Harry Potter Blog Task

Feminist reading of Harmione’s character in Harry Potter: How do the character portrayal of Harmione and other female characters support feminist discourse?

Hermione is the perfect example when examining the feminist principles in the novels. Throughout the series she has many strengths and weaknesses, but she is mostly criticized about her weaknesses as a character. She is attacked at school a lot for being too bossy, whiny, or studious, but these all ignore the fact that she has many strengths as well. The psychologist Gail Grynbaum states “Hermione is repeatedly the truth-sleuth, comfortable in the library, who finds the clue that makes sense of the mystery at hand. She is always the one standing at a crossroads pointing the way.”

 In the fourth novel, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Hermione shows her true feminist beliefs when she starts “The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare” in order to showcase her ideals that house elves shouldn’t be treated poorly, and to help them get equal treatment. Many of Hermione’s friends grew up with house elves as servants, so they do not see anything wrong with the poor treatment of them, but since Hermione grew up in the real world, she is aware that it is not right to enslave anyone.

Withal Ron and Harry both knows that they can do nothing without her, but Ron denies Harry to tell her because of his male ego. Even though we find that Harmoine’s character has been subjugated as she was willed a story telling book by Dumbledore wherein Ron and Harry got something precious as a male identity of the novel.

 Discourse on the purity of Blood and Harry Potter: How do the novels play with the thesis of pure blood (Master Race) giving an anti-thesis by belonging protagonists to half-blood / Mud-blood? What sort of synthesis is sought in this discourse in Harry Potter series?

Concept of purity of blood (race) is very much present in the Harry Potter. Establishing social order by master race is not a new idea. Killing other as inferior race is very prominent in the history.

Now the point is that what is attacked by J.K. Rowling in the Harry Potter? And what she finally wants to establish as a conclusion by the thesis- antithesis on race?

Protagonist- Harry Potter and Hermione Granger are  Mud -blood. Ron Weasley is a pure blood. Draco Malfoy is also pure blood. Where as evil Voldemort is Mud Blood but craving for pure blood.

Rowling SUBVERTS the entire narrative by making protagonists who are mud bloods. And important thing is that they are equally or sometimes more powerful in magic than Pure blood. so, definitely it leads us to think that what should be criteria to judge the people - Race/ blood or merit?.

At the same time we have to keep in mind that Rowling is not despising Pure blood. Voldemort is evil and he is also mud blood. if writer make Voldemort as a pure blood, then definitely it is problematic.Witches and wizards consider themselves superior than non-magic people or non-human species like elves and giants. This act again shows racism working within the magical world. 

It is a satire on Voldemort kind of people that idea of superior race is dangerous/ harmful.  recent History has proved us that how dangerous it is.

many times reference comes in the novel they how pure blood were insulting mud bloods as inferior. And if we hear this kind of dialogue even today in and around us, then we've to be double careful.

The discourse of Power and Politics in

Harry Potter: How does Ministry of Magic

control the resistance? How do they prosecute

the ‘Other’?

It will be interesting if we bring in Michel Foucault's view regarding Power, knowledge and Politics.According to Foucault Knowledge is created by those who are in power position about Other. For Foucault, power and knowledge are created by discourse. Truth, morality and meaning reside within discourse,

Where is the politics in the novel? The answer is that ministry of magic is  the law making body in the wizarding world. The information about Hogward or magical world is kept secret from the non magical people. It is also controlled that one should not strictly do magic in front of muggles outside the Hogward. and if one does then they are punished. This control and punishment itself are the sufficient example of power and politics in Hogward.

Lets quote Foucalt's views abut power......

In his “History of Sexuality” Foucault approaches the concept of power in this manner:

“ power is everywhere, not because it embraces everything but because it comes from everywhere. And power insofar is repetitious, inert and self-reproducing…power is not an institution, not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with it; it is the name of a complex strategical situation in a particular society.”   

   

We can also apply Althusser's concept of ISA- ideological State Apparatus, Where Ministry of Magic functioning as a ISA.  they defy rules to gain knowledge. At the same Other (Students) those who are not in power position they are constantly under SURVEILLANCE. There are always two - one who Sees and other are being seen.(The kind of  phobia of constantly seen by somebody CCTV as shown in 1984 by George Orwell is also present here)  but one is trapped in this ideology. of one wants to get real/ true knowledge then they've to break the rules.

The specific function of a school means that essentially a power structure. Starting from the headmaster, professors, students and finally servants- Hogwarts presents a HIERARCHICAL POWER STRUCTURES  Students are split up in houses and each house has a common room that is accessed through a secret password. In order to navigate the school the students must be aware of the rules, the signs and symbols that regulate life. Harry Potter manages to defy these rules by gaining knowledge of the castle’s secret passages from the maradaurer’s map. (htt25)

Works Cited

<http://nimeshdave22.blogspot.in/2016/03/harry-potter-by-jk-rowling.html >.