Hope and Change in Harry Potter

The following article originally was published by the July 22, 2009, Denver Daily News. It is also available through the Independence Institute website.

Hope and change in Harry Potter

by Ari Armstrong

With Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince breaking movie records, now is a great time to review the political themes of the series.

In the fifth book, Order of the Phoenix, the students of Hogwarts rebel against the Ministry of Magic's unjust exertion of power over the school.

In the final book, Deathly Hallows, the Ministry falls under the control of the evil Lord Voldemort. The fallen government censors the press, brutalizes wizards and Muggles (non-magical people) alike, and persecutes wizards born to the "wrong" parents through the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, echoing the vicious evils of the Nazi era. The Potter series thus features strong anti-totalitarian themes.

Between those two books rests Half-Blood Prince, which tones down the politics in favor of romance and backstory. Yet politics flows in the undercurrents.

In one important scene in the book (that unfortunately didn't make it into the film), the Minister of Magic visits Harry and tries to get him to feign support for the Ministry in order to comfort people.

The Minister says, "It's all perception, isn't it? It's what people believe that's important." He continues, "You are a symbol of hope for many, Harry. The idea that there is somebody out there who might be able... to destroy [Voldemort]... gives people a lift." The Minister urges Harry to "stand alongside the Ministry, and give everyone a boost."

The Minister asks Harry to pop "in and out of the Ministry" to "give the right impression." He offers Harry a payoff in the form of help getting a job. The Minister says, "It's all about giving people hope, the feeling that exciting things are happening."

Harry realizes that misguided "hope" isn't worth much. He retorts, "I don't like some of the things the Ministry's doing. Locking up Stan Shunpike [who is known to be innocent], for instance... You're making Stan a scapegoat, just like you want to make me a mascot."

The Minister condescends, "These are dangerous times, and certain measures need to be taken. You are sixteen years old..." In other words, shut up and do what you're told.

Half-Blood Prince was published in 2005. Four years later, I certainly have the feeling that exciting things are happening here in America. In the name of hope we are offered astronomically expensive new programs that forcibly transfer more wealth from some citizens to others and expand political control over our lives.

These are dangerous times, at least for economic prosperity, and "certain measures need to be taken." What measures? Not even those voting on the bills quite know. It's about perception, giving people a lift, not long-term consequences. At least the rivers of political payola are flowing.

I don't want to pretend that J. K. Rowling, author of the novels, would agree with any of my particular political views. Still, the Minister's words remind me of a lot of what I'm hearing from American politicians these days.

When Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, said politicians should "never let a serious crisis go to waste," what is that besides putting the politics of perception above the truth?

Vice President Joe Biden said, "We're going to go bankrupt as a nation. Now when I say that people look at me and say, 'What are you talking about, Joe? You're telling me we got to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?' The answer is yes, I'm telling you."

The claim that the way to avoid bankruptcy is to rack up insane deficits insults the intelligence of every American family that has ever made a budget. Ah, but "certain measures need to be taken." And we are as children, awaiting the guidance of our political guardians.

I don't like some of the things our government is doing. All the hope in the world cannot compensate for misguided and unjust policies.


Ari Armstrong, a guest writer for the Independence Institute, is the author of Values of Harry Potter and the publisher of FreeColorado.com.

Westword Interview on Values of Harry Potter

Westword featured an online interview October 28 in which I discuss Harry Potter and some of the ideas from my book, Values of Harry Potter: Lessons for Muggles.

I wanted to expand one point here. In the interview, I say:

Obviously, the idea of heroes fighting for values in some sense has to be part of any compelling fiction. For example, you see some similarities with Tolkien’s works, but what strikes me about the Harry Potter series is the richness of the characters and their commitment to their personal values. ... [T]here is more self-motivation, for example, than for Frodo, Tolkein’s hero, who to a great extent is pushed in this battle by the gift of this ring and the wizard Gandalf directing him to take this quest. He is not fighting for his core life values, as they are in Harry Potter.

Frodo is fighting to protect his world, the Shire, no doubt. And Harry, like Frodo, is placed into a grand conflict to a large degree by forces beyond his control (for Voldemort targeted him as a child). Nevertheless, the thrust of my point remains true. Frodo's fight for his own values is much more in the background, while Harry's fight for values is front and center. Even though Harry is targeted by Voldemort and encouraged by Dumbledore, he consciously makes a series of choices to join the battle, explicitly on the grounds that he must do so to defend his values, the people and way of life that matter to him. From Tolkien, an even better comparison is with Bilbo from The Hobbit. Bilbo constantly wishes to return home, rather than complete the journey, and he doesn't much care about the outcome. And he is quite shoved out the door by Gandalf; he doesn't pursue the journey because he thinks it is important to achieve the things that really matter to him. So my point is not that values are absent in Tolkien, but rather that personal values play a much more pronounced role in Rowling.

I mentioned a couple other points about independence to Joel Warner (who conducted the interview) that didn't make the final cut. First, with respect to the formal education at Hogwarts, I pointed out that Harry independently chose to pursue his education, and Hogwarts allows much greater expression of independence relative to typical American schools. Second, regarding political implications, I pointed out that those who take the themes of independence and free will seriously are more likely to advocate personal responsibility in the political system.

If readers of the interview have additional questions for me, please submit them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them.

J. K. Rowling's Magical World of Values

Tomorrow (October 1) marks the official publication of my book, Values of Harry Potter: Lessons for Muggles.

To celebrate the occasion, I've released a new essay titled "J. K. Rowling's Magical World of Values," which briefly contrasts the magic of Rowling with that of fantasy writers J. R. R. Tolkien and Lloyd Alexander. In Rowling, the heroes move into the magical world and remain there. In Tolkien and Alexander, the magic fades at the end of the stories. What is the thematic significance of this? Read the essay.

Values of Harry Potter on 9News

Yesterday 9News aired a segment in which I discuss Harry Potter's political lessons. I offer an abbreviated version of a piece I wrote for the Rocky Mountain News. Enjoy!

And then go buy the book, Values of Harry Potter: Lessons for Muggles, by Ari Armstrong.

Harry Potter's Political Lessons

Today the Rocky Mountain News published my article, "Lessons for U.S. politicians from the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." (The original title was "Harry Potter's Lessons for Muggle Politicians," but I like the new one just as well.)

John McCain and Barack Obama would benefit from a semester at Hogwarts (though I suppose they'd both end up causing trouble in Slytherin).

Here I offer just the highlights:
* Do the right thing even if it's difficult.
* Be honest even when it's inconvenient
* Don't cling to power.
* Government is not always the answer.
* Sometimes government gets it wrong.
* Government should protect people's rights.

For details, read the entire article! Then read the book, Values of Harry Potter.

Why Harry Potter Fans Should Read Ayn Rand

This article originally appeared in Grand Junction's Free Press.

September 1, 2008

Why Harry Potter fans should read Ayn Rand

by Linn and Ari Armstrong

As September 1 marks the first day of school at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, we decided to ignore Colorado's political scene for the moment and focus on something truly important: great literature.

We've both long been fans of Ayn Rand's works. In fact, when Ari was young, Linn read aloud Anthem as a bed-time story. Anthem is Rand's novelette about a dystopian future in which people are known by numbers, not names, and the word "I" has been outlawed. The hero of the story rediscovers electricity in secret and eventually escapes with his beloved to freedom. The book inspired Ari's preoccupation with liberty.

More recently, Ari has grown passionate about another novelist: J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series. Ari has even written a book of literary criticism called Values of Harry Potter; see ValuesOfHarryPotter.com. In its focus on the heroic valuer, the book explores Rowling's themes of courage, independence, and free will, then critically examines her minor themes of self-sacrifice and immortality.

Ari's shared passion for Rand and Rowling is no coincidence. The two authors explore many of the same themes and offer their readers gripping, tightly plotted stories filled with great heroes, dastardly villains, and intriguing ideas. Fans of Rowling easily could fall in love with Rand's works, and vice versa.

Both novelists have written great Romantic works. In her introduction to The Fountainhead, Rand writes that Romanticism "deals, not with the random trivia of the day, but with the timeless, fundamental, universal problems and values of human existence." That helps explain why Rand's books remain strong sellers decades after their initial release and why Rowling's books have appealed to readers across continents in many languages. These are not stories of the neighbor next door and his neuroses. These are grand epics of monumental clashes between good and evil.

As Ari argues in Values of Harry Potter, the central theme of Rowling's novels is the heroic fight for life-promoting values. Harry and his allies fight courageously to protect their lives, loved ones, futures, and liberties from the vicious tyrant Lord Voldemort. For example, in Sorcerer's Stone, Harry gives a fiery speech to his friends Ron and Hermione, persuading them to take action against Voldemort to save their lives and world.

Rand's characters, too, fight passionately for their values. In The Fountainhead, Howard Roark refuses to compromise his integrity as an architect, even if that means he must work in a granite quarry or blow up a building that has ripped off and debased his design. In Atlas Shrugged, John Galt and Francisco d'Anconia walk away from their normal lives in order to finally subvert the evil men and ideas taking over the world.

After learning he's a wizard, Harry takes the Hogwarts Express to a magical world filled with wonder, possibility, and great champions like Professor Dumbledore. Hogwarts is Harry's escape from the oppressive Dursleys. In Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart's Transconinental Railroad also symbolizes movement into a world of near-mythical champions such as the steel-producer Hank Rearden.

While Harry has Hogwarts, Dagny discovers Galt's Gulch, the place where her heroes live. After Dagny crash lands her plane in the Gulch, she experiences, "This was the world as she had expected to see it at sixteen... This was her world, she thought, this was the way men were meant to be and to face their existence..." It is to this spirit of youthful passion and confidence that both novelists remain true.

As Rand explains, free will is the foundation of Romantic literature, because free will is what enables a person's "formation of his own character and the course of action he pursues in the physical world." Because of the fact of free will, people can form or reform their characters and act for their values. This is the premise behind any compelling plot, which depends on the characters making and then enacting choices toward some goal. It is no surprise, then, that Dumbledore endorses free will, saying "it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be."

Rowling and Rand share an interest in other themes as well. Both authors love liberty and hate tyrants; both John Galt and Harry Potter work outside the established government to fight those wielding power corruptly. Both authors present fiercely independent heroes who refuse to unquestioningly follow self-proclaimed authorities.

Of course the writers also have their differences. For example, while Rand solidly rejects religion, Rowling includes the Christian elements of self-sacrifice and life after death in her novels. Yet their similarities are more intriguing.

If you haven't yet read these novels, then you are in for an enthralling and potentially life-altering adventure. It is yours to discover your own Hogwarts or Galt's Gulch, not merely in the realm of imagination, but in your daily life.