This week: Using objects for dramatic effect Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI back on Jan 4  
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I think everyone on WDC knows how obsessed I am with Harry Potter. Yes, I breathe Harry Potter almost every moment!
And of course, I think about it all the time -- and try to analyse various aspects of the series.
So here we go with -- my thoughts on JK Rowling's use of MIRRORS in the Harry Potter series!
PS -- Non-Potterheads, I think I've explained enough so that you can enjoy this newsletter, too!  |
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Dear Reader,
How does an author use an object to great dramatic effect? Let's look at one author's use of one object: JK Rowling, and the mirror.
The first major mirror we come across in the Harry Potter series is the Mirror of Erised. 'Erised' is desire, spelled backward. This mirror shows the viewer her/his heart's deepest desire. For Harry, an orphan with no proper home, it shows him his whole family, surrounding him. His parents were killed when he was a year old, and he hasn't known any of his wizarding family members before. At the age of 11, he looks in the mirror to see folks who resemble him in so many ways. He is mesmerised, continues to be distracted, and goes off his food till his friend Ron persuades him to eat.
The mirror is a dangerous object, according to the Principal of the school, Dumbledore. People have wasted away before it. "It doesn't do to dwell on dreams and forget to live," Dumbledore tells Harry.
However, the mirror comes to great use later in the plot. Using its essential characteristic of showing one's desire, it helps Harry protect a precious stone from a dangerous thief. The mirror has been enchanted so that only someone whose desire involves owning the stone safely can get to it.
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry visits his friend Ron's house. The mirror there says, "Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!" This seems to imply that the mirror actually reflects the nature of the people in the house, mainly Ron's mother, Mrs. Molly Weasley, who is likely to say such a thing to Harry.
The other mirror we come across in the second book is used by Hermione Granger, one of Harry's best friends. She has just learned that there is a monster in the school, which attacks people mainly by gazing at them -- and uses a mirror to avert this gaze and protect herself and another girl.
In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry stays for a while at the inn, called the Leaky Cauldron. At one point, Harry learns that an escaped convict is after him. He mutters to himself, "I will not be murdered" and his mirror mutters back, "That's the spirit." This seems to imply that the mirror in a hotel room reflects the mood of the person occupying that room.
In the fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry's godfather, Sirius, gives him a mirror. This mirror is one of a pair. Harry's late father, James Potter, owned the other one. The two friends, Sirius and James, used the mirrors to talk to each other when in separate detentions.
Later in the series, the mirror belonging to James goes to Aberforth Dumbledore, while a fragment of Sirius's mirror (broken by Harry in frustration) is left with Harry. When Harry is in mortal danger, he is able to ask Aberforth for help thanks to the two mirrors. An object that had once united his father and godfather now saves Harry's life.
In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, we see Draco Malfoy, Harry's sworn enemy, on a mission for the dark side. The mission is going badly. We find this out in a bathroom. Malfoy is looking into a cracked, foggy mirror. This is the ultimate deglamourisation of crime. Earlier, we'd seen Malfoy swagger, boast about his mission. Now, it's going badly, he's worried about the consequences of failure, and is, therefore, 'cracked and foggy'.
And, in the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, we see Harry imprisoned at Malfoy Manor. To make him unrecognisable, his friend Hermione has cast a spell on him and made his face swell up. Harry catches a glimpse of himself in the Malfoys' mirror. He does not recognise himself. Sort of symbolic of a good person not being able to identify himself in a house that belongs to evil people.
There you have it. A simple object, used in multiple ways to create dramatic effect.
Hope you enjoyed the newsletter!
Thanks for reading,
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Drama: November 28, 2018 Issue [#9240]
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