Monday, June 25, 2007

Understanding Harry Potter

Well as you might have guessed from the previous post, I am down with Harry Potter fever. With the last installment of the Harry Potter series and the film based on the fifth book ‘Harry Potter and The Order of Phoenix’ releasing one after another, it is a treat for all of Harry Potter fans. Many might depressed about the series coming to an end, but as they say, all good things have to come to an end.

For more than a decade, the bespectacled orphan boy has managed to capture the attention of thousands of readers and has continued to maintain its faithful base of fans. Google the word ‘Harry Potter’ and you will get approximately hits. J.K.Rowling has, in a way, revived the dying habit of reading. Many critics might dismiss this idea, but they themselves have no explanation as to how these books have set a record for themselves. Fans line up since midnight to get the first copy of the latest installment and then they finish it off by reading it for hours at a stretch. In less than a few hours, websites dedicated to Harry Potter carry spoiler warnings for the plot as the fans quite animatedly discuss about the plot and characters.

So I wonder, what is it that endears ‘The Boy who Lived’ and his best buddies- Ron and Hermione, to the readers? At least there is a partial explanation to this. According to a research, the reason for success of books of authors such as Enid Blyton and J.K. Rowling lies in the way they use simplicity of language. As many might have noticed, both these authors have used simple, lucid language in their works which triggers certain biochemical reactions which in turn keeps the reader hooked. Simple language has got to do everything with their success.

Another reason for success of Harry Potter is that it presents to us a magical world which is completely different from our ‘Muggle’ world. The author has delved into every tiny detail of Harry Potter’s world which makes it all the more believable. We use the book as an escape from our mundane, mechanical life. How nice it would be if we could summon the remote with one flick of wand! Or we could use a flying broom (I personally would want the Firebolt) to zip off to our destinations, without getting crushed in the local trains. The possibilities are unlimited, provided we give free reign to our imagination. More often than not, I find myself chanting spells, charms and hexes in front of the mirror, in the hope that it might work and then I would be inducted in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I would scan the skies for an owl, conveniently forgetting the bad reputation it enjoys in various cultures.

The emotions in the book are so raw and so human, that you can actually relate to them. Many cried when Sirius Black and Dumbeldore were killed, as if it was their personal loss. Many would ask why one would shed tears over the death of a fictional character. It is because the reader and Harry Potter merge into one whole entity. His problems bother us and we celebrate his victories. It is a source of utmost pleasure to us when we, at least for a few hours, are the hero and by partaking in the adventures, we try to feel the adrenaline rush in our veins. I feel this infuses a new energy in us, which in turn prepares us to face fresh challenges. The author stresses the importance of facing one’s fears and even though we might have many allies in this battle, the final battle will have to be fought by you-alone. And above all it underlines one important fact, always emphasized y the beloved headmaster Dumbledore -nothing is superior to love.

Do you find this idea too churlish? Here are a few lines from ‘Life of Pi’ by Yann Martel-
“Fear is difficult to put into words. For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end, nestles in your memory like a gangrene: it seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak of it. So you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”
Need I say more?

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