The entire Harry Potter Series by J .K. Rowling has been a point of serious controversy ever since the books within it were published. Many people, not only in the United States, but also in England, think that these books are influential in the wrong way, especially to young children, because they express the acts of witchcraft and wizardry (also known as the Wicca religion). One of the first schools to take to consideration that these books interfere with the rightful beliefs of the children that it teaches was St. Joseph's in Wakefield; the school bishop banned the series from the school entirely and removed it from the school library.
While reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I found that not only did the concept of wizardry cause problems outside of Harry's world, but also inside it as well. It is quite easy to see that Harry's horrible aunt and uncle seem to have such a great distaste for Harry and his parents because they know of the danger that comes with Harry finding out his family secret. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always display the disgust they feel for Harry asking questions and thinking about things in unusual ways, and this shows the reader just how immoral they think practicing magic is. "If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas." (pg. 26). There have been various groups of people in the real world who simply don't believe that there is "nonsense" such as wizards and anyone who believes in them aren't followers of proper religion, and these people have not stepped back when asserting their opinions out into the debate of challenging Harry Potter. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are almost identical to these kind of people because of how they talk about occurrences and people that are different from the ideal and sophisticated kind like them. The reader is made to wonder whether J. K. Rowling was expecting a reaction from some of hatred and controversy from her books, and if that is one of the reasons the characters of Harry's aunt and uncle are the way they are.
While reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, I found that not only did the concept of wizardry cause problems outside of Harry's world, but also inside it as well. It is quite easy to see that Harry's horrible aunt and uncle seem to have such a great distaste for Harry and his parents because they know of the danger that comes with Harry finding out his family secret. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon always display the disgust they feel for Harry asking questions and thinking about things in unusual ways, and this shows the reader just how immoral they think practicing magic is. "If there was one thing the Dursleys hated even more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas." (pg. 26). There have been various groups of people in the real world who simply don't believe that there is "nonsense" such as wizards and anyone who believes in them aren't followers of proper religion, and these people have not stepped back when asserting their opinions out into the debate of challenging Harry Potter. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon are almost identical to these kind of people because of how they talk about occurrences and people that are different from the ideal and sophisticated kind like them. The reader is made to wonder whether J. K. Rowling was expecting a reaction from some of hatred and controversy from her books, and if that is one of the reasons the characters of Harry's aunt and uncle are the way they are.
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