Post by Wilting Rose on Apr 24, 2005 8:57:54 GMT
Hey guys - for those of you who don't know, I have an essay to write by Thursday on Marxist interpretations of Harry Potter. I'm trying to argue that JK Rowling understands the crisis of a capitalist society, and is trying to set up the plot for a revolution, but finds it difficult to break away from the ideas the system provides us. Bleurgh... it's very confusing, but if you can get your head around it, and have any ideas or suggestions about what to write, then I would be very grateful! Here's all I have so far - and keep in mind, it's only a draft.
As a world-wide phenomenon, JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ books have naturally attracted many critics to look closely at the texts, analysing what it is about the books that have caused such a “reading revolution” in an age of television and computer games. Many critics have had lengthy interactions concerning whether the ‘Harry Potter’ world can be used as a comment on the capitalist society in which we live in. On the one hand, Rowling seems to exercise distaste for the aristocratic characters (the Malfoy family), and sympathy for the oppressed (the house-elves). But, as many critics have argued, she seems unable to break away from the capitalist-driven society.
In the Harry Potter books, the house-elves are a clear representation of the oppressed labouring classes – they are bound to serve one household unless their Master frees them. Hermione (a semi-autobiographical character) is angered by the oppression of this race of creatures, and soon becomes enamoured with the idea of freeing them all. But despite her anti-capitalist notions, she provides solutions to the problem of the house-elves that are capitalist-driven – her idea of ‘freeing’ the house elves means giving them wages and introducing them to other notions that would only push them further into the capitalist system.
‘ “Our short-term aims,” said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn’t heard a word, “are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they’re shockingly under-represented.”’
But Marx would suggest that the introduction of capitalist ideas to these oppressed classes is not necessarily a bad thing – it awakens class-consciousness, and enters them into an understanding of how they fit into the system as a means of production. So when their economic interests clash with their employers’, they will begin to question this, and come to the conclusion that the only way to keep them out of personal economic crisis is to ‘challenge the employer’s control over the means of production’.
We can see this in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, when Harry meets a house-elf, Dobby, who is able to break away from his master to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts for his second year. Dobby, unlike the rest of his kind, yearns for freedom from his master, and is delighted once having been freed to find that he will be paid wages and given time off by the kindly Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore. Dobby can only defeat his master and change his place in the system by developing class-consciousness; something the other house-elves seem unable to grasp. Isabelle Smadja, a French critic, says that the portrayal of the house-elves being content with their lot is an accurate perception of the oppressed.
“Poor countries are so blinded and attracted by the system which exploits them that they have no desire to revolt against it,” she says, reinforcing the inescapable nature of our capitalist state.
Particularly in Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore – the figure of truth and reason in the Harry Potter series – seems to recognise the hardships that the oppressed face, and gives them opportunities to break the system’s rules applicable to their status. Using Dobby the elf as an example, we can see how Dumbledore differs from most other wizards, who refuse to employ an elf who had been dismissed; Dumbledore accepts Dobby’s desire for pay and holiday, and places him to work in the kitchens with the other house-elves. This unconventional employment is Dumbledore’s means of placing the means for the start.
Dumbledore appears to be interested in more than house-elves when it comes to the justice of the oppressed. In Order of the Phoenix, Harry encounters a fountain in the heart of the Ministry of Magic that depicts a witch and wizard standing alongside a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. This ‘Fountain of Magical Brethren’ is a symbol of the misconceived belief that all creatures are considered equal to each other. Dumbledore, in his role of the wise mentor, tells Harry, “the fountain… told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward.”<br>
The fountain being situated in the Ministry of Magic is very revealing of the government's blinkered attitude to the state of their system. The fountain is placed in the centre of the Ministry where all visitors can see it, the magical government's attempt at convincing the rest of the magical world that they are all equal.
The anticipated revolution is, unsurprisingly, unpopular with the fictional government of the magical world. The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is depicted as a bumbling old fool, oblivious to the evidence that points so obviously to the huge problem of an evil wizard’s return to the wizarding world. This openly critiques the state’s inability to see the rising evil of capitalism, and the problems it brings with it – if the instability of the system continues as it is, unemployment and uneven distribution of wealth will continue to rise, and the economy will eventually collapse. Marx knew, as does Rowling, that the only way to defeat these problems is to bring about a revolution, beginning with the working classes awakening to the power they can have when they band together.
As a world-wide phenomenon, JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ books have naturally attracted many critics to look closely at the texts, analysing what it is about the books that have caused such a “reading revolution” in an age of television and computer games. Many critics have had lengthy interactions concerning whether the ‘Harry Potter’ world can be used as a comment on the capitalist society in which we live in. On the one hand, Rowling seems to exercise distaste for the aristocratic characters (the Malfoy family), and sympathy for the oppressed (the house-elves). But, as many critics have argued, she seems unable to break away from the capitalist-driven society.
In the Harry Potter books, the house-elves are a clear representation of the oppressed labouring classes – they are bound to serve one household unless their Master frees them. Hermione (a semi-autobiographical character) is angered by the oppression of this race of creatures, and soon becomes enamoured with the idea of freeing them all. But despite her anti-capitalist notions, she provides solutions to the problem of the house-elves that are capitalist-driven – her idea of ‘freeing’ the house elves means giving them wages and introducing them to other notions that would only push them further into the capitalist system.
‘ “Our short-term aims,” said Hermione, speaking even more loudly than Ron, and acting as though she hadn’t heard a word, “are to secure house-elves fair wages and working conditions. Our long-term aims include changing the law about non-wand use, and trying to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, because they’re shockingly under-represented.”’
But Marx would suggest that the introduction of capitalist ideas to these oppressed classes is not necessarily a bad thing – it awakens class-consciousness, and enters them into an understanding of how they fit into the system as a means of production. So when their economic interests clash with their employers’, they will begin to question this, and come to the conclusion that the only way to keep them out of personal economic crisis is to ‘challenge the employer’s control over the means of production’.
We can see this in ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’, when Harry meets a house-elf, Dobby, who is able to break away from his master to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts for his second year. Dobby, unlike the rest of his kind, yearns for freedom from his master, and is delighted once having been freed to find that he will be paid wages and given time off by the kindly Headmaster of Hogwarts, Dumbledore. Dobby can only defeat his master and change his place in the system by developing class-consciousness; something the other house-elves seem unable to grasp. Isabelle Smadja, a French critic, says that the portrayal of the house-elves being content with their lot is an accurate perception of the oppressed.
“Poor countries are so blinded and attracted by the system which exploits them that they have no desire to revolt against it,” she says, reinforcing the inescapable nature of our capitalist state.
Particularly in Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore – the figure of truth and reason in the Harry Potter series – seems to recognise the hardships that the oppressed face, and gives them opportunities to break the system’s rules applicable to their status. Using Dobby the elf as an example, we can see how Dumbledore differs from most other wizards, who refuse to employ an elf who had been dismissed; Dumbledore accepts Dobby’s desire for pay and holiday, and places him to work in the kitchens with the other house-elves. This unconventional employment is Dumbledore’s means of placing the means for the start.
Dumbledore appears to be interested in more than house-elves when it comes to the justice of the oppressed. In Order of the Phoenix, Harry encounters a fountain in the heart of the Ministry of Magic that depicts a witch and wizard standing alongside a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf. This ‘Fountain of Magical Brethren’ is a symbol of the misconceived belief that all creatures are considered equal to each other. Dumbledore, in his role of the wise mentor, tells Harry, “the fountain… told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward.”<br>
The fountain being situated in the Ministry of Magic is very revealing of the government's blinkered attitude to the state of their system. The fountain is placed in the centre of the Ministry where all visitors can see it, the magical government's attempt at convincing the rest of the magical world that they are all equal.
The anticipated revolution is, unsurprisingly, unpopular with the fictional government of the magical world. The Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is depicted as a bumbling old fool, oblivious to the evidence that points so obviously to the huge problem of an evil wizard’s return to the wizarding world. This openly critiques the state’s inability to see the rising evil of capitalism, and the problems it brings with it – if the instability of the system continues as it is, unemployment and uneven distribution of wealth will continue to rise, and the economy will eventually collapse. Marx knew, as does Rowling, that the only way to defeat these problems is to bring about a revolution, beginning with the working classes awakening to the power they can have when they band together.
