As the first part of the last movie of the beloved Harry Potter series premiered Friday at midnight, students have been gripped by a re-kindled obsession with J. K. Rowling’s fantastical world of wizards, magic, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
As many non-fans may wonder in the wake of this and other episodes of Potter mania, what is it about Harry Potter that makes the series so captivating? Victoria Waldron and Dana Gough contend that the many nuances of the intricate world created by Rowling make the saga realistic, and that the fantasy world — like the real world — has problems and is imperfect. Moreover, they note that the characters themselves are also believable and that readers can easily relate to the problems of Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
However, there are many — probably at least thousands — of books that meet these criteria, but few ever develop the fanfare that the Harry Potter series has. So, again, why are these books so riveting?
Most books contain some vestige of the conflict between good and evil, but this dispute is sometimes only evident after close examination of the subtext. In Harry Potter, however, it is patently clear that Harry is the hero, Voldemort is the villain, and the on-going struggle between them is the central focus of the plot throughout the entire series; little analysis is needed to understand who and what the “good” and “bad” are. That’s not to say that books in which the true meaning is more opaque and does require analysis aren’t worthy and valuable, but for adolescents craving some quality fantasy, the simple good verse evil conflict in Harry Potter is unmatched. (The popularity of the Twilight series can also be attributed to the same, straightforward good versus evil conflict present in this well-known vampire saga.)
Not only is the clash between good and evil central to many works of literature, but it is arguably a fundamental aspect of human culture in general. Every conflict contains elements of good and evil — otherwise it wouldn’t be a conflict. From religion to war to politics, everything people believe and do comes down to our concept and definition of what is good and what isn’t. It seems only natural then, that we are naturally drawn towards books, such as Harry Potter, that are a simple paradigm of the perennial conflict between good and evil.