Fighters or Victims: Women at War as Depicted in Harry Potter Novels

Abstract

Witches in Harry Potter novels play major roles that affect the course of events. Some of these witches are authority figures in institutions, while others can be housewives, aurors, ministry employees, or talented witches. This paper discusses several different witches who take part, intentionally or not, in the battle between good and evil in Harry Potter novels. Three of these witches will be tackled in terms of their roles as fighters, while three others will be tackled in terms of their degradation into victims. This analysis will be done through the investigation of the attitudes of the characters towards themselves and their positions, as well as the surrounding characters’ reception of the selected characters, and carefully reading the events of the seven Harry Potter novels. Because Harry Potter novels are widely-read, the depiction of female characters in these novels as either fighters or victims impact readers’ perception of women’s roles in their communities. Analyzing the female characters, this paper intends to help readers to realize if Harry Potter novels help to empower women or limit their potentials. Since women issues are an important part of our lives, and since Harry Potter novels are widely-read, finding out whether these novels empower women or limit their potentials is crucial to our understanding of the major impact that fiction can have on people’s lives.