With every generation comes a story that captures people’s imaginations; alters their outlook on the tangible and intangible. A story that, that generation can proudly call their own. The impact of this story on millions of readers is ineluctable. This story receives universal accolade, prompting thousands and thousands of zealots. What makes said novels such a phenomenon? What causes this fervid obsession with something essentially chimerical? The answer is that these novels, unlike many in the common day, briefly fulfill our deepest conscience or sub-conscience desires. Readers become addicted to living vicariously through the characters in the novel, who complete some sort of longing they have for themselves. More often than not, this longing is the one our Creator placed in each of our hearts. The longing to discover our origins, to know what sets humans apart from all other living creatures. The longing to know our God.
The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling does just this. With more than 400 million copies sold, it is clear that they are more than just fantasy tales of a heroic young wizard (Bassham). As predominantly portrayed in the last installment of the Harry Potter saga – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- readers can conclude that the Harry Potter tale is actually a very powerful Christian allegory. “To me the religious parallels have always been obvious, but I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going” (Adler). However, many critics denounce that the series is not religious at all, but infact “..the perfect primer for teaching the occult” (Brown). Most Potter readers would agree that this idea is risible. The Christian symbol...
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and Chronicles of Narnia.”. Senior Study. Marian College. 2006.45pgs.
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Bordo, S. (2013). The creation of anne boleyn. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Some works show their true colors right away. Gene Edward Veith’s book, Reading Between The Lines, addresses philosophical ideas, literary sub genres, and reader criticisms in order to ascertain a Christian’s role in literature. He also goes through various historical periods and examines their more prominent works and schools of thought. While a select few of his conclusions about Christianity in relation to the arts have merit, others contain more damaging implications. Specifically, his statements regarding television represent inaccurate and offensive thinking.
In our contemporary civilization, it is evident that different people have somewhat different personalities and that novels behold essential and key roles in our daily lives; they shape and influence our world in numerous ways via the themes and messages expressed by the authors. It is so, due to the different likes of our population, that we find numerous types and genres of books on our bookshelves, each possessing its own audience of readers and fans. In this compare and contrast essay, we will be analysing and comparing two novels, The Chrysalids and Animal Farm, and demonstrating how both books target the general audience and not one specific age group or audience of readers. We will be shedding light at the themes and messages conveyed to us in both books, the point of view and the style of writing of the authors as well as the plot and the format used by the authors, in order to demonstrate how both books are targeting the general audience.
By Wendy Martin. New York: Pantheon, 2004.
In his 1984 novel Jitterbug Perfume, Tom Robbins presents a narrative that rivals the often fantastical tales told in myth. Using classical mythology as a foundation, and, in particular, providing a loose adaptation of The Odyssey by Homer, Robbins updates and modifies characters and concepts in an effort to reinforce the importance of the journey of life and the discovery of self. Like the ancient myth-makers, Robbins commands the reader’s attention with outrageous situations and events while at the same time providing characters that the reader can relate to and learn from.
A work of literature can mean many things to each new reader who journeys into it. Details derived from the text can incite diverse reactions from readers based on their own understanding, age, gender, and experience relating to the piece. This holds true for John Updike's short story "A & P" when looked at through the eyes of myself, my mother, and my sister.
5. In what city was it published? (If your book lists several cities, simply give the name of the first city listed.) New York City, New York.
I have always loved to read. While most children prefer watching television, I would rather read a book. About two years ago I read the book The Maze Runner, by James Dashner. After reading this book, I realized just how much Christ effects literature. I learned that we can see aspects of Christ in books written by secular authors. You can find Christian allegories that the author didn’t even realize they were writing.
The Harry Potter book series has sold over 450 million copies and has been translated into almost every language on the face of the earth (“Harry Potter”). Millions have faithfully followed the story about this magical world and have fallen in love with the many enchanting characters. What most readers do not recognize is the prominence that classical Greek/Roman mythological allusions play in the beloved Harry Potter roles through their names and personality attributes. The importance of names is extremely significant to a person’s identity, especially in literature where words are meant to bring stories to life. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, continues this concept through her characters by linking their names to classical
Eller, E. Edward. “Fahrenheit 451.” 1998. Exploring Novels. Ed. Ray Bradbury. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 3-4
The novel can be viewed as a religious, biblical, or a psychological allegory. This essay helps support the idea of the novel being a psychological
Meyers, Stephanie. "Breaking Dawn." 22 May 2010. New York: Little Brown and Company. August 2008.
The novels of Harry Potter, written by J. K. Rowling are constantly in debate among Christians whether Harry Potter is preaching sorcery and paganism or that the books have a spiritual meaning deeper than most care to look at. It is easy to look through the books and find sources of witchcraft but one could say the same for sources of the gospel. Author, J.K. Rowland has stated that her own Christian faith has in fact informed her writing of the popular series. Many Christians say Harry Potter is incomparable to Christ, being far from perfection while Voldemort seems to strike a different chord of response as far as his character representing The Devil himself.
Dick, Philip K. The Man in the High Castle. New York, New York: Vintage Books (Random House), 1990.