I am jumping in a bit late but what with one thing or the other, I didn't get around to reading this thread until this morning.
Gautam wrote: > In this book, however, the situation is different - > and here, in a real sense, I am more impressed. Now, > Harry is the king of Hogwarts. A hero to most of his > peers, adored by girls, the favorite of most of the > teachers, captain of the Quidditch team. Harry isn't > the downtrodden outcast. He's the elite. What does > he do? He (in my single favorite moment of the book) > invites Luna Lovegood to a prestigious party. Now > that the books are being read by everyone, I think > Rowling is taking advantage of this popularity to send > a new, much rarer message. Now, knowing that the > kings of the school will also be reading her books, I > think Rowling is trying to teach _them_ something. > This is how you should behave. You reach out to the > poor kids, the unpopular kids. That's not a common > message, because most kids lit doesn't have the > popular kids as the heroes. I disagree on two points here. First, I don't think Harry's invitation to Luna was any kind of a big deal. Harry couldn't invite the girl he wanted to invite, was pre-occupied, and invited the first girl he considered a friend. All I could see in his actions was convenience. Not that Harry doesn't take a stand on the issue, but that happens right at the beginning of the term, on the train to Hogwarts as a matter of fact. And there, I found the message to be not that popular kids should reach out to the unpopular kids, but that popularity is an ephemeral thing, and that friendship and loyalty matter more than the appearance of being 'cool'[the entire exchange in the train when Harry is questioned about his companions, his answer, Luna's comment and Harry's response to the same]. And that brings me to the second point of disagreement - I don't think Rowling [through her characters] was advocating that the popular kids to reach out to the poor, unpopular kids [the notion has a uncomfortable tinge of noblesse oblige to me], but was pointing out that the kids unpopular in school have their own good points, points well worth appreciating. Harry, although somewhat uncomfortable and embarassed around Luna, still appreciates the fact that she fought by his side. Ron is on the way to becoming a fan of her Quidditch commentary. > 3. Finally, briefly, and inextricably from the above, > I think there is some level of political allegory > involved. Definitely. My favourite part was when Harry tells Scrimgeour that he has no desire to be affiliated with a Ministry which doesn't ensure people's innocence or guilt before chucking them in prison. And I really liked the fact that he relayed pertinent bits of that conversation to Dumbledore. :) Ritu _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
