How I feel when Other Fantasy Readers Look Down on the writing in the Harry Potter series
Most criticism of Harry Potter by professional critics or other fantasy readers drives me crazy. Why? Because Harry Potter criticism usually takes on one form: ‘the stories are formulaic and she can’t write well.’ I was recently arguing with a friend who is obsessed with George R. R. Martin over this point, with him suggesting that Martin’s work has far more literary merit than Rowling’s ever could.
For nearly thirteen years I’ve been arguing with people about how Harry Potter is more than just an exciting escapist yarn and deserves serious scholarly attention for its literary qualities (this includes friends, family and many college professors). So I decided to codify three aspects of the writing in Harry Potter that I consider to be intellectually worthy of attention and appreciation. In other words, since people I argue with usually attack Rowling’s writing skills (rather than the thematic quality or seriousness of the books), the following responses suggest ways that her writing is intelligent, mature and thought-provoking. Whenever you are conversing with someone who maintains that Rowling is the literary equivalent of Michael Bay, please feel free to use these arguments to respond!
1. The Artistry of Genre Experimentation
From this...
A hallmark of highfalutin interpretations of literature involves an appreciation for form. Many people can write a good yarn, but only true artists understand the complexities of form. James Joyce, for example, wrote an intriguing story about a man whose wife is having an affair on him (a basic plot point of Ulysses), but what makes Ulysses art is the way that Joyce communicates that story: through different styles of writing (standard narration, stream of consciousness, poetry, playwriting).
...to this...
What makes Rowling’s work an example of high art in her genre is the way that the overall series of seven books cleverly mirrors the genre of the writing style with the age of the characters. I’ve heard many people explain how the stories get ‘darker’ as the series progresses. But it’s not just that–as the series progresses Rowling ‘grows up’ the genre of her writing style to match character growth.
When I was eleven (and younger), I loved reading mysteries like the Hardy Boys and The Boxcar Children and so on. When I was thirteen, I preferred more titles on the adventurous side of things, Treasure Island and the like. By fifteen, I was blown away by how much Holden Caufield thought the way I thought. Later on in high school, after giving up a few times, I finally read The Lord of the Rings from start to finish and was hooked on fantasy epic quest narratives forever.
...to this.
The Harry Potter books mirror this progression. The first few books, where Harry is youngest, are told like middle grade mystery stories that are mostly school-level whodunnits. Azkaban and Goblet mature to more dangerous adventures, where morality becomes less simple and death becomes a more serious threat. By Order, Harry has become Holden Caufield and is dealing with the angst of young adult heroes. By Hallows, Harry is on the same type of hero quest usually reserved for heroes on the cusp of becoming full adults. I know of no other series that so intriguingly uses subgenre narrative styles to mimic character growth, and Rowling’s accomplishments here deserve attention.
2. A Real Time Coming of Age Story
The next example is similar to the above but different in important respects. A great deal of fantasy stories are coming of age stories insofar as by the end of the story, the main characters end up crossing the threshold from youth to adulthood. But this is usually metaphorically accomplished; take Star Wars where much of Luke’s growth is handled off screen and is inferred. When we leave him in Empire he is a crying handless mess; when we see him in Jedi he’s force-choking pigs. Something changed!
Mother Nature did this with Hormones. Rowling did this with words.
Most stories rely on the passage of time to let the reader fill in the developmental gaps. Take many of Dickens’s books, which are quite long and are frequently coming of age stories. Dickens has to rely on the passage of time. Harry Potter doesn’t rely on that crutch. Rowling takes an eleven year old and grows him in real time over the course of seven years. The movies get a lot of attention for how amazing it was to see Dan, Rupert and Emma grow up right before our eyes, but that was, frankly, a matter of biology. Sure they grew up with grace and maturity, and that was a Hollywood miracle, but it was much more difficult for an author to grow fictional characters through seven year-long narratives, and that accomplishment is Rowling’s. Taking an eleven year old character and making each new book about one year in that character’s life is an intriguing experiment. The Harry of Year One is different from the Harry of Year Three and he’s different from the Harry of Year Five and he’s different from the Harry of Year Seven. Usually coming of age stories have difficulty showing three of four major stages of maturation; Rowling shows seven stages of progression from innocence to experience. As far as coming of age stories go, this is an incredible accomplishment.
3. The “Epic vs. the Novel” Interpretation
This is the snobby response. If method one and two fail, it’s time to turn to literary theorizing. A great deal of Harry Potter criticisms I’ve heard contend that Rowling’s writing suffers from her black and white, good vs. evil character development–while books like A Game of Thrones are far more realistically developed. At this point in such arguments, I throw down my English Major status and ask, but have you read Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories on Epic and Novel?
Epic Style, Right Here
Bakhtin was a Russian literary scholar who argued about the essential difference between novel and epic forms in a way that I’ve always found useful when reading fantasy literature. He argued that an essential quality of epic writing is externalization–that a lot of the characters take their interior states and represent them externally (where traditional novels might focus more keeping interior thoughts interior). And while Harry Potter does allow for much character introspection the way that novels do, I’d say that Rowling’s artistic mode is much more epic. How does Harry realize that his father lives on inside him? Is it by learning something about himself through lengthy reflection and interior monologuing? No. The externalized representation of Harry’s father (the stag patronus) appears before Harry, making him believe that his father is still out there, only to later realize that this external representation came out of him–proving that his father is still somewhere inside him. In other words, the external action of the plot (Harry seeing the stag patronus saving him and Sirius) symbolically represents the internal state of the character (Harry coming to terms with the absence of his father in his life). This is epic character development. Rowling takes what is happening on the inside, which a traditional novelist might dwell on internally, and represents it in an external form.
Anyone who wants her to conform to other novelists is missing that this is her mode of making meaning: the symbolic mode of epics, myths, fairy tales and all of the truly immortal paths of storytelling.
So there it is, if you have to defend Rowling against this typical kind of Harry Potter criticism, please use these arguments and fight the good fight!
And before you leave, please make sure to comment below and to check out the Gifs of the Week–with a Harry Potter/Neville Longbottom focus!
Do you have any particular examples of arguing with people about the quality of Harry? Do you disagree with me that Harry deserves this kind of attention? Comment below.
For more Harry Potter Commentary, see this post on “Strong Writing: Owning the Cliche.”
If you ask me its intellectual snobbery. People claim not to like Harry Potter BECAUSE is just so popular – by saying its nothing compared to something you know lots of people you’re arguing with haven’t read, say ‘wheel of time,’ you’re immediately establishing yourself as ‘more well read’ than them. It reminds me a little of the massive da Vinci code backlash – I’m no great fan of that one, but in fairness to brown the da vinci code was a half decent read, but because it got so much more popularity than other books of similiar quality there was a massive backlash against it, and it went from being an ‘okay read’ to one of the worst books ever. So in that way at least harry potter is a victim of its own success – Not that Rowling is going to be concerned with that!
Book backlash is very irritating, I agree. Your Da Vinci Code example reminds me of the backlash against Twilight. I read the first book and wasn’t a big fan, but I can’t say it offended me as “the worst book ever” like loads of people like to say now. That backlash particularly bothers me because it’s more than just snobbery – it’s mixed in with misogyny. Which makes me think that maybe all backlash has a political tinge to it…as if the group of “typical readers” (whatever that means exactly) has decided to use its reactionary clout to police popular taste because it likes being a big bully or something. It’s ridiculous, especially when you realize that any book having phenomenal success is good for book lovers because it reminds publishers and nonreaders just how relevant books can be!
Hey! Thanks for reminding me of the first two points– I was aging along with Harry as the books were released (and along with, I believe, most of the current Harry fanatics), so the maturity of the writing and the maturity of the characters was interwoven almost seamlessly with my own coming-of-age. So much so that I didn’t take note at all! It is really amazing to look back now realize the effects of that. I feel oddly lucky to have that experience. Anymore, children reading it will get bored and/or bogged down sooner or later if they try to read the whole series in a year, which would be hard not to do as it is so addicting….
Anyway. I have heard people comment on the “maturing” style of the books (first point that you made) in a negative(-ish) light– they attribute it to J.K. Rowling being a bad writer at the beginning and a better writer by the end, since she’d had so much practice. But whether this theory is true or not, it definitely works for this series.
And thanks for being an English major so you could come up with the third point! As people never talk Harry Potter seriously, I’ve never heard that one. Very interesting!
I grew up along with the Harry Potter books as well, and I absolutely love them. I’m so hurt and defensive when people make such petty criticisms about these wonderful books. I was reading an article about Rowling’s new upcoming book (I’m an adult now, so I’m really excited about reading an adult book by her), and many of the comments on that article, really looked down the books because it was just another form of ‘children’s literature.’ I hate when adults patronize this genre. Just because it was written for a certain age, it does not equate to terrible writing. I’m so glad that there are people out there who are willing to defend these well-written, thoughtful, clever, and delightful series of books.
I enjoyed all the Harry Potter novels. I do think that Rowlings probably didn’t have an editor for the last few. They just got longer and longer.
I also felt that the author didn’t keep all her promises to the reader. Wormtail was a particular disappointment. Dumbledore told Harry that he would one day be very glad he saved him. Well, Peter does do a bit to resist hurting Harry, but it’s kind of a little thing and he gets throttled by his own hand immediately thereafter. Not nearly enough to be very glad he saved him; it would have been much better to leave Voldemort helpless in Albania!
One thing that makes any piece of writing great is great scenes. Harry Potter has some scenes that really stick with you. I just reread the part where the Goblet flamed a fourth time and emitted Harry’s name, and Dumbledore is silenced – for once – as he reaches out to take the parchment. Ah!
And when Harry is suddenly awesome at Potions, when he starts using that mysterious book. And when he finally finally sees Diagon Alley for the first time. Boing – different world.