Harry Potter's lesson lost on many inmates.
My wife sent me the latest in the Harry Potter series, and for those of you who are tempted to giggle at a 58-year-old convict reading a kids'book, suspend judgment for just a minute.
My initial reaction to J.K. Rowling's books was condescension. When I learned that my younger stepson was reading a Potter book for a high school literature class, I was outraged - until my wife asked me if I had read any of the books myself. She gently suggested I try one out before criticizing the teacher's choice. I did and have been a fan since.
For the small minority of men who read for pleasure behind the walls, Harry Potter's adventures are a fascinating attraction. Few of us haven't wished for the ability to cast a spell and transport ourselves out of prison and back into the real world, and most of us have enemies we would like to see incapacitated in one form or another. The tendency to identify with Draco Malfoy, the bad kid in the books, is therefore often stronger than any perceived kinship with Harry, the nice kid who always fights for right and justice or from a sense of loyalty to his friends.
But the books contain a more subtle message that usually escapes undetected inside prison.
As criminally attractive as Malfoy might be on the surface, this latest book demonstrates that he doesn't really have what it takes to devolve into the ultimate evil of killing another human being. I won't spoil the book for those of you who haven't read it, but given the opportunity to commit murder, Malfoy can't pull the wand's trigger. This is Rowling's lesson, which applies to young and old readers alike and should resonate with the Malfoy wannabes here in prison.
Read the rest of this intriguing article here
Posted by rockygirl at August 19, 2005 08:30 PM