'Using ideas from the critical anthology to inform your argument, explore the view that the works of J.K. Rowling, despite being written principally for children, are sufficiently challenging to be included in the literary Canon'.
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AQA A2 English Literature Centre 40107: Prose NEA; Thomas Baines (2338)
Using ideas from the critical anthology to inform your argument, explore the view that the works
of J.K. Rowling, despite being written principally for children, are sufficiently challenging to be
included in the literary Canon
If ‘valued texts are supposed to give the reader an insight into fundamental questions which
are of universal concern, such as the nature of evil’ and ‘the value of love' (Montgomery, 2000), then
Harry Potter's powerful themes of escapism, death, friendship, and heroism arguably take the series
beyond a form of children’s literature and propel Rowling's most successful work into the Canon.
Not only this, the didactic promotion of good over evil, highly complex plot and characterisation, as
well as ingenious examples of lexical creation, are sufficient grounds to challenge both the literary
snobbery surrounding Rowling’s works and the Canon’s concept as ‘a male, white, bourgeois
tradition’ (Lauter, 1991).
Criticism of the literary value of the Harry Potter series has been led by Byatt (2003)
regarding 'a secondary, secondary world made up of intelligently patchworked derivative motifs
from all sorts of children's literature'. Whilst it is true that many of the magical creatures used by
Rowling are pre-existing products of childish folklore - a Hogwarts lesson sees the introduction of
‘unicorns’ for example - Byatt seemingly fails to realise the originality of Rowling’s craftsmanship.
Indeed, Rowling creates an entirely new sport: Quidditch, complete with unique lexis such as
‘bludger’ and ‘snitch’. Arguably, the newly crafted nouns have ‘rightness for the particular context’
(Montgomery, 2000) given that firstly, ‘bludger’ stems from the verb ‘bludgeon’, which is apt for an
item which hits with a heavy impact, and secondly, the verb ‘snitch’ is pertinently altered to a noun
which represents an object that must be snatched. This lexical customisation is not only reminiscent
of Shakespeare and Milton, who similarly created new words for the benefit of the English language,
but is also notable for its profound effect on popular culture; the noun ‘Quidditch’ has fostered the
creation of a similar sport in Western society, subsequently rendering the creativity far from being
merely superficial.
The ‘rightness’ of the craftsmanship ‘for the particular context’ is equally evident in the
relationship between the persona of every character and their name through the use of
charactonym. Just as Dickens used assonance to craft characters such as ‘Scrooge’ (where the name
sonically emphasises his tight-fisted personality), Rowling mirrors Dickens’ use of charactonym to
establish a subconscious reaction to a character based solely on their name. The assonance used in
the names of ‘Voldemort’ and ‘Dumbledore’ has remarkably, and perhaps intentionally, differing
effects. In many ways, the proper noun ‘Voldemort’ enhances the character’s villainy as the ‘ort’
sound has connotations of ‘wart’, mirroring his grotesquely evil persona. Meanwhile, the soft and
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