Harry Confronts Evil

Harry Potter may indeed have religious significance for some, but of course it is much else besides. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels by are a set of highly enjoyable exercises of her vivid and fertile imagination. Ms. Rowling has been quoted as saying that the main theme of the seven novel series is death. This writer listened to and enjoyed all the novels of the series as audio books as part of my daily commute. It is true that these fantasies address many religious themes, including Voldemort’s desire to achieve immortality and hegemony over Harry’s world. The main fantasy element of the novels is the existence of magic and the juxtaposition of Harry’s magical world alongside the ordinary world of us “Muggles”, i.e. ordinary non-magical human beings. An obvious religious component of the series is the perpetual battle of good versus evil. Such is a major theme of much great literature.