Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2004
Looking beyond its magic — literal
as well as figurative — Edmund
Kern, associate professor of history, believes the underlying moral messages
found in J. K. Rowling’s Harry
Potter book series have nearly as much to do with the stories’ popularity
as do the fantastical elements embedded in their plots.
In his just-released book, The Wisdom of Harry Potter: What Our Favorite
Hero Teaches Us about Moral Choices, Kern argues that the boy wizard’s
coherent, yet flexible, approach to
dealing with evil reflects an updated form of Stoicism. He says the Harry
Potter series updates a very old understanding of “heroism” in an incredibly
creative new way.
"Children genuinely want to follow Harry, as he confronts a host of challenges
in an uncertain world, because of his desire to always do the right thing,” says
Kern, a scholar of witchcraft and religious culture in Europe from 1350 to
1750 who teaches the
course Religion, Magic, and Witchcraft in Early Modern Europe.
Kern evaluates the Harry Potter stories in terms of ethical questions, focusing
on the importance of uncertainty and ambiguity in Rowling’s imaginative
world and her insistence on meeting them with typically Stoic virtues: constancy,
endurance, perseverance, self-discipline, reason, solidarity, empathy, and
sacrifice.
"Harry is a victim of fate, of things beyond his control, but his responses
to it are all his own,” explains Kern, an often-quoted specialist on
myth and superstition. “Time and again, he meets difficult
circumstances forced upon him but always remains true to what is right. He
shapes his own virtues, his internal character, with little regard for worldly
concerns such as wealth or glory.”
Kern suggests adults have much to gain by discussing with their children
the moral conundrums faced by Harry and the other characters.
"Children comprehend that growing up entails some perplexity and pain. They
realize that they
cannot entirely avoid problems and that they can remain constant in circumstances
beyond their control. In essence, Harry shows them how to work through their
problems, rather than seeking ways to avoid them.”
"Despite the fantasy settings and events of Harry’s various adventures,” Kern
adds, “children are quick to realize that they are just a fictional reflection
of the confusing and disturbing circumstances found in the real world.”
The Wisdom of Harry Potter is the offspring of frequent questions
from Lawrence students — and often their visiting parents — who
sought out Kern for his opinions about J. K. Rowling’s books and all
the fuss surrounding them.
See also: Wild about Harry (Potter), by
Edmund Kern, Lawrence Today, Summer 2001