Meeting Notes Wednesday August 3, 2016

            Due to my interest in a career as a novelist, I decided to write this essay about a book series.  That way, I could explore the impact of a fictional world on the real world.  For this reason, I chose to write about the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling--not as a judgment of literary value, but because its extreme popularity makes it an ideal subject for the type of essay I want to write.

            The answer to the first question in the Four-Way Test--is it the truth?--seems, at first glance, to be laughably obvious: No.  And of course, this is true in a literal sense--none of the characters in the Harry Potter series are real people, none of the events actually occurred, and the Wizarding World exists purely in our minds.  However, like most books and all good books, the Harry Potter series still manages to convey truths about human beings and the world (or at least, what J. K. Rowling views as truths).  For example, the relationships between the characters--especially Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the three most developed--ring true because they resemble real human relationships.  The Golden Trio are extremely close, but they don’t always get along.  Ron gets jealous of Harry’s fame, Hermione gets angry when the other two ask her to do their homework, and Harry often feels misunderstood because of his connection with Voldemort.  However, the three value their friendship enough to continue to stick together throughout all seven books, even though it takes work to do so.  This isn’t merely an attempt to add drama to the series; this is how friendships work in the real world.

            Another aspect of the real world that Rowling inserts into her work is the problem of discrimination.  Although she doesn’t spend much time on issues such as gender, race, and sexual orientation, Rowling introduces the concept of blood purity to mirror such issues.  In Harry Potter’s world, wizards who come from non-magical (“Muggle”) families are looked down on by wizards from magical families, and this becomes worse during Voldemort’s reign, leading to political discrimination (many so-called “Mudbloods” end up having their wands destroyed), a reality in our world as well.  Besides political issues, Rowling also explores interpersonal problems caused by prejudices.  In the generation before Harry’s, Severus Snape fell in love with Lily Evans (Harry’s mother) while they were both at Hogwarts, even though she was Muggle-born and he hated Muggle-borns in general.  This was one of the reasons she didn’t reciprocate his feelings.  However, more importantly, Snape’s attitude shows us a reality of ingrained prejudices: instead of revising his conception of Muggle-borns when he met Lily, he simply categorized her as an exception and went on despising other Muggle-borns.

            In addition to passing the first part of the Four-Way Test (sort of), the Harry Potter series mostly passes the second part.  Because of its popularity, it’s widely available--one can find it in libraries; as audio books; and in dozens of languages, including Braille.  This means that people have fair access to the series worldwide, even if they have disabilities such as blindness.  Although it’s not possible to make the books available to everyone in the world--many people don’t have access to libraries or bookstores, and many others speak obscure languages that the series hasn’t been translated into--Harry Potter can be found in a staggering number of places, an impressive feat that should be commended when speaking in terms of fairness to all people.

            As for the third part of the test, Harry Potter manages to pass that as well, in a way.  Because it is so well-loved worldwide, this story has the ability to facilitate friendships and goodwill.  Although one cannot base a friendship purely on Harry Potter, many people latch onto similar interests such as books and movies while they’re getting to know each other, thus sowing the seeds of friendship or friendly acquaintanceship.  Harry Potter is a good icebreaker in this way because lots of people have very strong feelings for the series.  However, its popularity is a double-edged sword--a few people who have read the books are rather judgmental of those who haven’t read them or don’t like them, which can engender some animosity.  For the most part, though, Harry Potter is used as a positive topic of conversation between friends or people getting to know each other.

            Lastly, is Harry Potter beneficial to all concerned?  It can be argued that books in general are beneficial because they allow readers to experience different perspectives and thus promote empathy and open-mindedness, and this certainly applies to Harry Potter.  However, the series has also proved beneficial in an indirect way.  It created immense revenues for author J. K. Rowling, who eventually became a billionaire.  Obviously, this benefits her, but not only her--Rowling has donated and continues to donate a lot of money to charity, enough to make her lose her billionaire status.

            In conclusion, the Harry Potter series passes the Four-Way Test.  It tells truths about human nature, it is available to many people worldwide, and it can be used as a starting point for goodwill and friendships--or at least friendly conversations.  It’s moderately beneficial to those who read it (and certainly isn’t harmful, although most people do experience sadness about the deaths of beloved characters), and much of the money spent on the books has gone to charity.  So, although there are certainly things that could have passed the Four-Way Test with much higher marks and indeed contribute much more to society, the Harry Potter series is valuable in its own way, with its own unique contributions.