The Banning and Censorship of Harry Potter

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The Harry Potter series, written by J. K. Rowling, is about a young boy who finds out he is a wizard and uses his magic powers to vanquish evil. The series is currently the target of many protestors, as they scrutinize and penalize the books for their creative and imaginative topics. Ranging from education to religion, protestors' reasoning's behind theses attacks have sparked nationwide debates. Everything from censorship to book burning, protesting and pulling theses books from school shelves, have been done to outlaw the Potter series. Elizabeth D. Schafer, author of "Harry and History", summarizes how these controversies stem forth and how she disagrees with the protests against the Potter series. Censorship of the Harry Potter books is a vain attempt to maintain control and power over citizens as their rights and freedom of choice is being severely violated by forbidding the viewing of certain sources of entertainment.

Schafer believes the attacks on the Harry Potter series are outlandish and irrational. The article further states that Rowling, the author of the series, is being mocked and condemned for her wild fantasies that occur in the stories. According to the article, the protestors of this series imitate the book burners of the past who once condemned Mark Twain's, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and J. D. Salinger's, Catcher in the Rye. They believed the characters of Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield were negative characters with bad habits they did not want their children to imitate, using slang and racist language.

The article details the problems parents have with the Potter series in saying that magic is appalling, Potter's anti-family behavior was impeding on family values, and children may become...

... middle of paper ...

...e newest book released.

Rather than just prohibiting their own children from reading the books, protestors try to have the books outlawed making it impossible for everyone, both children and adults, to enjoy. Books should not be censored; in fact censorship should not even exist in America today. Based on the excuses for banning the Potter series, many more popular American classics which follow the same antics as Harry Potter, such as the Star Wars Trilogy, surrounded with dark forces and supernatural powers, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which are filled with wizards, goblins, trolls, and other demonic creatures, should be censored as well. As long as the proper ratings and reviews are in place, books, movies, and other media sources should be left to the viewers' discretion.

Works Cited

Schafer, Elizabeth D. "Harry and History." Pp.270-273

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