Every Tom, Dick, and Harry Potter

You would have to have been in a coma for a year not to have heard of Harry Potter, the main character of the largest grossing children's books ever. For the record I have read the first three Potter books, as a professional obligation for a teacher of writing for children and as an employee of a children's book publisher. Understand, I am not one to object to fantasy and fiction. I write it myself. I read it. I have read C. S. Lewis's Narnia series, for example, many times. And I see that J. K. Rowling is no C. S. Lewis.

This is a point that must be made clear, for some Christians are defending the content of the Potter books: "There are some Christians who . . . think that . . . the magical scenarios of J. K. Rowling's imagination are inherently un-Christian. I would counter that; instead, these books have the potential to be profoundly Christian if readers can see past the medium (magic) to the novels' deeper messages about self-sacrifice, the triumph of good over evil, and the glorious possibility of human redemption" (Beliefnet, July). While many would not dismiss out-of-hand imaginative stories (even those like Lewis's, which contain references to magic and witches) under pressure of being called un-Christian, neither should they be coerced into accepting Harry Potter for fear of being called un-Christian.

Nothing can be "profoundly Christian" that makes lying and revenge acceptable, that blurs the distinction between good and evil, or that glorifies what the Bible in any way condemns. Harry may be a sympathetic character because terrible relatives mistreat him, but he is not a champion of right, no hero like Peter, High King of Narnia, who (with his comrades) leads the reader to confidence in Christian perspectives. Peter views evil from the high ground of truth. Harry, on the other hand, leads the reader to humanism, situational ethics, and self-reliance. Here is not a story of human redemption, but rather the opposite of it: Harry views evil (his mistreatment) as something he can revenge by his own power.

No one should castigate Ms. Rowling for writing her books the way she wants to. She is not purporting to be a Christian or a classic writer. The reader must rather focus on what he is to make of the works. Kimbra Gish's article "Hunting Down Harry Potter" in Hornbook (May/June 2000) does a thorough job of presenting the objections Christian teachers and parents have to books that make the occult seem like fun and make those who think otherwise seem like mean-spirited dolts. She says that "as a conservative Christian, I believe that there are certain lines I should not cross, and one of them is opening a door to a world where witchcraft is the 'cool' thing."

And there's the problem: Harry Potter is the current "cool thing," and many students will read the books despite parental and teacher advice or rules. Some may even have their parents' blessings. And then what should we say to them? Many educators recommend using the books as a learning experience, taking them to the children and staying available through the reading and after. These people assume that the literary value of the books would make this a worthwhile endeavor.

These books, despite awards such as British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year, are not—I repeat, not—great literature. They are not even good literature. Harold Bloom, a Yale professor, weighed in on this point in his article "Can 35 Million Book Buyers Be Wrong? Yes." Carried in the Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2000, this article bemoans the inability of a modern readership to discern derivative bad writing from classic works for children.

Bloom says of Rowling's work, "Her prose style, heavy on cliché, makes no demands upon her readers. In an arbitrarily chosen single page—page 4—of the first Harry Potter book, I count seven clichés, all of the 'stretch his legs' variety." Far from Gish's assertion that the books may have some good benefit if presented carefully, Bloom disagrees with those who tout the books as wonderful avenues to get kids reading: "How to read 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'? Why, very quickly, to begin with, perhaps also to make an end. Why read it? Presumably, if you cannot be persuaded to read anything else, Rowling will have to do. Is there any redeeming educational use to Rowling? Is there any to Stephen King? Why read, if what you read will not enrich mind or spirit or personality?" Why indeed?

The answer, sadly, for many children will be "Because I don't want to be left out. Everyone is reading them." Ah, the age-old peer pressure at work. This time it is helped along by savvy marketing on a grand scale and the tendency to root for the underdog, which in this case is not only the main character but also the author. (The story is that Rowling, divorced and living on public welfare, wrote Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in a café while her daughter napped at home.)

Pointing out the biblical injunctions to the eager readers may not be enough to take the lure of these books away. Pointing out the obviously bad writing (bad dialogue tags, too-easy characterization, thin motivations, to name only three) will probably not stem the tide of Pottermania in Christian schools either. Nor will it suffice to point out that these books are famous only for . . . being famous. What then?

We must take the admonition of Philippians 4:8 here and overcome the dubious charms of Potter with literature that is lovely, well-reasoned, and of good report. Help the students realize that "good report" and "popular report" are not necessarily the same thing. Read aloud more often to your classes. Get them into books like The Bronze Bow, which shows revenge is wrong. Read books that truly make a change in the reader, not just momentarily affect his emotions—as the overly sentimental setup in Harry's situation does. Provide an easily accessible library of truly good books for the students. Convenience can be a great influence.

But also be ready to talk about the Potter books squarely. Forbidding the students to read the books with little or no comment will make their appeal only greater. Read one or two yourself and test what you find against biblical standards and literary standards. Try not to be in the position of saying, "I heard the books were bad." (For some exceptionally well-reasoned guidelines for judging the value of stories, see "Christian Educational Censorship," in Christian Education: Its Mandate and Mission, published by BJU Press.)

If we give the students, as Bloom calls it, "superior fare" and present our own considered views as trusted teachers, we can indeed show the magic of Harry Potter to be only sleight of hand after all.

Reprinted from Teacher to Teacher, December 2000.

About Dawn Watkins

Dawn Watkins, teacher and popular children’s author is Director of Marketing Communications for BJU Press.

Used with permission from BJU Press. For permission to reproduce this article, please write BJU Press.