Although ‘Pottermania’, as the newspapers have called the huge hype around Joanne K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, has come to an end, the Harry Potter series can still be seen as the most influential and most popular fantasy novels of our time. Children and adults around the world have read the stories of how the adolescent wizard Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione fight against Lord Voldemort and his followers. Professors of the Anglistik and Amerikanistik, such as Prof. Dr. Kullmann even claim that Harry Potter has the potential to become a classic and can be mentioned in the same breath with Alice in Wonderland or The Hobbit (DieWelt2012). Despite all the praise for the novels, also many critics have reflected about and commented on J.K. Rowling’s novels.
In my bachelor thesis I am going to take a more critical look at the Harry Potter series, focusing mainly on Rowling’s fifth novel titled Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which builds the basis of my text oriented analysis.
As the title of my bachelor thesis: Aspects of race and parallels with the Third Reich in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenixalready reveals, I will examine the novel in terms of its hidden parallels towards the beliefs and practices in the Third Reich as well as the aspects of race and racism which become obvious while analyzing the novel.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Harry Potter as Fantasy Novel
3. Race
3.1 Aspect of Race in the Third Reich: Hitler’s Beliefs
3.2 The Pure-Blood Agenda–Racial Hygiene as a Consequence of Racial Hatred
3.3 Race in Harry Potter: Wizards and Muggles
3.4 Differentiation between Pure- Blood, Half- Blood and Muggle- Born
3.5 Racial Hygiene as Result of Racism in Harry Potter
4. Parallels between the Third Reich and the World presented in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
4.1 Infiltration of the School System by the Government
4.2 Adaptation of new Laws– Educational Decrees
4.2.1 Educational Decree Number Twenty-four
4.2.2 Educational Decree Number Twenty-five
4.2.3 Educational Decree Number Twenty-seven
4.3 Friend or Enemy?
4.4 Voldemort’s Death Eaters in Comparison to Adolf Hitler’s Schutzstaffel as Executive
4.5 Underground Movements and Resistance Groups
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis examines the hidden parallels between the ideological beliefs and political practices of the Third Reich and the wizarding world depicted in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The primary research goal is to demonstrate how themes of race, racial hygiene, and totalitarian control in the novel mirror historical events, specifically analyzing how fear and government propaganda are used to manipulate society and suppress dissent.
- The construction of race and "blood status" as a tool for social hierarchy and discrimination.
- Political parallels, including the infiltration of educational institutions and the implementation of restrictive decrees.
- The use of terror, surveillance, and media manipulation to secure government power.
- The role of resistance groups and underground movements in countering totalitarian regimes.
- The comparison between the Death Eaters and the SS regarding executive power and ideology.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Aspect of Race in the Third Reich: Hitler’s beliefs
For Adolf Hitler, who ruled in Germany for almost 12 years, and whose ideas on ‘race’ and ‘racial purity’ have shaped a whole country, the major racial distinction had to be made between the superior ‘Aryans’ and the inferior ‘Jews’, which were claimed to be the exact opposite of ‘the Aryan’ (Geary 7). He based his division not only on the biological, but also on a very questionable psychological definition of ‘race’, that was proposed by the French ethnologist Joseph-Arthur, comte de Gobineau. He was the first to “attribute a profound value to race in the interpretation of history and biography” (Collier’s 587) and moreover the first one to assign psychological and personality attributes to various races which were also “regarded as determinative in the rise and fall of nations and empires” (Collier’s 588).
As Hitler ascribed specific personality attributes to Jews as well as Aryans, he made use of this psychological definition of race. He used this pseudo-scientific definition in order to create an enemy who would be hated by the Germans on the one hand, and to form a community that is united in his national identity as ‘the superior Aryans’ on the other hand. To him this definition served as a proof for his anti-Semitic believes, as well as instrument for his later propaganda. Concerning the ‘evil characteristics’ of Jews, he was of the opinion that “the Jew was incapable of sacrificing himself for greater, communal good; he was materialistic and untouched by idealism” (Geary 7). Additionally he wrote in Mein Kampf that Jews possessed “eine oft himmelschreiende Borniertheit, die nur durch die manchmal geradezu erstaunliche Einbildung übertroffen wird” (Hitler 352).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the significance of the Harry Potter series in contemporary literature and outlines the thesis's focus on identifying parallels between the novel and the Third Reich.
2. Harry Potter as Fantasy Novel: This chapter defines the genre of the Harry Potter books, arguing that children’s literature is a sophisticated, interdisciplinary field capable of reflecting complex social and historical realities.
3. Race: This chapter provides definitions of race and examines how pseudo-scientific ideologies were used in the Third Reich and the wizarding world to create hierarchies based on blood purity.
4. Parallels between the Third Reich and the World presented in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: This main section analyzes specific political mechanisms, such as educational reform and restrictive laws, that mirror the totalitarian strategies of the Nazi regime.
5. Conclusion: This chapter summarizes how the novel effectively incorporates historical themes to educate the reader, concluding that the story highlights the vital importance of friendship, loyalty, and resistance against tyranny.
Keywords
Harry Potter, Third Reich, totalitarianism, race, racism, racial hygiene, Adolf Hitler, Lord Voldemort, propaganda, resistance, Dumbledore's Army, blood status, educational decrees, totalitarism, literary analysis
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core subject of this thesis?
The thesis explores the thematic and political parallels between the Nazi regime in the Third Reich and the fictional wizarding government depicted in J.K. Rowling’s fifth Harry Potter book.
What are the central thematic areas?
The study centers on race-based ideologies, the systematic use of terror, political control over education, and the nature of resistance against oppressive regimes.
What is the primary research question?
The work seeks to uncover how historical practices and beliefs from the Third Reich are reflected in the fictionalized conflict between the Ministry of Magic and the wizarding community.
Which methodology is applied?
The author uses a text-oriented and comparative analysis, evaluating historical documents alongside the literary narrative of the Harry Potter series.
What is covered in the main body?
The main body investigates the racial classification of wizards, the infiltration of Hogwarts by the Ministry, the implementation of Educational Decrees, the comparison of executive groups like the Death Eaters and the SS, and the role of underground resistance.
What keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include totalitarianism, racial hygiene, propaganda, blood status, resistance, and the literary comparison of historical ideologies with fantasy narratives.
How does the author define the "Pure-Blood Agenda"?
The author describes it as a racist policy aimed at "cleaning" the wizarding population, mirroring the Nazi obsession with maintaining Aryan "blood purity" to preserve the strength of a civilization.
What role do the Educational Decrees play in the novel’s plot?
These laws serve as instruments of control that allow the Ministry to suppress freedom of speech, restrict student associations, and impose a state-approved curriculum to indoctrinate the youth.
How does the author compare the Death Eaters to the SS?
The author argues that both serve as elite executive forces dedicated to their leader, utilizing terror, surveillance, and systematic violence to enforce ideology and eliminate perceived enemies.
- Arbeit zitieren
- S. L.-Görg (Autor:in), 2014, Aspects of Race and Parallels with the "Third Reich" in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/301147
