Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Harry Potter, Courage and Liberty

Hellmut, July 28, 2007June 21, 2011

It is my pleasure to congratulate our friend Russell Arben Fox whose review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was so excellent that Ross Douthat picked it up on the Atlantic Monthly.

Russell’s review is multifaceted. I will take issue with his observation that the Harry Potter series was a children’s story after all.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are about heroics but the heroes are not superhuman. Liberty has always had a difficult relationship to the virtue of courage. It is neither an accident that the Scottish enlightenment emphasized the ethical superiority of self-interest over self-denial nor that the First Republic was overthrown by its premier soldier. Courage and heroics do not mesh well with equality and liberty.

However, it remains true that courage is indispensable. One cannot run the fire department, a hospital, or the armed forces primarily on self-interest. And the Latins were right when they supposedly quipped that courage was not the only virtue but without courage all other virtues would be irrelevant.

Emphasizing mortal and fallible heroes, Rowland’s message is deeply committed to democracy. Unlike the Founding Fathers, who appreciated the limitations of human nature but housed our government in Greek temples, Rowland applies her message about human potential and limitation consistently.

Harry cannot do it without his friends and has to rely on the memory of his parents, god parents, and mentors. Dumbledore is susceptible to the corrupting effects of power. Neville could have substituted for Harry. The greatest jerk in the tale, Severus Snape, turns out to be the most courageous character in the book.

Rowlings’ pathos eschews the romantic temptation of hero worship. In the process, she also dispatches the various Nitzschean approaches to heroism that continue to plague us in various posty versions.

Unlike the philosophers Joseph Ratzinger and Gertrude Himmelfarb who fear that liberal states and multiculturalism cannot inspire its members to defend their state, J.K. Rowling has learned the lessons of the twentieth century without having to resort to stale traditionalism. The logic of self-defense are sufficient to bring about collaboration among different groups that respect each other.

Furthermore, Rowling uses the voice of Dumbledore to reject Robert Michels‘ Führer solution to the inevitable corruption of democracy.

The American variant of Michels’ skepticism about democracy is by the way best expressed by a couple of Jimmy Stewart movies: Mr Smith Goes to Washington and It’s a Wonderful Life. Entire cities and nations would be lost if it were not for one man motivated by naiveté and ignorance and who could not prevail except for the implausible emergence of a conscience in his nemesis.

Rowlings has no use for moral exaggerations. She embraces imperfect characters. That has to be an implication of her message that love will prevail for love requires no effort when our companions are perfect. It is imperfection that requires loves.

Instead of staging superhuman or super-stupid leaders, Rowling acknowledges that we shall have to rely on our own efforts, which are not only imperfect but more likely than not tainted. The final battle is only won when the community confronts evil.

Rowlings’ prescription of heroism tempers the arrogance and idolatry that often accompanies courage by shining a bright light on the self. If there has been a problem with western civilization, it is the propensity of the bourgeois mindset to indulge into self-righteousness and hypocrisy.

In that context, J.K. Rowling’s message is the perfect medicine, perfectly communicated to children and their parents as we struggle to sustain our democracy in a world where liberty and democracy remain as fragile as ever.

Book Review Culture Philosophy

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

According to logicians, I can prove a negative

December 9, 2007October 20, 2010

I caught this post on the eSkeptic newsletter by a logician arguing that you can prove a negative based on induction (great reading for anyone interested). As that is the case, here are a few negatives I’m ready to prove: Modern Horses in America: 1. If horses had existed in…

Read More

How are the Mormons like the Jews?

October 5, 2008

It seems like whenever we talk about Mormons as a people and a culture, the first discussion point is always “How are we like/unlike the Jews?” It’s very natural for Mormons to see the parallel with this fellow tribe. It just hit me recently, though, that this connection might not…

Read More

Atheists and Traditions

November 27, 2009

Religion has a lot different facets that different people find appealing: identity/community transcendence/awe/altered states of consciousness rituals tradition/culture purpose/guidance belief in the supernatural And surely many others. It’s my impression that people tend to focus on a few of their favorites among these components and ignore the rest. It’s just…

Read More

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesJune 21, 2025

    termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti Ekip çok organize, kaça?? an?nda bulup çözdüler. https://bence.net/read-blog/25188

  2. Cara B. Klein on My conspiracy theory #2April 26, 2025

    Wow, I had never thought about it in that way before You have really opened my eyes to a new…

  3. chanson on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 16, 2025

    The haiku at the end is lovely. Sounds like a great book!

  4. Donna Banta on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    I imagine anyone who has tried to change the church from within will identify with Kitchen's story. I especially like…

  5. Johnny Townsend on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    This was a painful review to read. For many years, I held the same hope, that the LDS church would…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Conformity Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes