Blog Post #1 Response: Influences on Perception

Each individual’s journey while reading a book is slightly different. The way a person perceives the story depends on the thinking process and experience he or she has acquired. Wolfgang Iser’s argument that ”reading removes the subject-object division that constitutes all perception” explains why people become enveloped in a story because a different picture is painted in every mind. The view a reader forms about Harry Potter and about magic in general is greatly influenced by childhood memories of the morals and values that were presented as acceptable or righteous. My interests and personal connections with various characters can be drawn back to the household and society I was raised in.

I grew up in a Christian household and attended a Christian elementary school, so to say that Harry Potter was unaccepted would be an extreme understatement. Harry Potter was forbidden in my house as well as my school. This environment could have been the energy that fueled my interest and desire to absorb literature in science fiction and fantasy genres. My dad was the first to expose me to Harry Potter. When I was finally introduced to the series five books were written, and two movies had been produced. I honestly think that my dad bought me the first two movies out of spite because of my parents’ separation at the time…

I immediately became obsessed with the series and found myself longing for an escape from the dry monotony of my religious education that forbade everything I found fascinating. I wanted to research the sources that J.K. Rowling drew some of her ideas from, and I was ecstatic when I found a few books in the library outlining mythical origins of the series. As soon as my mom saw me with those books, I’m pretty sure she pleaded with God to purify my soul and bring back her little girl that had been corrupted with witchcraft and the devil. It’s needless to say that I was forced to return the books without reading them. I find it easy to relate to Harry in a slight way because neither of us could find satisfaction in the reality we lived. Harry obviously had to live in a much worse situation than I, but the relation, no matter how farfetched, is there. Similar to Harry’s reaction when he found out what he truly is, when I discovered something to satisfy the hunger I had because this life was uninteresting and mundane, I was elated and developed a compulsion close to something unhealthy to discover everything I could about his world. That was put quickly to a stop by my mom, similar to the confiscation of Harry’s school supplies by the Dursleys between his first and second year at Hogwarts.

Someone who has experienced many of the traumas and neglect Harry was forced to acknowledge as a child could easily use the series as a clarification that they aren’t alone, even though they are using a fictional source to reassure them. A reader with this perspective would probably be more emotionally connected with the series than someone who reads just for pleasure.

Everyone has met a person who has the shadow of a sibling or the expectation of perfection sitting on his or her shoulders. Others who have risen out of a family that is considered loathsome or inferior feel the need to prove their worth. If a reader falls into either of these descriptions, it would be easy to empathize with Ron and Hermione. My financial support and approval from my family depends on my GPA and success compared to my mom’s achievements and habits, regardless of my extracurricular situations, so I can empathize with Ron in this circumstance.

I pity anyone who cannot enjoy Harry Potter because of a moral or religious guilt that is associated with secular magic. No matter how many times I have explained to religious acquaintances that the series honestly is based on a battle of good and evil and that magic is used to repel dark forces, in their eyes, this magic does not come from God, so it is demonic. Oh, it breaks my heart!