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How Do Children Relate To Harry Potter Characters?

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In order to understand the way in which children (and adults) relate to the Harry Potter characters one must have an understanding of several psychological theories. The first of which is a method of social learning used by psychologists in order to enhance the lives of children with autism or other developmental disorders but the effectiveness of this method is not limited to this group (Gray and Garand). A story is created by the therapist in order to prepare the child for a situation they may encounter by mimicking possible outcomes of the situation as well as prescribing the child’s reaction to these events. It is important that the child relates to the main character (possibly bearing the same name) in order to have an empathetic experience …show more content…

Lacassagne ponders the issue of how to describe to children the horrors of the past when they have no personal investment in the matter; nor are they likely to encounter a person with personal experience as many of these horrors are now in the distant past. Thus, an author of a narrative such as the Harry Potter series has a unique opportunity. The author has the ability to utilize the connection formed between the child and the characters of their narrative to elicit an emotional response to an allegorical event which reflects the collective history of the world. By using this connection, one is able to give the children some idea of the magnitude of these events. This, Lacassagne explains, is what Rowling has done in the Harry Potter series. She depicts the series as a prolonged and detailed replication of the Second World War …show more content…

By allowing children to associate themselves with strong, “postmodern” child heroes (292) the child will be able to take a stronger role in their own life. Through narratives such as Harry Potter, children are able to gain an understanding of the complexities of relationships and personalities. This gives a child the ability to question what they are told and the ability to question the world. This in contrast to classic fairy tales which, as Chappell describes, functions on a “simple binary of good [or] evil” (282) and do not provide a sufficient explanation of the world to children. Most fairy tales leave children at a disadvantage in their societies, unaware that they can question the adults in their life. Thus, in this work, Chappell encourages parents to read narratives such as the Harry Potter series with their children so that the child may learn lessons about “ambiguity, agency [and] resistance” (292). These imperative skills for children are often difficult for a parent to teach but must be learned in order for a child to become an active part of their own

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