British school genre - Whited p. 143 (Steege), Anatol p. 7 (Smith)
Soccer/quidditch, boy’s tale? - Whited pp. 234, 251 (Doughty), Anatol pp. 4-5 (Lavoie), Heilman p. 213 (Alton)
Hogwarts - transitional between child and adulthood - Whited p. 132 (Natov)
Victorian boarding school + bildungsroman - Heilman pp. 209-11 (Alton)
More on bildungsroman - Berndt & Steveker p. 17 (Pharr)
Style
Ordinary/extraordinary Done
Ordinary/extraordinary - Whited p. 129 (Natov); exotic/familiar - James p. 234 (Butler);
Heroic Hs, sneaky Ss, difficult French names - Whited p. 130 (Natov), Anatol p. 183 (Park)
Harry as everyman, a fairy-tale hero; emphasis on ordinariness - Anatol pp. 97-98 (Ostry); Heilman p. 233 (Nikolajeva)
Blend of portal fantasy and secret magical elites - James p. 233 (Butler)
Blurs lines between technology and magic - Heilman p. 48 (Sheltrown)
“Magic is apparent as magic because it defeats the desires and sharpens the explanatory failures of Muggles.” Heilman p. 67, Gupta
Allusions Done
Motifs from fairy/folk tales
Harry as King Arthur (sword in the stone) Heilman pp. 209-11 (Alton)
Cinderella - Anatol p. 195 (Gallardo)
Christianity - Heilman pp. 238-39 (Nikolajeva)
Psychomania; battle for the soul - Berndt & Steveker p. 27 (Singer)
ArchetypesVague
Father figures: Prongs, spirit, identifcation; Hagrid, Sirius, Dumbledore - Whited pp. 110-12 (Grimes), Heilman pp. 73-74
(?) Oedipal power struggle between Harry and Voldemort; archetypal child - Anatol pp. 1-4 (Mils)
Themes
Death Done
Harry’s parents: Mirror of Erised, dementors - Whited pp. 134-36 (Natov)
Grief shifts, manifests differently over time; death of multiple characters - Heilman pp. 23-27 (Taub)
Theme of accepting death - Heilman pp. 39-40 (Ciaccio); masters of death Voldemort and Dumbledore - Heilman pp. 59-60 (Sheltrown)
Voices inside his head in P of Azkaban - Heilman p. 73
Good and evil Done
First impressions can mislead: Snape vs Quirrell; Snape vs Moody. Harry confuses personal animosity with evil - Anatol pp. 132-33 (Shanoes), Whited pp. 247-49 (Doughty)
Good/evil is a choice, not an inherent attribute. Redemption and 2nd chances are important themes. (Harry doubting himself; Snape & Dumbledore) - Whited pp. 247-49 (Doughty), Anatol p. 134 (Shanoes)
Moral complexity of Snape (and Sirius) - Anatol p. 135-36 (Shanoes)
About Harry on the surface, but actually about Snape - Heilman pp. 84-85 (Appelbaum), Berndt Steveker p. 204 (Nikolajeva) (actually the entire chapter)
Snape as a complex and multifaceted character - Heilman pp. 110-13 (Birch)
Class/prejudice
Magical oligarchy
Glorifies the magical elite - Whited pp. 154-55 (Steege); Whited p. 169 (Mendlesohn)
Hierarchical Hogwarts administration - Whited p. 225 (Dresang)
Aristocracy of the boarding school - Heilman p. 189 (Bousquet)
Power hierarchy; pureblooded wizards superior to muggles; muggle genocide - Heilman p. 228 (Nikolajeva)
Pureblood oligarchy - Barratt pp. 14-15
House-elves Done
Slavery of house elves; self-subservience - Whited pp. 178-81 (Mendlesohn); Anatol pp. 103-6 (Carey)
Anti-Muggle and -elf prejudice - Whited pp. 313-14, 325-27 (Westman)
Dobby ironing his own fingers - darkly comical element. Initially posed as a moral problem, but the author lost interest - Heilman p 165 (Dendle)
Compliant, brainwashed slaves; still enslaved by the end of the series - Barratt p. 50-52
Treatment of Dobby a disharmonious element; only respected after he dies a hero - Berndt & Steveker pp. 12-13 (Pharr)
Racial/ethnic otherness - Anatol pp. 163-75 (Anatol)
Dursleys “perfectly normal” - Whited p. 126 (Natov), fear of abnormality, desire to be wealthy, upper-class - Heilman pp. 66-67 (Piippo)
Middle-class British identity: Anatol pp. 179-89 (Park)