Harry Potter and the real world
This is about Harry Potter and I will cut it because I may give the plot of some of HBP away, but these are my random thoughts an not specifically geared toward book six only.
Well I have a lot of randomness in my head and I'm not going to try to organize it much or write a nice little introductary paragraph.
Harry Potter and politics... never thought I'd make the connection. But actually, what's going on in the magical world reminds me quite a bit of the war on terror and I think perhaps Rowling (consciously or not) was trying to make the connection. It's all there. There's the hysteria, the fear, the entrepreneurs capitalizing on people's feelings. There are the pointless arrests, the government more worried about looking good than doing something and the pure terror of course. The difference I do see is that I don't see Voldemort as being like terrorists. Ih the magical world, there is Voldemort and his death eaters; in real life there are many various terrorist organizations, all with different motives. Also, I see Voldemort as being more of a pure evil, power hungry individual than terrorists. There's no question that people that are willing to kill for political reasons (whether we label them "terrorists" or not) have sick minds. But that's the point. No matter how messed up their logic may be, I think they have a motive, a reason more than Voldemort. Incidentally, the question of Voldemorts true motives arises. Does he just want power? What exactly is up with him?
I also saw the parallels with the AIDS epidemic. I've been reading And the Band Played On (which I will be writing about soon) and I kept thinking about the similarities. People are dying terrible deaths. The government doesn't really seem to care until it is too late. People are in denial. Death spreads. Soon nearly everyone in the community has been touched. People don't know exactly what they are fighting, they find out only a bit at a time. A few feel truly compelled to stop what is happening, but are finding it difficult to act on their own. And slowly, many are beginning to succumb. Of course, with AIDS it was the one-two punch of the virus and the attitudes toward it, slightly different than the more human-like, thinking Voldemort. But that thick red book kept entering my mind.
Well I have a lot of randomness in my head and I'm not going to try to organize it much or write a nice little introductary paragraph.
Harry Potter and politics... never thought I'd make the connection. But actually, what's going on in the magical world reminds me quite a bit of the war on terror and I think perhaps Rowling (consciously or not) was trying to make the connection. It's all there. There's the hysteria, the fear, the entrepreneurs capitalizing on people's feelings. There are the pointless arrests, the government more worried about looking good than doing something and the pure terror of course. The difference I do see is that I don't see Voldemort as being like terrorists. Ih the magical world, there is Voldemort and his death eaters; in real life there are many various terrorist organizations, all with different motives. Also, I see Voldemort as being more of a pure evil, power hungry individual than terrorists. There's no question that people that are willing to kill for political reasons (whether we label them "terrorists" or not) have sick minds. But that's the point. No matter how messed up their logic may be, I think they have a motive, a reason more than Voldemort. Incidentally, the question of Voldemorts true motives arises. Does he just want power? What exactly is up with him?
I also saw the parallels with the AIDS epidemic. I've been reading And the Band Played On (which I will be writing about soon) and I kept thinking about the similarities. People are dying terrible deaths. The government doesn't really seem to care until it is too late. People are in denial. Death spreads. Soon nearly everyone in the community has been touched. People don't know exactly what they are fighting, they find out only a bit at a time. A few feel truly compelled to stop what is happening, but are finding it difficult to act on their own. And slowly, many are beginning to succumb. Of course, with AIDS it was the one-two punch of the virus and the attitudes toward it, slightly different than the more human-like, thinking Voldemort. But that thick red book kept entering my mind.