Role Of Xenophobia In Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone

When people grow up a certain way, thinking in a certain way it’ll inevitably come to affect them later on in life. This is especially true in the cases of personal philosophy, religion or any moral code of ethics. But sometimes, one’s religion starts negatively impacting the education of one’s child and the education of the nation's youth as a whole. In Nancy Flanagan Knapp's article,“In Defense of Harry Potter”, she makes the argument that although the Harry Potter series has come under flak, and even been banned in places, it’s still a very useful tool in furthering the education of young people. Knapp analyzes this point using a plethora of well thought out, well researched, and exceedingly well worded rhetorical strategies, and in the end she uses ethos, logos, and pathos to effectively convey her arguments.

All this has added to the growing popularity of the Harry Potter brand that is everywhere today. Young readers can relate to Harry’s issues and the books create another world the readers can subconsciously ‘escape’ too.

Writer Jeremy Adam Smith, starts his argument by telling a story about a little boy named Rodrigo Guzman. Rodrigo’s teacher noticed that he has been absent for a few days and found out later, that him and his family have been deported back to Mexico. Rodrigo’s teacher had told the fourth-grade class what happened to Rodrigo and his family. The kids in his class were shocked to hear that their friend had been deported and wanted to do something about it. In Jeremy Adam Smith “Our Fear of Immigrants”, many Americans fear immigrants based on what they learn from their in-groups. He believes that some people fear immigrants, find them a threat and how people try to tame xenophobe.

Even though the modern society hangs mostly in the balances of commerce, money, power, and the combined strength of technology and science, there are still great numbers of people who turn to tales of magic and wonder as an escape from the mundane existence in which their lives are led. In the late nineties, a young boy wizard by the name of Harry James Potter was first read about and proved to be a major catalyst in getting the world reading again, and getting the world to fall in love with something together; these two statements prove the power of the imagination has and still has a powerful influence on the world today and will continue to do so for a great amount of

I think every single day we are personally connected with animals. We eat animals for food, wear animal skins for clothes, own animals as pets, use animals for recreation, and experiment on animals to test drugs and consumer products. We are aware of this, yet we naturally give little thought to the overwhelming number of animals that we use in these ways, and what the animals themselves might be suffering as we use them for our purposes. While no non-human animal on this planet has the cultured rational abilities that we do, many, however, have mental capacities that enable them to experience pain, suffering, and anxiety

The article “A Change of Heart About Animals” written by Jeremy Rifkin informs readers that animals feel emotions very much similar to humans and should be given more rights. I agree with Rifkin’s statement, but to a certain extent.

Harry Potter has been known to capture the hearts of both the young and old. My favorite books out of this series has to be the very last two. It is the most exciting time in the boy wizards life as he tries to defeat the evil Lord Voldermort. For those of us that haven't jumped on the Harry Potter wagon yet it is not too late! J.K. Rowling writes in a way that moves you along in the story and makes you want to read more.

Parents have called for Harry Potter, a children’s fantasy story, to be removed from schools. The main argument these concerned parents have is that the magic-filled books encourage involvement in the occult and the practice of satanic worship. They are scared that the exposure their children experience through the books will cause them to accept this as normal and will “view the occult in a favorable light, abandoning any thought about the very real and present danger that interaction with the occult realm can and does bring” (Barger, n.p.). Adults are automatically assuming that something as simple and entertaining as harmless, magic spells will encourage young readers to start sacrificing animals to Satan himself, when really they are just simply amazed with the Latin-based words. Religious families in particular say that Rowling’s works confuses kids and draws them away from their faith that their parents have installed into them since birth (Dunne, para. 9). Many of the actions that Harry and his friends take clash with religious practices, but other parents say that they are setting a bad example by lying, breaking rules, and disobeying teachers then eventually getting rewarded for their rebellious actions. Parents seem to think that heroes are entirely good people, follow every rule in place, and show respect for every person. As the media has shown in the past years

ear Editor, In the article published “A Change of Heart About Animals.” In there, the author Jeremy Rifkin states that “ [Animals] they feel pain, suffer and experience stress, affection, excitement, and even love- these findings are changing how we view animals.” I agree with this pretty bold statement and I feel like many parts of society are very neglecting towards animals and how they are treated, there needs to be a change. Like Rifkin said, many animals in our daily lives are like people in more ways than one.

I have never been as comfortable with people made of flesh and bone than I have been with those made of words. Whatever information I lose in the contours of the human face, I have no trouble locating in the unchanging, permanent text of a book. There is something about literature that felt safe to me; the worlds created within far more welcoming to little girls with problems fitting in than the one outside the pages. For this reason, fiction, from Harry Potter to The Book Thief, has remained my greatest passion ever since I learned to read.

Undoubtedly one of the most popular stories of the 21st century was Harry Potter, a series in which readers follow the life of a twelve year old boy who learns that he is magical. Throughout the novels aspects of magic are blended into the real world, portrayed by the setting Great Britain, which contains a large proportion of non-magical people, referred to as muggles. The way the author, J.K Rowling, set the book up and blended these two aspects, magic and realism, is analogous to the way John Irving wrote a Prayer for Owen Meany through the genre of magical realism. Furthermore, the use of this genre allowed for the development of John Irving’s main message. By setting the story in the realistic town of Gravesend, New Hampshire, and incorporating the exceptional religious character of Owen Meany, the author sets the scene to impart his thoughts upon readers. John Irving’s main message in a Prayer for Owen Meany is that not all people view the world using science and logical reason.

If prejudice from non-magical folk exists, so must prejudice from magical folk. Non-magical people are called “Muggles” by the wizard community. There are no negative implications to the word, unless there is intent. Draco Malfoy is a boy who comes from a pure wizard family who uses the term “Muggle” in a negative connotation; to him anyone who is not pure-blood is inferior. Readers are first confronted with prejudice in this form when Harry meets Malfoy in Diagon Alley and is asked about his family: “...they were our kind weren't they?... I really don’t think they should let the other sort in do you? They are just not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways” (60-61). Anyone who is not of wizard descent in Malfoy’s view is inferior and unworthy of not only entering Hogwarts but of interacting with wizards at all.

The subjects of racism and prejudices can be very difficult to talk about in general but especially when trying to explain those themes to children. The subjects are uncomfortable and can viewed in many different ways. These themes have been the subject of debate for many years in regards to how to define racism and how to talk about it in a constructive manner. One reason these subjects are so difficult to talk about is the fear of offending someone or sounding prejudice to some degree. Thankfully J.K. Rowling created a world where these themes can be explored safely and without fear of offending any groups. The following research will explore the Harry Potter series and how these themes are presented in the story.

Literary heroes that are also ordinary children are engaging to readers, particularly child readers. James Pope and Julia Round write that “Roald Dahl is a fascinating author in that his books for children feature child heroes who are very often neither hero nor villain, but a wild, subversive combination of both” (258). These characteristics are also true of Coraline and Harry Potter, as they are presented as imperfect, but ultimately find the power within themselves to save what is important to them. Children readers are empowered by Coraline and Harry because they identify with these ordinary children and feel as if they can also make a difference in their lives, as the characters defeat the evil in theirs.

Using imagination and creativity, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series has defined literature as transformative. In this seven-book series J.K Rowling imagined and creatively pieced together a fantasy world of muggles, wizards, tyrants, and heroes to symbolically share with readers problems plaguing modern society. Similar to Shelley’s work of the past, never before have readers in the modern era seen teenage and adult mania surrounding an 11-year-old wizard. Some will argue that J.K. Rowling’s young-adult series lacks depth or wants to twist young minds by using magic and evil, but through close examination it is evident that