The Harry Potter books could contain hidden criticisms of the British governments post 9/11 response to the terrorist threat, a legal expert has claimed.
Washington, July 19 : The Harry Potter books could contain hidden criticisms of the British government's post 9/11 response to the terrorist threat, a legal expert has claimed.
Judith Rauhofer, of the University of Central Lancashire, says that she has spotted a subtle critique of security measures introduced to respond to the threat from al-Qa'eda in the most recent Potter books.
Rauhofer claims that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the series, was the first Potter book to be written after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington on September 11, 2001.
"Until then, the Harry Potter series could be seen as nothing more than a simple story of good versus evil. JK Rowling's work then evolved into something more after 9/11, a social commentary on current events, in fact," says Rauhofer, a Research Fellow in Law.
Rauhofer believes that plot references to characters being detained without trial and having their post intercepted are references to contemporary events, which she says are mostly unfair and unjustifiable, in the name of the war on terror.
"I think there are certain parallels in the way in which the Ministry of Magic deals with the Voldemort threat and the way the British government deals with the terrorist threat. I'm not saying she has done this deliberately to show up the Government. Everybody who writes is influenced by the times in which they live and that is probably what has happened here," she says.
For instance, in "The Order of the Phoenix", all wizards are issued with emergency pamphlets.
"Most people who received the UK government's "Preparing for an-emergency" pamphlet through their letterbox in 2004 will recognize the irony of Rowling's plot detail here," says Rauhofer.
Several key plot features hint at parallels between the wizard world and our muggle world, says Rauhofer. The marginalizing of an ethnic group, for instance, by the muggles themselves, identity issues with Death Eaters masquerading as others, detention without trial of Knight Bus conductor Stanley Shunpike on suspicion of Death Eater activity, interception of Arthur and Molly's post while in The Burrow in the name of safety, and many other examples.
Since the fourth book, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the publishers, Bloomsbury, has acknowledged that a large part of the readership is among adults, by publishing an adult edition alongside the children's version.
Jon Howells of Waterstone's said that around 45 per cent of orders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in the series, which goes on sale on Saturday, have come from adults.
Rauhofer believes references to contemporary events such as the response to the threat from terrorism are part of the appeal of the books to adults.
"Rowling's description of an alternative society and its government traces recent events in contemporary society. The political thread going through the series largely focuses on the way in which the Ministry of Magic deals with Lord Voldemort's return," Rauhofer says.
ANI