Harry Potter and Philosophy

Cassidy Woodall- H03

The Harry Potter Series is one that has created a great community and united many people with its stories. While writing these magical books J.K. Rowling made sure every aspect of them were carefully and methodically thought out. She wanted each character to have a fully developed personality, every creature to be unique, and every little detail to be specific and to contribute to the overall meaning of the books. The way Shawn Klein and David Baggett state it in the book, Harry Potter and Philosophy, is this: “Rowling’s aim in the Harry Potter books is not at all to convey to her many readers the importance of magic in the lives of her characters, but rather to display the magical importance of the classic virtues in their lives, and in any life.” This quote does an impressive job of encapsulating the overall purpose of the Harry Potter books.

In the books, Harry goes to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The student body is broken up into two houses or “teams”; where each house is a different classic virtue that most people possess. Gryffindor for bravery, Ravenclaw for cleverness, Hufflepuff for hard-workers, and Slytherin for the most ambitious. While almost everyone possesses all these traits, the houses are chosen on which is the most driving factor of your personality.

Our main character, Harry, is sorted into Gryffindor; the house of the courageous. What is interesting though is that Harry is in fact a coward. This confuses many people until you look at the possible reasoning behind it. J.K. Rowling used Harry’s cowardice to create a recipe for courage. This short list includes: Prepare yourself for the challenge, Surround yourself with support, Engage in positive self-talk, Focus on what’s at stake, and Take appropriate action.

Harry uses these steps in Rowling’s book The Goblet of Fire. He is confronted with a suspicious mist and does not want to proceed on the path but hears the screams of a girl he cares for. Harry uses the recipe for courage and forces himself to take a “leap of faith”. The “leap of faith” that the great nineteenth century philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard. Kierkegaard, the father of existentialism, introduced this idea that there are situations in which logic and reasoning cannot give us a clear right or wrong decision. Sometimes, one must take a leap for what is important, regardless of what could or could not be at stake.

In this moment, when Harry hears the screams of the girl, he must make a decision. He prepares himself for what dark and twisted things the mist could bring upon him. He reminds himself that he is capable and that there are others that believe he is as well. He focuses on what could happen to this girl if he does not act. He decides to listen to Kierkegaard and take a leap of faith that has now helped influence more people to do the same. This is just one out of the myriad of ideas that J.K. Rowling has shaped Harry Potter’s world around.


More on Kierkegaard: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9JCwkx558o