comic books

by Dave

A standard literary trope is to set characters against each other, playing one’s personna in relationship to another. Typically, we find the “arch”-nemesis, especially in adventure or heroic stories. The main character is opposed by a primary antagonist, and the juxtaposition of these characters reveals something about one or both to the reader. For Harry Potter, the primary juxtapositions are fairly obvious:

Harry vs. Voldemort

Harry vs. Snape

Dumbledore vs. Voldemort

Dumbledore vs. Grindelwald

The nature of these juxtapositions often relies on the narrative distance between characters. Characters that don’t share much narrative space (i.e. rarely appear in the same scene) can reveal much about each other. But, the characters that often do share space create the more compelling narrative because the conflict is much richer and more immediate to the reader’s experience. The conflict most recognizable from these books is the eternal, perhaps transcendent, clash of good versus evil, and the characters listed above generally fall into some definition of those two categories. [click to continue…]

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by Dave

Harry is a hero. That Harry Potter draws from long established literary heroic traditions is well documented. Nearly every book length treatment or anthology concerning the series addresses this subject and examines the link between Harry’s more traditional literary roots in alchemical and mythic-heroic traditions and his postmodern deconstruction of the hero by figuring him through a Christ-like narrative wherein he never becomes an alleghorical avatar for Jesus. In some ways, the emphasis on Harry’s human-yet-transcendent character development has been the subtle spark driving the discussion among Christians about Harry’s place as a role model and/or tempter.

Yet, in postmodern popular culture, Harry also finds a conceptual home among superheroes of our day. One might look at him as a parallel to Superman — tragic orphan who learns who he is when he learns the truth of his parents and evolves into the savior of humankind; or Batman — orphan haunted by the horrendous murder of his parents and springboards into a larger, seemingly undending, often doubt-ridden crusade against a larger malevolent force. [click to continue…]

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