Yesterday at lunch I found myself talking about the role of food in books. It doesn't sound that strange, considering what the course is about, but when the “literature” that you are referencing is a series of stories originally written for 11 year olds things start to feel a bit strange.
All qualms aside, I believe that the others from the class and I established some pretty solid points in the Harry Potter series that reflect society as a whole today.
To start, it is worth noting that much of the great hall is where Harry, Ron, and Hermione uncover important information. Whether it be a troll in the dungeon, the introduction of a sinister new teacher, or the sorting of new students, many significant events occur while everyone is seated around the dinner table. The students also receive their mail during breakfast, which is a very common way for Rowling to introduce new magical objects (remember Neville's remembrall, howlers, and Harry's new broom?) or information via Hermione's subscription to The Daily Prophet. If I had the books with me I could also count the number of times the students hurried their meal and rushed off to the library after some brilliant revelation, though I am certain the figure is staggering.
Secondly, the young wizards' eating habits are heavily indicative of their mood. Rowling makes repeated use of this when she describes Harry pushing away breakfast before almost every Quidditch game. As typical of moody teenagers today, Harry and Ron have also been known to say “I'm not hungry” and storm off just to make sure that everyone understands just how angry they are, or when they are up to some sort of mischief. In addition, it is apparently very strange for people to skip a meal in the wizarding world. Sentences like “So-and-so wasn't at breakfast the next day” or “Dumbledore wasn't at the head table” are always a prelude to trouble. The idea that the person just wanted to sleep in that morning, or that Dumbledore has better things to do as one of the most important wizards in the world, is apparently absurd.
On a side note, the dinner table is also a great opportunity for Harry to make a fantastic fool of himself.
Finally, we arrived at the issue of house elves, which were a point of contention. Personally, I like to see the situation as a bit of social commentary on the part of J.K. Rowling. House elves are the tiny domestic servants who are forced to do their master's bidding and are known to punish themselves severely when they disobey an order. In the books, they consider it an insult to be set free and absolutely refuse to be payed for their work. In particular, the house elf Winky spirals into a state of depression when she is removed from her post and considers being set free the worst punishment possible. To me, these household servants seem like the overbearing housewives of old, while the house elf Dobby represents the feminist movement and the change in gender roles due to the fact that he is proud to be free, independent, and officially employed at Hogwarts.
Feel free to comment and expand, this is just what I thought of without watching the movies or reading the books recently.
-Antonio
No comments:
Post a Comment