Suffering from “Pottermania”!! -a muggle’s viewpoint

So why is Harry Potter such a world wide phenomenon? From the first instalment of the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone, it has captured the imagination of the population like none other.The final instalment of the Harry Potter series released world wide Harry and the Deathly Hallows- bringing the final confrontation between Harry Potter and the evil Lord Voldemort. Harry Potter fans world over had been waiting for it with baited breath. This frenzy is whipped up to such a level that you end up looking like a dork if you haven’t read any of those books.

Harry Potter started off as a children’s book. But as Harry, the character got older; the book too grew to be relatively darker and started addressing a wide range of topics that adults as well as adolescents could identify with. Also remember the readers who read the first Harry Potter books have all gown up now. So it is a credit to Ms. J.K.Rowling that she has been able to maintain the interests of both the grown ups and the kids in the series.

Children love the series because it opens up an entirely new world to them, a world of magic and amazement. But Rowling has interwoven this magical world with parallels from real world. From the rigors of daily school activities and homework, to the intense competition and rivalry between the houses; there won’t be a child on the planet that couldn’t identify with his troubles. Every child would have friends or want to have friends like Hermione and Ron. Every child at some stage of his schooling would have encountered a nemesis like Malfoy. Every school will have its own favourite sport, like Quidditch is the flavour for everyone in Hogwarts.

However it’s all not fun and games in Harry Potter’s world. Rowling candy flosses the topic of racism. The hatred of pure blood wizards (those born in magical families) towards muggles (non-magical people like yours truly) and muggle born is amazingly similar to racist overtones in the real world. She touches upon slavery in how the wizarding world treats elves, their servants, in the book.

Harry Potter series is above all a story about the battle of good and evil. Lord Voldemort must rank alongside some of the greatest literary villains of all time. His quest for immortality mirrors the secret dark desire that we all possess. Harry Potter is the antithesis of Voldemort even though he shows a rather large disregard for following the rules. He embodies everything that Lord Voldemort is not. He is the tragic orphan whose parents are murdered by the former making his summit clash with Voldemort almost inevitable.

There has been criticism of these books from various quarters. From Catholics to Critics, all have thrashed the books for various reasons. But if these books form the stepping stone for kids to cultivate the habit of reading books then what is the harm in it. Or maybe we all are taking these books just a bit too seriously and forgetting the primary function these books were written for, to have some plain unadulterated fun. So get on your Firebolts and fly into the world of Harry Potter and his friends and forget the rest.