July
5,
2005:
Harry
Potter—Why Millions of Kids Identify
with the Boy-Hero
by Jon
M. Sweeney
The
fifth book in the Harry Potter series was released two years
ago. It was June 21, 2003, that
Harry Potter and the Order of
the Phoenix shattered all records for first-day sales of a book,
at almost 5 million copies in the United States alone. (Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire—the fourth in the series—held
the previous record.)
When the Associated Press reported the enormous sales two years
ago, they quoted the CEO of Barnes & Noble, the U.S.’s
largest book retail chain: “We expected to sell 1 million
copies in the first week and we sold that many within the first
48 hours.”
Two
years later, almost 300 million Harry Potter books have been
sold around the world. They have
been translated into sixty
languages. The first three books have been made into films, earning
almost 2 billion (with a “b”) dollars at box
offices around the world.
Well,
now the sixth is upon us. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood
Prince releases worldwide on
July 16. Before that day, the books
are embargoed in the backrooms of bookstores everywhere; the
boxes may not even be opened by employees or else those bookstores
will be “punished” by the book’s publisher
the next time around.
Amazon.com just announced that they have exceeded the million
copy mark for pre-orders, the most ever for the largest Internet
retailer.
Most
larger brick-and-mortar bookstores will open at midnight on
July 16 to hundreds or thousands of
kids and adults, who
will not only buy books but party Harry-style, with
witch and wizard costumes, food and conversation. (You’ll
probably be greeted as a “Muggle,” the word for non-wizard
folk in Harry’s world.)
Just
for the fun of it, we called West Quoddy Gifts in Lubec, Maine—the easternmost giftshop in the easternmost town
in the United States—to see if they are carrying Harry
Potter. Lubec is in the same time zone as the rest of East Coast
America, but there might be some symbolic value to buying your
book there. However, West Quoddy only carries books about lighthouses,
according to the store manager.
Instead,
you could try Books-n-Brew, the easternmost bookstore in the
U.S.—in West Lubec, Maine—but the manager
there told explorefaith.org they will not be opening at midnight
on July 16. “We’ll open at our usual 8 a.m. No one
around here would come out at midnight. But, we do have thirty
copies of the book on order—because that’s all we
could get from the publisher—and about fifty people who
are dying to have one of them. So, we’ve told people that
the first thirty people to come through our door that morning
wearing something funky and wizard-y will get to buy one.”
Harry Potter is the most beloved fictional character in the
world today. Perhaps ever.
J. K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling, author of the series, was born
near Bristol, in southwest England. Her birthday is known by
all true Harry Potter fans to be July 31, the same day that Harry
was born.
The “magick” of
Harry
So, what accounts for the enormous appeal of young Harry to kids?
First, Harry Potter is someone who learns from elders and others
around him, but who also has to discover within himself how to
conquer fear and do good. Kids are drawn to characters that find
strength within, and Harry finds plenty; in fact, he becomes
more powerful and knowledgeable than most of the adults around
him.
Second, the stories make it abundantly clear that good overcomes
evil. Kids want to know that good can always win.
Third, Harry lacks self-confidence; he worries about what others
will think about him and his actions; he is picked on by boys
who are more aggressive than he; he lacks the security and love
of parents. (They died when he was a baby.) Kids can relate to
Harry.
Adults, too
Millions of adults are attracted to Harry for many of the same
reasons. Some estimates are that as many as half of the readers
of the books are, in fact, adults.
The
first academic symposium on Harry Potter occurred in July 2003
at the Swan and Dolphin
hotel at Walt Disney World. It was
called “Nimbus 2003,” a play on words for the name
of Harry’s famous broomstick. Hundreds of fans and scholars
gathered to discuss and debate the boy-hero. Eighty presenters
spoke on topics that ranged from legal, class and gender issues
in the books, to examination of the books from a variety of religious
perspectives. The keynoter was Judith Krug of the American Library
Association.
Organizers
have announced the next meeting—named “The
Witching Hour”—for this coming October 6-10 in Salem,
Massachusetts (where else!). This conference will begin on a
float in the annual Salem Halloween parade, followed by a banquet
and the first presentation: “Tom and Harry: From Similar
Beginnings,” a panel discussion comparing the lives of
Tom Riddle and Harry Potter, both recurring characters in the
books and movies. The conference website (www.witchinghour.org)
says: “When the time arrives, attendees will don their
cloaks, grasp their wands, and tote their magical texts to the
Historic District of Salem for five days of magic and merry-making,
text and context, craft and criticism.”
There
seems to be something in Harry for all of us.
Is Harry Bewitching our
Youth?-- Parents and Churches
respond to the Potter Phenomenon
Jon M. Sweeney is a writer and
editor living in Vermont. His most recent book is The Lure of
Saints: A Protestant Experience of Catholic Tradition.
More
by Jon Sweeney.
(Return
to Top)