When the Harry Potter books came out, I have to admit that they were completely off my “literary radar.” My first experience with Harry and friends was in my 8th grade art class, during which we would listen to the audiobook and try to be artistic. My art teacher’s favorite book was Prisoner of Azkaban, so naturally, that was what we listened to that semester, and as Jim Dale read the story, I knew I was a little bit in love.
I think that if I had read Harry Potter when it first came out (I would have been 10), I would have focused on very different parts of the story, and missed other themes completely. But, since I really started to read them when I was 14, I was able to see so much more of the “real world” in this fantasy book. As I’ve grown, second and third (and fourth?) readings of the series have only illuminated more issues not typically focused on in a lot of “children’s” literature, such as social class, race, human rights, and discrimination to name a few. To narrow this discussion down, here I will just touch on the issue of class structure within Azkaban and the series as a whole.
More often than not, Draco Malfoy’s insults at Ron center on Ron’s general poverty and lowliness: “‘I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley…Did your mother die of shock?’” (80). These, and other such insults abound in the books, particularly coming from the Malfoy family and aimed at the Weasley family. The Malfoys are from the upper-echelons of wizarding society because they are both pure-bloods (the idea of blood “purity” is also seems closely linked to class in the novels), and are far more wealthy than most other characters in the books. The Weasleys, though also pure-bloods, are considered “blood traitors” b
ecause they hang around with muggle-borns (“mudblood” being the deragotory term) like Hermione. Also, to Ron’s chagrin, the Weasleys live a very humble, though family-oriented life, and as a result, he has always worn hand-me-downs from his elder brothers, taken sandwiches for lunch on the Hogwart’s Express, and generally has to deal with a lot of teasing from snooty peers like Malfoy.
It is really not surprising how much class structures come up in these novels, as they are, of course, set in the United Kingdom, where class seems to be (in my experience) much more of an issue than race does. The moment a British person speaks, most native ears can identify roughly where that person was raised, whether it be in posh London, (notably not south London), or from some small town in another region. It is through accents that complete strangers can semi “place” another person in their society, and perhaps adjust how “friendly” to be with that person. So, just as the Weasleys can’t escape the stereotypes of a large family with a small income, neither can many Brits escape the associations with their roots, especially if they have a rural (especially Welsh) accent.
I tried (unsuccessfully) to locate a video regarding social class in Harry Potter on YouTube, but most of what I found were scenes from the movies set to music. (Lame!) Instead, these are three of the most popular fan-created sites about everything Harry Potter, where you can find all sorts of fun ways to waste time. The third link goes directly to an editorial written about the sociology of Harry Potter, and goes into much greater detail about the issues of social class, racism, slavery, and discrimination (among others) that are seen in the Harry Potter series.
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html
http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/
http://www.mugglenet.com/editorials/editorials/edit-labozettar01.shtml
I agree that the Harry Potter series has a definite class consciousness, and that the conflict between these two families is Rowling's most sustained argument on the issue. I've always wondered to which class Harry belongs: both his parents were magical, although his mother was muggle-born, he was raised to think himself poor, but his parents left him a fortune at Gringott's bank. I think Sirius is one of the most interesting specimens in Prisoner of Azkaban (and as the series continues), in that he is "high-born", his family background very similar to Draco Malfoy's, but instead of assuming his family's values he rebelled, ran away from home, found family among his friends. It's interesting that none of Rowling's characters experience upward-mobility while those who experience downward-mobility find warmth, acceptance, and love. I wonder what she makes of her own rising social status in the real England.
ReplyDeleteI love that, not only does Rowling show the tensions between social classes, she clearly shows a bias-- the Weasley's are admirable because they don't let their low income get in the way of a loving family. While the Malfoys have a lot of money, as you said, they aren't generous in the slightest. They're cruel to their staff (aka Dobby)and only give gifts when it will benefit themselves. The Weasleys on the other hand, are generous to a fault; every Christmas Harry receives presents from them, and later on they open their home to him, even though it will strain their budgets even more.
ReplyDeleteI love that you wrote about this, because I don't think I ever actively thought about these issues-- it was just something I sort of checked off in my brain without ever pausing to wonder about it.
I agree with Shannon. I don't know that I ever actually thought about these issues. I just want to say thanks for bringing this to my attention.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think about all the underlying issues in the HP books, but I knew they were there. Since I read them as they came out (mostly during middle school) I was more interested in losing myself in the world of Hogwarts rather than finding parallels to our world today.
ReplyDeleteThough I knew they were there I didn't want to pay attention to them because for me it took away from being completely submerged in the novel. I will say though, I couldn't help but compare Voldemort to Hitler while reading, even when I was young. I think I did that because we studied Hitler in 8th grade, and that's about the time Voldemort came back to power (4th book) and his goal/motives were more revealed. It's interesting to re-read them now and look at the metaphors JKR uses though.
I have not thought about these issues either. I've read the Harry Potter books many times, but I read mostly for pleasure and any underlying messages didn't seep through. I kind of like how Rowling shows a bias for the lower class. I feel like a lot of this series is based on the underdog winning and I know I personally have felt like an underdog sometimes. So it makes me feel better about my situation to know that Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are underdogs and they save the day, so there's hope for me too! I also like how, even though Harry has money, he doesn't flaunt it and he always shares when he can.
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