Growing up with Harry Potter

Growing up I loved Harry Potter. My grandmother would read us each book as it was released, and she would do the best voices for each character. Plus we would listen to the books on CD in the car during our numerous family road trips. I enjoyed the intricate world that J.K. Rowling created with all the creatures in it, such as the hippogriff (a mixture of an eagle and a horse for those unfamiliar with the series). The idea that children my age and younger could have fabulous adventures and make a significant difference in their world resonated with me. My favorite books were, and still are, the first and the last. The introduction to the world of wizards and witches and then the conclusion of the saga fit together well.

I remember reading the beginning of The Philosopher’s Stone where owls are flying all over England in daylight and fireworks are going off at night (for no real reason, really). The comedic relief of the Dursleys always provided a welcome distraction from the anxieties that invaded my thoughts daily.

One of the wonders of reading is that it transports you to other worlds without having to go anywhere. I spent so much time with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We rode the trails, flew on brooms, fought dementors, and explored what we were capable of. I approached each new book with wide-eyed optimism and innocence. The world of fiction gave me an escape from my everyday struggle with dysregulation. Audiobooks were an invaluable way I coped with sensory overload as a child, and quite a few of those books I will always love for the relief they gave me (e.g. A to Z Mysteries by Rick Riordan, Cam Jansen, etc.). It wasn’t until backlash started against J.K. Rowling and the books themselves that I started to examine the books more closely. 

I was aware of the controversial comments regarding the trans community in 2020, and I certainly don’t agree with what she stated. There are no explicitly queer characters in the series, though, so I couldn’t necessarily draw a direct comparison between her beliefs in the real world and the fictional one she created. What had me more critically examining the world of Harry Potter I’d come to love were the allegations of anti-semitism regarding the goblins.

I was reluctant to deep dive into the books on that level because it meant that a dark poison could’ve seeped into something that brought me happiness. I admit that I had ignored everything as long as I could, but eventually, the issue caught back up with me. The turning point for me was when I was listening to a clip of Jon Stewart talking about the books.

He was discussing the parallels between the goblins in the books and harmful Jewish stereotypes common in history. He pointed out specifically how the goblins weren’t viewed as equal to wizards. They were not allowed to have wands, which is a hallmark of belonging in that world. The books described them as super greedy, and there was a scene in book seven where we learn how cruel they were to the dragons.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to break into the wizarding bank Gringotts. They had to use metal symbols called “clangers” to get the dragon to move. The dragon had been imprisoned in the wizarding bank beneath London, and it had been taught that when it heard metal clanging it would be burned with hot metal. This scene set the goblins up as a people that cared more for treasure than the wellbeing of another living thing, so much so that they would repeatedly inflict pain on an animal so that their hoard of treasure would be safe. The irony is that in reality there’s a principle in Judaism called “tikkun olam”, which means to help heal a broken world. It’s very perverse that a belief so compassionate could be reversed into something so ugly through antisemitism in the books.

In the final book, the reader was very much meant to be rooting for Harry and Griphook, the goblin who helps them break into Gringotts and isn’t portrayed in a flattering light whatsoever. Harry decided that he had to lie to Griphook about when he could have the sword. The three friends decided to conceal the fact that they need to keep the sword after the break-in, but Griphook believed he would collect the sword after the break-in succeeded as payment for his services.

As readers, we were supposed to be outraged when Griphook double-crossed them at the bank, but could we really blame him? We were told that goblins couldn’t carry wands, that there had been many wars between goblins and wizards, and that overall the goblins had been deemed lesser beings. Was Griphook supposed to care about a war just between wizards when his kin had been treated so horribly including by our heroes?

The next time we saw the sword, it had been pulled out of the sorting hat by Neville Longbottom to kill Nagini, the Horcrux/pet of Voldemort. By Neville possessing the sword, JK Rowling, in essence, made her final point that she viewed the goblins as lesser life forms. The sword, by this occurrence, didn’t belong to the wizards. She could’ve had Neville somehow stab Nagini with a basilisk fang, but she chose the sword instead.

When you look closely at history for context, the antisemitism present becomes much more overt. Jewish people weren’t allowed to hold many jobs in times past. During medieval times lending money was one of the few jobs they were able to perform as it was against contemporary Catholic doctrine for Christians to lend money to each other. The goblins of Harry Potter bear descriptions of greedy mentalities and possessing hooked noses, both of which play into harmful stereotypes that, along with several conspiracies, have contributed to horrific acts of violence against the Jewish people throughout history. 

Now comes the crux of the dilemma for me. The question I ask myself now is this: can I, in good conscience, consume fiction rooted in a belief system that has harmed real people? I struggle with answering that question because it is, after all, only fiction. That being said, it still propagates a belief system that still harms people and that I want no part in at all. I used to re-read the books a lot in the past. In recent times I haven’t done so (aside from what examples I provided from the books), and I don’t plan to at this point.

If my future child (or children) wants to read the books, I think I would allow them to, but it would be with the condition of a mandatory conversation about the problematic content. I’m still navigating whether or not I can still enjoy someone’s art in the face of questionable or harmful matters on the part of the artist or the work itself. I wish J.K. Rowling had not poisoned the world of her creation with ideals rooted so deeply in hatred. Once the series conjured happy memories of comfort during a hectic time in my past; now those memories bear a tinge of sadness from what has come to be.