J. K. Rowling: The Incredible Impact of Harry Potter

J. K. Rowling is the author of the best-selling Harry Potter series. As Bruno Bettelheim says, “If we hope to live not just moment to moment, but in true consciousness of our existence, then our greatest need and most difficult achievement is to find meaning in our lives” (Bettelheim 2). ”when children are young, it is literature that carries such information best” (Bettelheim 4). In literary circles, mention of Rowling or her work is likely to raise some tempers. Critics find her work “antithetical to established literary values, sustained by clearly monetary interests, and which in a few short years has climbed to an astonishing peak of international glory and financial success” (Virole 1). The beginning of Rowling’s series is awkward to read. She begins her first novel with little depth or voice. Although it begins a little shakily, Rowling gains control of her magical tomfoolery rather quickly. In fact, Rowling is so good at this that many readers begin to see the wizarding world as normal and the muggle world as a complete impossibility. “No self-respecting child reader would ever think of himself as a muggle. It is simply another name for the unimaginative, the pedestrian and the mediocre…” (Allen 1). Almost every age group will enjoy reading the Harry Potter series. Rowling writes in the form of a Bildungstrom – a novel of education or development along with other traditional British novels – and feminism plays a large role in her novels through the house elves. Each book Rowling has written “ends in much the same way—the classic way of fantasy. The hero has entered the fantasy world, faced dangers, struggled with trials, experienced victories and setbacks, overcome the evil or dark force, and eventually reente...

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