LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 17:7 July 2017
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
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         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Casting the Spell of Friendship:
Bacon’s Tenets in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter

Meenakshi Srihari, M.A. English


Abstract

Harry Potter’s claim to fame is multifaceted. At the root of these claims is that the series appeals to children and adults alike because of the basic universal values it reflects. One of these is friendship. The paper evaluates the portrayal of friendship in the series through the lens of the aphoristic tenets of friendship presented in Bacon’s essay “Of Friendship”. Bacon’s objective appraisal of friendship deems it sentimental, practical and at times Machiavellian. The paper surmises that the series perfectly defines and unravels notions about the abstract concept of friendship, much like Bacon’s essay does.

Keywords: Rowling, Bacon, Friendship, Philosophy

Harry Potter – Focus of the Series

The Harry Potter series was never merely a set of children’s books; it was and remains one author’s determined effort to show that the extraordinary stems but from the ordinary, and that intrinsic human values form magical relationships. To put it simply, the books are an earthly journey on a magic carpet. At the end of every book, one might as well exclaim that Harry is like a normal boy, except that he is a wizard. The plethora of characters in the series makes it a study of relationships, and friendship is one theme that is explored exhaustively.

The universality of friendship is undisputable, and its nature has been meticulously studied by philosophers and writers. Of these studies, Francis Bacon’s essay “Of Friendship” stands apart because of his unique aphoristic style- the simplicity of friendship shines through even as he explains its intricacies. The maxims that he puts forth serve as markers to what friendship should or should not be like, and this paper serves to vouch for these guidelines in exploring the theme of friendship by applying them to J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Meenakshi Srihari, M.A. English
Avinashilingam University
Coimbatore-641043
Tamilnadu
India
meenavid79@gmail.com

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