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Recommended: Essays on multiple intelligences

“Reading correlates with almost every measurement of positive personal and social behavior surveyed… the cold statistics confirm… books change lives for the better (Jensen, n.d.).” As Frode Jensen quotes from a study done by the National Endowment for the Arts, books have a special influence on their readers. As society builds a world of technology and criticism it is hard to find a good place to root values in, to learn important things from. Enter the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, a tale of a boy who learns magic and conquers the overlord of the magical world with the help of many mentors and friends over the years. The books are often referred to as controversial, yet a good means to promote moral development and moral traits in pre-adolescents and any person who reads the books (Binnendyk, 2002). While some parents say that the books are anti-Christian and others say it supports the ideas of dark magic and sorcery, there are many meaningful lessons to be learned from the adventures of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Many research projects have been based off of J.K. Rowling’s creations and one done came to the conclusion that the stories are both developmentally and psychologically significant and effective (Binnendyk, 2002). J.K. Rowling uses her tales to show her readers what love looks like and how to discover themselves.
According to various Greek philosophers, there are three categories, or types, of love (Bassham, 2010). The first is eros, the erotic and romantic love category (Bassham, 2010). This is displayed by several couples in the Harry Potter stories, most clearly by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, as well as Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. With these examples accomp...

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... love story is slowly revealed, readers learn how love works and how it changes you. Watching the transformations of the various characters inspires transformations of the morals and values of the readers as they experience examples of racism, slavery, and teamwork. Readers gain from Dumbledore’s wisdom as it is shared with Harry, applying the advice of a fictional character to their own lives. Most popularly, this particular quote from the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling, 1998), “It is our choices, Harry, that show us what we truly are, far more than our abilities” (p. 333). Self-discovery is a very popular topic in society today with everyone telling you not only to be yourself, but who that should be. Finding a quote like the one above is akin to finding a diamond in the rough, but that simply gives it that much influence and value. Where do you find your morals?

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