The theme of love drives many fictional stories. While I am an avid chick lit reader (feel free to judge), I
also enjoy coming across love as a theme in any genre. I don't think love is always overt. Sometimes love can be a theme or a driving force without hitting readers over the head with it. To me, the most powerful demonstration
of the theme of love is in the Harry Potter books. Now for those of you who have not read them, this probably
makes no sense. Of course by now
the entire world knows that Harry Potter is about a teenage wizard and his
quest to destroy the most evil and dangerous wizard in the world. However, if you ask me, I think if you
strip this book down, it really is all about love.
Without getting in too deep, the tale all begins when
Harry’s mom sacrifices herself to save her son. It is her love that makes him such an undefeatable young
wizard, and the love of those around him that helps protect him from evil
forces year after year. In
addition, there is a contrast between Harry, who is loved and loves so deeply,
and the villain Voldemort, who has no ability to love anything or any
person. In the end, thousands of
pages later, love does conquer all and it is amazing and beautiful to me how
intricately woven this theme is throughout the series. Harry Potter was a labor of love for author, JK Rowling, and I think this shows in the magical words of her story.
Vocabulary:
Avid (adjective) - Very interested in
Overt (adjective) - Easily seen or obvious
Demonstration (noun) - Proof
Undefeatable (adjective) - Cannot be beat
Contrast (noun) - Something different from something else
Conquer (verb) - Beat
Vocabulary Exercise: Put the correct word in the blank space provided.
He is an _____________ fan of the Yankees.
The team seemed to be _________________ as they had not lost a game all season.
You could tell she had a crush on him from her ______________ flirting.
The _____________ between black and white is very clear.
The woman ________________ her fear of flying by getting on an airplane.
The failing grade is a clear __________________ of the fact that the student does not care.
Grammar Point: Adjectives are used to enhance nouns and enrich a sentence.
Write down a list of 10 adjectives that you could use to describe yourself.
After reading your post, I have a completely different perspective on Harry Potter. As you said, the most obvious demonstration of love is definitely in the first book when Harry's mom sacrifices herself for him. That specific motif is carried throughout the book but it isn't quite as obviously stated every time as it is in the first book. Now that I think about it love does seem to be a very important theme throughout the book, whether it is in the context of friendship or romance or to fight against the great evil, Voldemort. I suppose J.K. Rowling wanted her readers to come to the conclusion that love is truly the strongest force all along. Excellent reading of the series and really interesting post! You really made me think.
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I now wish I had written about Harry Potter. Student's would love to read about a book they are passionate about.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful entry about Harry and love!
ReplyDelete