Literary influences on Harry Potter
The Harry Potter series draws from many literary traditions and themes, including
detective/mystery stories (Alton, 2003), comical works (Beck, 2001), gothic novels (Alton,
2003), adventure novels and serials (Granger, 2002), fairy, folk and fantasy tales (Nikolajeva,
2003), boarding-school fiction (Elster, 2003) and hero quests, myths and legends, especially
the Arthurian legend (Schafer, 2002). Rowling has professed to being studious in her youth
(Imbornoni, 2006) and also studied French and Classics at the University of Exeter
(Wikipedia). This provided her with a solid literary background from which to create her
Harry Potter novels.
Harry Potter is portrayed as a heroic figure throughout the series and many of the
plots draw from the hero journey motif. This motif will be commented on later in this thesis
because critics feel that it “underlies all human experience and, consequently, is found in
stories about those experiences” (Harris & Thompson, 2005, p. 4), including the Harry Potter
series. Elizabeth Schafer (2002, pp. 148-149) draws attention to many of the parallels
between Harry’s adventures and those of King Arthur, including dragons and chess pieces.
Rowling draws many of her characters and key aspects of her plots from legends and myths.
Mythical creatures are mentioned including giants, witches, a hippogriff, a phoenix, centaurs,
a basilisk as well as mythical objects such as the “Philosopher’s Stone”, from the art of
alchemy, playing key parts in her plots. She also places Harry and his friends in the role of
detectives as they search for clues to solve various puzzles.
The series is set in a boarding school, which situates it in a long tradition of boardinghouse
fiction in England. Each book covers one year of Harry’s life from the age of eleven.
While most of the action occurs at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry there are
also incidents mentioned which occur outside the school. Each year Harry and his friends are involved in solving a mystery or preventing a catastrophic event. The plot build up is similar
to that portrayed in literature serials (Alton, 2003, p. 141). Each book has a similar plot
structure and style beginning with Harry unhappily living with the Dursleys, fleeing from the
Dursleys, eventually ending up at Hogwarts, solving a mystery involving the evil Voldemort
and ending with the end of the school year (ibid., p. 146). It also possesses some of the
elements of serial works published by authors such as Dickens and found in comics such as
the “The Phantom”. This is to say that the ending of each episode is one that stimulates a
reader’s curiosity to know what will happen next because something has been left unsolved
(ibid., p. 147). In Harry’s case it is the continuing problem of Voldemort trying to destroy
him and take over the world. Each episode of this continuing serial is of book length.
Rowling also makes aspects of the books comical through humorous magical
concoctions and through some of the situations that characters find themselves in (Beck,
2001, p. 52). Examples of comical moments are Dudley ending up with a pig’s tail attached
to his behind (PS, p. 48), Dumbledore eating an earwax-flavoured jelly bean (PS, p. 218),
Ron burping up slugs when his damaged wand upsets his magic (CoS, p. 88), Dudley
suffering from a Ton-Tongue toffee (GoF, p. 47) and Draco Malfoy being turned into a ferret
by Mad-Eye Moody and being bounced around like a yoyo (GoF. pp. 180-181). There is also
scatological humour to be found in the books. A good example is when the Professor
Trelawney is taking a class where they are studying the stars. Lavender Brown sights a star
and excitedly squeals out:
‘Oh, Professor, look! I think I’ve got an unaspected planet! Oooh, which one’s that,
Professor?’
‘It is Uranus, my dear,’ said Professor Trelawney, peering down at the chart.
‘Can I have a look at Uranus, too, Lavender?’ said Ron” (GoF, p. 178). Rowling has also professed her love for the Narnia series by C.S. Lewis (Shapiro,
2000, p. 25) and she draws consciously or un-consciously from this and other fantasy/fairy
stories in the series. This is particularly noticeable in her use of a parallel world, the
wizarding world, occurring alongside our human one. This reminds us of the other world
found in the secret entranceway through the wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe (Lewis, 1950).
Rowling, like most authors, has drawn her writing from those traditions that most
appeal to her and with which she is most comfortable. She is well-read in English literature
and classical works and this influences her writing. Indeed, it has resulted in many people
feeling comfortable with the books because they are familiar with the structure adopted by
Rowling, which draws from a predictable form (Nikolajeva, 2003). This form includes the
use of the monomyth and romantic hero motifs, the solving of mysteries and the continuing
struggle of good against evil (Nikolajeva, pp. 126-140).
Children’s Literature and Harry Potter
The Harry Potter series of books has been placed in the category of children’s
literature. Rowling feels that they are best suited to readers aged eight and over (Scholastic,
2000) which targets them at a wide audience. The books have been categorised as children’s
literature possibly because well-known American children’s publisher, Scholastic, picked up
the American publishing rights to the first book, PS, and because this book won the Nestlé
Smarties Book Prize in 1997 and the British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year in
early 1998. Other children’s book awards have followed (Wikipedia). The books also portray
Harry Potter from the age of eleven so this may have contributed to the children’s literature
tag being labelled on the series. However, adults have also been avid readers of the book to such an extent that there have been versions of the books with more adult-looking covers
published (Appendix 1).
The books do contain instances of death and suffering which have caused concern
regarding their appropriateness for children, (Taub & Servaty, 2003, pp.62-67). Some critics
have classed the series as inappropriate for children because of their use of magic, which the
critics feel encourages occultism (Abanes, 2001, Dollins 2002). Generally, bookstores have
placed the books into the strand of literature entitled “Children’s Literature” although, with
Harry getting older in recent instalments of the series, many bookstores now place the books
in their teen-reading section. Each book contains a struggle between good and evil and, in
that struggle, the characters discover things about themselves and others. The characters
undertake growth experiences. In each book Harry and his friends progress through a
number of situations that lead towards a climax that, while dealing with the current situation,
is limited in its overall effectiveness because readers are aware there will be further conflict
in a future volume. The characters, like their readers, have to make choices as circumstances
change in their lives. These choices reflect the personal values they hold and become more
difficult to make, and the consequences of those decisions greater, as the series moves on. As
some critics have noted the choices Harry makes can be useful in assisting children in their
own moral reasoning (Kern, 2003, pp. 121-127, Whited & Grimes, 2002). In reality Harry
Potter is growing up with the books and, to a large extent, so are many of the books’ readers.
Books have also been published to assist with teaching aspects of the series
(Scholastic Professional Books) and Internet sites have become available which encourage
written contributions from children. A large variety of commercial products are commonly
found in our shops and the first four of the books have been turned into feature films. In
addition Rowling, and characters from her books, have appeared in popular television shows
such as “The Simpsons”. Terms used in the books, such as “muggle”, “quidditch” and “Hogwarts”, and what they mean, have become commonly recognised. In short, the books
have become a popular part of Western youth culture.
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