International Socialists

Mike Tait

Harry Potter is not just a series of books about a boy wizard, he is a global phenomenon. J.K. Rowling's books have been translated into many different languages and have turned millions of kids and adults onto reading. A cultural phenomenon, Harry has almost single-handedly shown that the book - that most ancient form of information technology - can thrive in the 21st century.

The books are a mix of genres, with magic and fantasy blended with British boarding school novels. Rowling writes enjoyable books, filled with excitement (sporting dramas, detentions, torture, executions, etc), but unfortunately also emotionally shallow and increasingly pessimistic.

Harry, an orphan, lives with his abusive (and obese) relatives - Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and their son Dudley. His life changes sharply when he is invited to attend Hogwarts boarding school, and discovers the magical world they tried to hide from him - a world where he is already a hero.

In each book, Harry is first victimised - by teachers, classmates, relatives, and the evil Voldemort - then triumphs. But Harry's character never develops from these encounters. His character and the mood of the books swing with increasing violence between self-pity and triumphalism.

Harry's moodiness and alienation from his family and friends no doubt resonates with readers, especially teenagers, but Rowling has no insights to offer. She cannot resolve the contradiction between Harry's external role as a hero and his damaged childhood. Instead, each crisis merely worsens his mood swings, to the point that it is now rumoured that Rowling is sick of him and has plans to kill him off.

Harry's internal contradictions are mirrored in the detailed social and political fantasy world that Rowling has created. For instance, one of Voldemort's crimes is his so-called "racism" against non-magical people (or "Muggles") who he believes are sub-human. Ranged against him are those "good" wizards who wish to protect Muggles, much as the SPCA protects animals from cruelty. Harry opposes Voldemort's racism in principle, but he despises the Muggles he lives with - his own family.

Rowling's liberalism is clear from her satirising of the Uncle Vernon's vulgar conservatism and in the gender and ethnic mix of characters. But she's also clearly anti-democratic. For her the battle between good and evil is a faction fight within an elite, to whom ordinary people are at best amusing and at worst contemptible. This view is common in the genre, e.g. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, but worse because these authors were at least honestly conservative.

Contemporary liberalism feels threatened by the way that two decades of free-market policies have eroded infrastructure and social cohesion in developed nations, and undermined the very basis of many third world states. But, lacking any faith in the ability of ordinary people to oppose the mounting chaos, liberalism is forced into the embrace of its old nemesis, the authoritarian State. Zombie-like, the living corpse is embraced by its tomb. We should pity zombies, but on no account let them eat our brains.