Childrens

Lit Final Synthesis Paper

Harry Potter
By: Sarah Davis

As a toddler, youd never find my sister without a crayon; now, shes an art

major in college. Had she not been pushed or sought out for herself to pursue this
talent, she wouldnt be where she is today. On the other hand, my best friend was
the fastest player on her soccer team in elementary school. But now at age 21, she
hasnt touched a ball or run a step in years; rather, she chose to pursue the career of
an accountant. In order to allow our underdeveloped characteristics to fully blossom
and become true aspects of our adult character, we must undergo movement: a
journey (whether we are pushed into this journey or it being our own decision)
consisting of action, change and progress.

The combination of these three things is largely seen in childrens literature

as an author transitions a child character into adulthood. In order for this to happen,
energetic activity (action) along with a change in lifestyle, or a difference from what
would have happened if the character was let alone, will produce progress (general
growth or advancement) from one area of life to another. This is the journey to
adulthood.

Children are often viewed as small, innocent, pure and angelic. However, I

believe that the greatest quality that defines a child is that they are not just
physically underdeveloped, but characteristically underdeveloped. There are two
types of characteristics that humans possess: physical characteristics such as quick

feet or good hand-eye-coordination and those that are more personal, such as kind-
heartedness, stubbornness or the ability to easily retain knowledge.

This movement from an underdeveloped child to a fully developed adult can

clearly be seen in the Harry Potter series. Despite their age and appearance at the
beginning of the series, the readers are aware that the three protagonists (Harry,
Ron and Hermione) are children because they each are dappled with
underdeveloped characteristics: qualities that exist at first glance, but cannot quite
represent the character in full. What qualifies something as underdeveloped is that a
human cannot produce the same results than if he or she would if that trait was fully
developed. Each novel acts as a movement pushing each character further and
further into adulthood. And these characteristics continue to grow and develop as
each one of them grows and develops in age and appearance as well.

At the beginning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Harry possesses

the underdeveloped characteristic of bravery: the quality that allows someone to

undertake situations without fear. A second underdeveloped quality Harry has that
marks him as a child is his gift for speed. Similar to my best friend, they both had
always been small and skinny for [their] age (Rowling 20). But unlike my friend,
Harry acted, changed his lifestyle and eventually progressed in his skill for speed,
that at the end of the novel, he became an elite quidditch player on the Gryffindor
house team. These underdeveloped character traits such as bravery and speed can
be seen most clearly through J.K. Rowlings writing style: lots of detail that seems
extraneous at first, but which ultimately means something in the end.

In chapter two of the novel, the very first thing Harry does after Aunt Petunia

wakes him up is pull a spider off of his sock and puts the sock on. Although this may
be a small detail, the fact that its Harry Potters very first action in the book speaks
a lot. This is seen as an underdeveloped characteristic because picking up a spider is
nothing compared to giving your life up to Lord Voldemort, just as drawing a picture
of a scrawny dog cant compare to a $500 portrait. Each produces different results
as a wizard or as an artist.

Harry undergoes movement throughout the entire first novel, but it isnt until

he passes through the third-floor corridor that his bravery is truly tested. In fact, it
is the action, change and progression that takes places within this corridor that
further develops traits among all three of the main characters. The physical action
that propels Harry to begin his movement into adulthood is his courageous leap into
the trapdoor beneath Fluffy and his continued ambition to venture into each
chamber and defeat whatever lies within them. It is through Rowlings tone and
language that we are able to recognize these actions.

Before Harry enters through the corridor to approach Fluffy on page 275,

Rowling writes, Seeing the open door somehow seemed to impress upon all three
of them what was facing them. Here, Rowling goes out of her way to tell her readers
that this isnt just any ordinary series of actions Harry and his friends will be
performing. This is her way of subtly hinting that entering the corridor is a critical
part of Harrys movement from a boy tinted with bravery to a truly brave man or
his movement from childhood to adulthood.

Rowlings use of suspense is another way in which the reader can tell that

Harrys bravery is underdeveloped within the first novel and that action, change and
progress are the steps he needs to take in order to develop it. According to the
Oxford Dictionary, this technique is described as mental uncertainty. In Harry
Potter, Rowling drips suspense among the novels characters or the characters
actions. Before Harry drops into the Devils Snare pit, he says to Ron, See you in a
minute, I hope Here, Rowling uses ellipses to indicate that same sort of suspense
and uncertainty as to what is going to happen next. We see this again as the
characters are attempting to win at chess. After Ron gets knocked out by one of the
chessmen, Rowling writes, Hell be all right, said Harry, trying to convince himself
(Rowling 276-284).

In the chamber of winged keys, they all must ride broomsticks in order to

capture the correct key and proceed into the next chamber. Here, Rowling gives
Harry a chance to further develop his gift for speed. Harrys physical action of
getting on a broomstick and using what he has learned in quidditch allows him to
further advance his talent of speed and skill on a broomstick. Without this
opportunity, Harry may never have continued his career as a quidditch player at
Hogwarts.

Its also interesting to note that even though a broomstick further advances

Harrys quality of speed, ultimately transitioning him from a boy who is fast to a fast
man, the broomstick is also an important symbol of transportation in the wizarding
world. Transportation, like movement, is the act, change and progression from one
place to another, the difference being that transportation involves a means of

carrying the person, whether that be by vehicle, animal or in this case, broomstick.
The broomstick is literally carrying Harry into adulthood.

The combination of these actions after Harrys courageous leap into the

corridor dramatically changes his life. The change being that he was put into mortal
danger something that may not have happened if he would have stayed in the
common room with the other students. In the castle above, Harry lives his life, but
under the trapdoor, he is at risk of death. Even Hermione says on page 301, Oh,
Harry, we were sure you were going to Dumbledore was so worried Its change
that ultimately allows a novel to have a sequence of events, a storyline and portray
lessons and morals to the readers. Without change, nothing within the story can
progress.

Some reading this may argue that Harrys actions and life changes

throughout the third-floor corridor indicate that Harry has reached adulthood after
only the first book. I would disagree with this because even though he underwent
action and some change, he did not necessarily progress, which is the final step in
movement to adulthood. Progress requires advancement to something bigger or
better than where the character previously was, which Harry didnt necessarily
secure with Voldemort and Quirrell beneath the castle. Even Dumbledore said,
Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed [Voldemorts] return to
power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a
losing battle next time (Rowling 298).

But, fighting Voldemort, killing Quirrell and keeping the stone safe were

stepping stones in Harrys progression to adulthood and obtaining the fully-

developed quality of bravery. Over the course of Rowlings next six books in the
series, we find the same cycle: Harry undergoes actions and life changes as he
continues to pursue bravery, but never gains a full progression until he makes the
decision to walk into the forbidden forest before Voldemort and die in order to save
everyone else. This act separates itself from every other act of bravery he portrays
in the past. This final progression marks the completion of Harrys movement from a
boy picking spiders off of his socks to a man saving the entire wizarding world from
Voldemorts reign.

Does this mean that if Harry had never pursued bravery that he would never

have grown up? Not necessarily. He may have embraced other qualities such as
laziness or arithmetic, still undergoing movement and entering into adulthood. On
the same introduction of Harry on pages 19-21 of the first novel, he groans about
Dudleys birthday (possibly indicating laziness), makes comments like I wont blow
up the house, (sarcasm) and that he was often Dudleys punching bag (something
that could possibly lead to depression). On page 49, Rowling also writes that Harrys
school marks arent bad and that he can do math and stuff. If Harry was never
extended the opportunity to go to Hogwarts, he may have progressed toward the life
of a mathematician, and still adulthood. He would, however, be a man of very
different qualities than the man he becomes at the end of the seventh novel. But,
nothing pushed or prompted him to pursue this other path, thus we have the Harry
Potter series.

The vast variety of human qualities are what makes each person unique, and

it is the combination of these different talents that allows the world to function as it

does. Without an artists skills, the world would be dull, and without accountants,
who would help others do their taxes? Similarly, without the developing traits of
Hermiones knowledge, Rons chess skills, Harrys agility on a broomstick and all of
their bravery, they would not have been able to proceed into each chamber. It is
through these movements that move the plot along, whether it be an adventure
book, romantic series or a suspenseful drama. Movement draws on excitement and
suspense, keeping the characters searching and the readers engaged. All in all,
movement is what allows books to be books.

Bibliography
"suspense." Merriam-Webster.com. 2013. http://www.merriam-

webster.com (29 April 2013).

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York City: Scholastic Inc.,

1999. Print.