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Elizabeth Gibbons

Dr. Erin Dietel-McLaughlin

FYC 13300 Research Essay

24 March 2011
Rowling’s Real Recommendations

When I turned thirteen, I assumed that my acceptance letter to Hogwarts would be

delivered on my doorstep by an owl, or maybe for some reason, the beloved giant, Hagrid would

have to personally hand me my invitation. At almost nineteen years old, I am still waiting for this

letter. I know that I am not the only “adult” that is still waiting for this validation from my favorite

childhood book. Growing up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, my friends, my parents, and even my

grandparents have formed a relationship with the famous wizarding trio. We rooted for Ron to

finally make a move on Hermione. We sobbed when Snape killed Dumbledore. We completely

understood when Harry gave himself up to Voldemort. J.K. Rowling’s series became much more to

us than pages woven together by an exciting cover. It was real. It is real. The characters, the

feelings, and the morals from Harry are not just something we read because we were forced to in

school. These books mean much more than a letter grade or a passing mark. Harry becomes a part

of every reader’s soul, just not in the form of a horcrux.

Throughout the series, Rowling incorporates her perspective regarding issues in society,

including technology. Rowling inserts forms of technology that intrigue wizards, but also readers

because they reflect the views of society in subtle ways. Though children first loved the novels,

adults and scholars soon began to share an appreciation for Harry and his friends. Some may say

that Rowling is promoting a consumerist agenda behind the wands of her wizards, but a true fan

would not think that Rowling is trying to push an agenda, but trying to make readers take a step

back and analyze themselves. Just like Dumbledore makes Harry remove himself from memories in
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the Half-Blood Prince to learn of his mistakes, Rowling has her readers remove themselves to find

out their faults. As our culture becomes anxious about technology and what it means in the future,

there is an obvious correlation to the Harry Potter series. The desires and wants of our society are

mirrored in the lives of Harry and his friends. As the Headmaster of Hogwarts, the wizarding school

in Rowling’s novels, Albus Dumbledore says in The Sorcerer’s Stone, “…humans do have a knack

of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them.” (297) While Harry fights through seven

novels in the battle of good vs. evil, a reader can parallel this to the decisions in their own lives. He

also has ability to remove himself from the thrills of magic and technology to focus on more

important things like family and friends. This is a lesson for us all. Rowling’s Harry Potter series

reveals the anxious feelings of today’s society as technology consumes its wants and desires. She

includes two kinds of technology in her series, magic-tech (“ordinary items from our Muggle world

that have been magically modified”) and tech-magic (items that have no Muggle world

counterpart”) (Sheltrown 48) to solidify her views. By using technology that is similar to the

Muggle world, Rowling proves the harmful dependence our society has on technology. She argues

that this needs to be changed to a healthy balance, like the one Harry and his friends have found.

Arguments could be brought forth that Rowling used technology as a means for fulfilling

a corporate agenda. Images and different forms of advertising have become more successful

because they have integrated the image of Harry for their own consumerist ways. An online version

of Entrepreneur magazine did this by incorporating an article titled “Harry Potter and the Secrets of

Better Management.” The piece analyzed the novels and was written “for the lessons they teach

about how to be a business leader and maximize earning potential.” (Cummins) Cummins wrote

that the meaning behind Rowling’s words included a corporate and materialistic agenda, a much

different perspective than that of loyal readers. Some critics even argue that Rowling is keeping the
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consumerist agenda vibrant by allowing Scholastic, the publisher of her series, to create action

figures, games, and websites that deal with her characters and their lives in the wizarding world.

Theses same critics would claim that the children that read Harry Potter are not empowered by

technology and a corporate driven atmosphere, but actually controlled by it. Rowling and I would

both agree with critics that our society is consumed by consumerism, but argue that the people

within the society can find a balance from the consumption, just like Harry did.

A main theme in Harry Potter is the battle of good and evil. Rowling created characters,

like Harry and Dumbledore, to give examples of people that go against the norm by consistently

choosing good, not just because they had the capability to. She would side with Aristotle and

Dumbledore who agree that choices are ”a better test of character than actions are.” (Bassham

158) Rowling proves this by putting Harry through situations that emphasize her belief that free

will has far more value than the abilities a person is capable of. Abilities differ from choices

because they are not just mental or physical; they can be put into question because they are not

always clear. Dumbledore compares the abilities of Harry to his foe, Voldemort. Rowling proves

the differences in choice and ability by the technologies she writes about. The Elder Wand and

the ability to speak in Parseltongue are technologies unique to the wizarding world. Harry used

the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand, to repair his old wand, while Voldemort used this

wand in hopes of destroying Harry. Both have a special gift, Parseltongue, which allows them to

talk to snakes. Rowling demonstrates the Harry has the ability to choose between good and evil

when presented with strong forms of technology. Dumbledore then comments on their

“resourcefulness, determination, and a certain disregard for rules.” (Bassham 164) The difference

between Harry and Voldemort is that Harry uses his traits for good, while his opposition uses

them for evil. Though both have the same capability, how they chose to use their gifts and
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different technologies reveal who they really are as people. Rowling uses these two wizarding

opposites to demonstrate her beliefs that our society must move away from the dependency it has

on technology. Rowling validates society’s dependency as an evil that needs to be brought down

and re-evaluated. Harry gives himself up to Voldemort because he realized that technology in the

end does not win, human acceptance of the faults of technology does. The wizarding world is

similar to ours: “highly commercialized and obsessed with its technologies.” (Teare 339)

Members of each world allow technology to be seen as the key to happiness, but Rowling does

not promote or accept this. As Harry realized, Rowling wants her readers to find the balance with

technology, choosing good usage of these new tools instead of evil usage.

According to Rowling, the Dursleys, Harry’s foster family, reflect society’s insecurities

about wanting every form of technology, even those that are not necessary, As Piipo explains

impeccably, “The Dursleys are “proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very

much” (Sorcerer’s Stone, 7), and go to extremes in their frantic attempts to assure themselves of

the fact that the world is a rational, casually explicable place.” (66) Simply put, the Dursleys are

very insecure. They want to fit in with everyone else by having the newest form of technology in

their hands. Harry mortifies his relatives by not understanding their cravings for technology.

They cannot imagine why he would want to be abnormal and live in a magical world. Dudley,

Harry’s cousin, is particularly shown in a negative light when he “receives stacks of video games

one birthday, representing all children obsessed with acquiring and discarding the electronic toys

with which his playroom is littered.” (Teare 338) The gifts were found in his room, broken, with

the shelves full of books looking as if they had not been touched. Rowling is exposing those in

society that are too obsessed with electronics. Dudley’s toys are not explained in great detail, but

his obsession with them is made quite clear. He did not touch the books, but had broken all the
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forms of technology that he had once found so important and necessary for his happiness.

Society has moved from wanting to gain more knowledge to wanting to gain more forms of

technology in a haphazard way of gaining actual knowledge. Rowling’s thoughts are depicted

superbly in the quote, “It creates a vicious circle: the more they pursue the consolidation of

material goods in the attempt to define their identity, the weaker that identity becomes and

consequently it needs even more cementing.” (Piipo 66)

Rowling has several of her negative beliefs about technology broadcasted through outlets

in her book. Sheltrown’s analysis of Rowling’s novels accentuates this point with his statement,

“technology is not simply a popular fixture in these stories… rather, technology is deeply

embedded in the character of Harry Potter.” (48) In the series, “magic technologies are

everywhere,” (Sheltrown 48) like the Mirror of Erised, one form of technology unique to the

wizarding world. Muggles might be able to make a Christmas list online with their desires, but

they do not have the opportunity to look at their desires reflected back to them in a mirror. We all

hold our deepest desires close to our hearts and the Mirror of Erised “gives tremendous insight

into the viewer’s identity and character.” (Sheltrown 52) This mirror shows the deep desires and

“Dumbledore states that what the Mirror of Erised shows is not even a reflection of reality- in

fact, anything we see in a mirror is always a reverse image, and, as such, it already is to a certain

extent disconnected from reality.” (Piipo 74) Harry does not receive anything by looking in the

mirror except an empty image that shows him what he does not have. The mirror never tells the

looker if their desires will come true. As our society and time move forward, we too are

challenged by our deep desires. The difference between us muggles and Harry is that our most

desperate desires are not shown to us in a mirror, but kept within us because we do not want

anyone to know. Some may go to a fortune teller with their crystal ball to have predictions made
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about the future, but the truth is, neither Harry nor we know what will happen in the future. We

do not have a Mirror of Erised or its muggle counterpart available in any form of technology.

Rowling’s wrote this clever use of the word desire (desire is backwards in the Mirror of Erised)

to simply emphasize the want we all have inside of us to have a glimpse of what is to come, even

if we cannot look into a mirror to see it.

The Mirror of Erised is not the only technology the Muggle world is lacking. One of

Dumbledore’s most prized forms of technology is the pensieve: “a magical stone basin that

allows individuals to view either their own or another person’s memories from a third-person

perspective.” (Bassham 167) This, like the Mirror or Erised has no Muggle world counterpart.

Dumbledore uses it when he has too many memories, but also to recognize the mistakes and

patterns within his own behavior. Kind compares the ability of the Pensieve to remove memories

to the ability one now has to “offload data from your hard drive.” (198) Rowling is expressing

that all muggles and wizards wish for the opportunity to delete events from their mind, but only

wizards can literally remove their tarnished thoughts. The concept of not being able to harp on

the past is thrilling, but not realistic. Rowling is flaunting the desire humans have to dismiss their

lapses in judgment. Kind’s essay then brings forth the idea of muggles leaving Post-it notes

around the house and all of the important information that is stored in our smart phones, even

computers. If my MacBook Pro or iPhone crashed right now, I am not sure what I would do. I

would lose hundreds of contacts, photographs, and documents, including this very paper. The

difference Kind explains is that “no matter how dependent someone is on a PDA, the device is

still a memory aid, not a repository.” (Kind 202) If as John Locke suggests that memory theory

forms the “foundations of our identities,” (Kind 206) then why are researchers not trying to

develop a pensieve for muggles? Rowling is suggesting that though we might wish to store
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memories for later access, we simply cannot do it. Our past mistakes and bad memories help

mold us into who we are and who we will become. You cannot pretend a memory does not exist

just because it did not go as expected. It would change your identity. Harry cannot forget all the

battles he has fought against Voldemort because he would not be the Harry that was able to

defeat the Dark Lord in the final novel. If a Pensieve comes up for auction on EBay, Rowling

and I will not be bidders. We prefer to learn from the past and move on, while society is still

refreshing the page to see if they have entered the highest bid.

A form of technology that at first seemed a bit too advanced for muggles is now real in

the form of GPS systems. Mrs. Weasley, Ron’s mom, has a unique form of technology that most

mothers, including my own, would not mind hanging in their own kitchen. 9 hands on her clock

point to the supposed current location of each member of her family. Her twin sons, Fred and

George, have acquired a similar magical technology in the Marauder’s Map, which allows them

to see the locations of all wizards on Hogwarts’ property. This is just like a GPA. It is as if

Rowling predicted that society would be using a technology that had been reserved for military

use only. Most cell phones now have these GPS programs. Parents can check the whereabouts of

their kids with these tools. Rowling suggests parents use this technology when necessary, but not

more to maintain a balance with their kids. Molly Weasley was able to express her disgust with

her children through technology by sending a Howler to Ron for stealing his father’s flying car

(Chamber of Secrets). We muggle kids can receive that ear-piercing scream from the text

message, phone call, or email from our parents that are just as upset with us, it just will not burn

up in flames once the message is delivered, I think. We might not be able to ever use the flying

car, the Teffafugia, by Massachusetts-based company Moller International who are currently
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working on “vertical takeoff and landing cars,” (Roach) but we can be scolded just like Ron,

howling and all, before our mothers check if we are at the location the clock hand points to.

Like the flying car, the invisibility cloak that Harry inherited from his father, has been

imitated in our world. In August of 2010, “researchers at Tufts and Boston universities

announced success in creating an invisibility cloak made from silk.” (Roach) Harry may have

been able to hide under his cloak, but muggles cannot conceal themselves with a cloak, even

though there have been valiant efforts. We choose to hide ourselves through different forms of

technology such as social networking sites. We can make up stories, lies, and events to conceal

our real identities. Hermione, Ron, and Harry were able to use Polyjuice potion to alter their

physical identities, but we muggles cannot do this either. Hermione is different from us as well in

that she used a Time-Turner, “a device that allows for time travel, extensively in the Prisoner of

Azkaban to attend concurrent courses and help Harry save Sirius Black and the Hippogriff

Buckbeak.” (Sheltrown 48) Our Facebook accounts might allow memories from the past to be

seen years later, but we cannot change that these events happened, even if we think removing

ourselves from unflattering pictures removes the picture altogether. Rowling is claiming that

though we wish we had the ability to take Polyjuice, or turn time, or maybe even hide under the

Invisibility Cloak, we cannot. We must remove ourselves from the forms of technology that

consume not just our wants and desires, but our lives.

Because our generation takes technology for granted, “lost is technology’s magic.”

(Sheltrown 55) It is difficult for us all to remember life before the Internet and texting. We no

longer marvel at the ability to text a family member thousands of miles away or google the name

of the author we just cannot remember. Rowling’s Harry Potter books allow our technology

obsessed generation to remember how characters can “solve problems and develop relationships
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outside the context of many technologies basic to the Muggle world.” (Sheltrown 57) By

“creating a wizarding world that lacks many of the common technologies of our world,”

(Sheltrown 57) Rowling has her characters write their papers with quills and have no access to

phones or other fixtures that we muggles are used to. The forces of technology do not drive their

wants and desires, but instead are driven by the relationships they form with each other, their

peers, and their family. Harry Potter is as Sheltrown suggests a “morality tale about technology.”

(58) Harry was not successful in the books because he mastered technology, but because he

grasped the human limits of the magic that technology is.

Rowling’s message is clear in demonstrating that our society has allowed technology to

dominate our wants and desires. I too am too dependent on both my laptop and cell phone, as I

know many other muggles are. We need to step back with Dumbledore to look into the Pensieve

and figure out the trends that reveal our technology dependency. Rowling is not pushing an

agenda, but putting our faults in perspective. We all can learn from Harry, starting 113 days from

now when the second part of the Deathly Hallows will be released in theaters. I will proudly be

dressed up at midnight, waiting not just for the story I love, but the message that comes from it.
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Works Cited

Cummins, June. "Read between the Lines for a Lesson in Consumer Coercion." Times Higher

Education. TSL, 21 Dec. 2001. Web. 01 May 2011.

Bassham, Gregory. “Choices vs. Abilities.” The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy:

Hogwarts for Muggles. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. 157-71. Print.

Kind, Amy. “A Pensieve For Your Thoughts? Harry Potter and the Magic of Memory.”

The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Muggles. Hoboken,

NJ: Wiley, 2010. 198-212. Print.

Piipo, Taija. “Is Desire Harmful or Beneficial in the Harry Potter Series? Critical

Perspectives on Harry Potter. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003. 65-82. Print.

Roach, John. "Harry Potter's Hallowed High-Tech." Msnbc.com. Cosmic Log, 18 Nov. 2010.

Web. 10 Mar. 2011. http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/18/5489472-harry-

potters-hallowed-high-tech

Rowling, J.K. (1999a). Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets. New York: Arthur A. Levine

Books.

Rowling, J.K. (2007). Harry Potter and the deathly hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine

Books.

Rowling, J.K. (2005). Harry Potter and the half-blood prince. New York: Arthur A. Levine

Books.

Rowling, J.K. (1999c). Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone. New York: Scholastic.

Sheltrown, Nicholas. “Harry Potter’s World as a Morality Tale of Technology and

Media.” Critical Perspectives on Harry Potter. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003.

47-64. Print.
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Teare, Elizabeth. "Harry Potter and the Technology of Magic." The Ivory Tower and

Harry Potter: Perspectives on a Literary Phenomenon. (2002): 329-342. Print