Blog Post #1 Response

I believe that this argument completely applies to the first two Harry Potter books greatly.  Personally while reading them, especially the first, I was transported to a new and different world.  I felt as if I was in Diagon Alley or flying with Harry on a broom stick for the first time.  Because we are being introduced to the world it is easy to become lost within it.  The world is so rich and new but at the same time there is a certain amount of realism that allows me to believe in it. 

I automatically related to Hermione while reading the books.  Growing up along with the books, I saw so much of myself in her know it all ways.  She is definitely more of an extreme than I am but I know quite a few people who would tell you how Hermione-like I can be.  I would not say that I truly identified with other characters but I felt as if I knew them.  Fred and George instantly reminded me of my own older brother.  Professor McGonagall could have been any number of my teachers growing up. The feelings Harry struggles with like self-doubt, adjusting to a new place, or feeling like an outsider felt like my own muggle struggles.  I found so much of my life in the stories that it was easy to feel a part of it.

After I read the books my whole family followed suit.  When I told them all I was taking this class they were all so jealous.  I have seen firsthand how different perspectives could relate to the stories.  Even now as a young adult I am re reading them from a new perspective and still finding myself being lost in the world.  I may find more humor in other parts than I did as an eleven year old, but I am still fully wrapped up in Harry.

This does not always happen for everyone.  I finally convinced my boyfriend to read the books this past year and he does not feel the same way I do.  He cannot relate to the decisions Harry makes, which makes it extremely difficult to maintain that ‘occupied’ feeling that Wolfgang Iser argues about in the prompt.  I try not to completely hold it against him.  This was my first experience of someone not completely loving the series so it really made me realize the identification and strong response that I felt is not universal.