Gilderoy’s Purpose

We’re continuing our series where I post my answers to questions posed by my professor here at SoG.

Question: What purpose does Gilderoy Lockhart serve in relationship to Harry — especially when it comes to fame and celebrity?

Gilderoy Lockhart serves as sort of a check, keeping Harry from any possibility of letting his head get too big. It is highly likely that Harry is more popular in the wizarding world than Gilderoy. It’s exceedingly ironic when he explains to Harry that at the age of 12, “I was just as much of a nobody as you are now,” eventually admitting, “a few people have heard of you.” (91)

But Gilderoy’s irritating obsession with himself is J.K. Rowling’s caricature of celebrity (and the cult of celebrity) that is such a part of pop culture. Having such a blatantly egocentric celebrity, who also happens to be a liar about everything he claims to have done, keeps Harry from possibly going down the same path.

Certainly it is easy for an ego, especially a young, developing one like Harry’s, to be drawn very quickly to popularity and publicity. Harry unfortunately becomes quite unpopular as students begin to think he is Slytherin’s heir, but Harry does not lie his way out of it. He stays focused on the task of discovering Slytherin’s heir. He has learned from the appalling example of Gilderoy that popularity isn’t everything. Gilderoy is a pretty face with charm but no character or substance. He has no courage or self- sacrifice, which were so important to Harry’s triumph over Voldemort in Book 1. Without the extreme example of Gilderoy as a self-promoting, self-serving liar who cares only for popularity, the temptation for Harry to greatly struggle with his lack of popularity would have been stronger.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic, Inc. 1999.