Harry Potter. His name is probably as famous in the real world as it is in the "wizarding world". Harry Potter is a legend; The Boy Who Lived. He was famous before he could walk, talk, even think. He was famous for something that he had no control over; surviving the killing curse. But wouldn't something as horrible as watching your parents die to save you have repercussions? Harry has had issues ever since he entered the wizarding world. Nightmares, hearing voices, sometimes seeing things that no one else can see. Sudden changes of emotion. As he gets older, he acts more and more crazy. Sure, you can blame it on his shuddering past, or the brain connection between him and the Dark Lord. But what if there is something wrong with Harry himself? In the fifth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry has many outbreaks of anger and violence. He completely flips at his two best friends Ron and Hermione when he sees that they've been together all summer without him, even though the other two haven't been enjoying themselves at all. Later in the book, he has visions and extremely realistic dreams. If anything like this were to happen to a teenager in the "real" world, there would be doctor's, therapists, psychiatrists. So why doesn't anyone question Harry's behavior? Sure, so maybe he's only a character in a book. But he acts as real as any other teenager. He has trouble with adult relationships, which is why his relationship to his godfather Sirius Black is so important to him - he has never had a father. Or perhaps that is why he is so close to Professor Albus Dumbledore. Regardless, if a teenage boy spent extended amounts of time with an adult male, it would be unusual for there to be no reaction from onlookers. So why do we accept Harry Potter as a "normal" teenager? (As "normal" as he can be; after all, he is a wizard). Why does no one question his sanity? Wonder why he isn't locked up? After one look at the image above, anyone would see how insane Harry Potter truly is. But is he really insane? Or is he just an average teenager, dealing with peer pressure, bullies, a heavy work load at school, keeping up with friends. . . Not to mention mingling with the opposite sex. Harry Potter really is no different from the rest of us teens; he's just trying to fit in.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Harry Potter. His name is probably as famous in the real world as it is in the "wizarding world". Harry Potter is a legend; The Boy Who Lived. He was famous before he could walk, talk, even think. He was famous for something that he had no control over; surviving the killing curse. But wouldn't something as horrible as watching your parents die to save you have repercussions? Harry has had issues ever since he entered the wizarding world. Nightmares, hearing voices, sometimes seeing things that no one else can see. Sudden changes of emotion. As he gets older, he acts more and more crazy. Sure, you can blame it on his shuddering past, or the brain connection between him and the Dark Lord. But what if there is something wrong with Harry himself? In the fifth book of the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry has many outbreaks of anger and violence. He completely flips at his two best friends Ron and Hermione when he sees that they've been together all summer without him, even though the other two haven't been enjoying themselves at all. Later in the book, he has visions and extremely realistic dreams. If anything like this were to happen to a teenager in the "real" world, there would be doctor's, therapists, psychiatrists. So why doesn't anyone question Harry's behavior? Sure, so maybe he's only a character in a book. But he acts as real as any other teenager. He has trouble with adult relationships, which is why his relationship to his godfather Sirius Black is so important to him - he has never had a father. Or perhaps that is why he is so close to Professor Albus Dumbledore. Regardless, if a teenage boy spent extended amounts of time with an adult male, it would be unusual for there to be no reaction from onlookers. So why do we accept Harry Potter as a "normal" teenager? (As "normal" as he can be; after all, he is a wizard). Why does no one question his sanity? Wonder why he isn't locked up? After one look at the image above, anyone would see how insane Harry Potter truly is. But is he really insane? Or is he just an average teenager, dealing with peer pressure, bullies, a heavy work load at school, keeping up with friends. . . Not to mention mingling with the opposite sex. Harry Potter really is no different from the rest of us teens; he's just trying to fit in.
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This is an interesting picture choice - very different from the usual Harry Potter groupie picture. It backs up your thesis by really making Harry Potter seem crazy. I liked how you gave a lot of background on what your paper was about, but I think you could have talked more about your image. The section addressing your image seems tacked on to the end. There are an awful lot of rhetorical questions in this paragraph, so you may want to cut those down if you are considering using this in your actual research paper. Overall, I think you're off to a good start.
ReplyDeleteNancy, I completely agree with Laura. Your contextualization is important, but when you go to discuss how this image supports your arugment, you will want to focus more on the image. In this post, your image analysis does seem "tacked on." Like Laura, I respect your choice for an image. I am immediately interested in any analysis that will look at Harry Potter as something other than a superhero.
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