is to Harry what God is to Jesus. “Dumbledore a seemingly omnipotent enigma always fighting on Harry's side. Dumbledore insists on moral action. He has understanding of the human heart. He guides Harry along a fated path from the Sorcerers Stone to Deathly Hallows.
Rhetorical Analysis – J.K. Rowling “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination” The author of the famous Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling held this speech during a graduation ceremony at Harvard University. The speech was to the Harvard graduates from June 5, 2008 and was held outside in the famous ‘Old Harvard Yard’ as a tradition. The purpose of the speech was to celebrate and congratulate the graduating class.
Christianity in Europe before the Victorian Era was a part of everyday life and widespread throughout the country. With historians analyzing the bible for accuracy and the publishing of Darwin’s, The Origin of Species, many educated churchgoers began to question their faith. In the novel Dracula, Bram Stoker incorporates religious symbols along with references to Christianity to communicate his position on the issue of fleeting faith. By expressing the power religious symbols have, the effectiveness of superstition compared to science, and spiritual character actions; Stoker creates a pro-Christian piece of propaganda to express the need for religious faith in a society with increasing reliance on scientific reasoning.
Likewise, Jesus died on the cross to save his people, was mourned or disgraced and later resurrected (cf. Murphy, 2011, 31-33). Good and evil: In both Harry Potter and Christianity, there is a good and an evil side. Representatives that symbolise goodness would be on the one hand Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster at Hogwarts, and on the other hand God.
Shortly after Harrys’ birth, a prophecy was formed, the prophecy stated, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh
Harry always puts his friends first, and in this book one of the people who are put in danger is his close friend Hermione, and in the end his best friend’s sister is abducted. The book’s theme can be compared to many other books, for example The Hunger Games. Katniss, the main character in that book, volunteers to be a part of a dangerous game so that she can protect her little sister. But the book is also about character development and being a good person.
The first source that will be used is, “The Lives Theology of the Harry Potter Series,” by Anastasia Apostolides and Jognn-Alberchet Meylahn, this source looks at how this generation uses ‘Harry Potter” and other fantasy series in religion, this can help to see how people intrepid the use of “magic” in the modern day, as well as showing how the Catholic Church interprets these writings. The secant source will be “Pop goes Religion; Harry Potter meets Clifford Geertz,” by Iver B. Neumann, this article shows how “Harry Potter” uses and is related to witch craft in early modern Europe, this will show which aspects of the books are drawn from history and which are purely made up. Thirdly is “Is Harry Potter Christian?” Author Dan McVeigh, which