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(More customer reviews)Armstrong's book will be an enormously invaluable aid to anyone seeking to understand the Harry Potter series in terms of a few key abstract concepts that permeate and propel the adventures of Harry Potter. In varying degrees, the same concepts also propel the lives of real-life humans.
Chapter 1 explores the ways in which the Harry Potter books exemplify "The Heroic Fight for Values." Chapter 2 explores independence and its important role in heroic action, contrasting independence with various forms of dependence on others -- again as strikingly exemplified in the Harry Potter books. Chapter 3 explores free will in the Harry Potter story as yet another element crucial to the heroic pursuit and defense of values. These are the major elements that Armstrong sees as vital in earthly living as well as crucial to the appeal and deeper meaning of the Harry Potter adventures.
Armstrong also notes that the Harry Potter books project clashing elements, too, notably the "Clash of Love and Sacrifice" (Chapter 4) and the role of belief in an eternal spiritual life enduring beyond physical death (Chapter 5). As a corollary of belief in an immortal soul, Armstrong explores differing views of materialism as projected in the Harry Potter books.
But Armstrong argues that ultimately these clashing aspects of the Harry Potter books are diluted by the three positive themes. In Chapter 4, for example (p. 81), Armstrong describes how the scene in which Harry rescues Malfoy (Book 7) could have been written to portray Harry's action as more truly self-sacrificial, but that J. K. Rowling's version is "as though Rowling cannot bring herself to commmit to an act of self-sacrifice."
Armstrong acknowledges that he draws on the ideas of Aristotle and Ayn Rand. Fans of Ayn Rand, in particular, will readily recognize Armstrong's analyses as deeply indebted to Ayn Rand's philosophy. Fans and non-fans alike will find the analyses fascinating in their depth and insight, superbly complementing the more abstract philosophical presentations in Ayn Rand's books.
Armstrong's book remains completely accessible to general readers, with no previous knowledge of Ayn Rand's ideas needed or assumed. Yet at the same time, those seeking to understand Ayn Rand's broader philosophical system will find an excellent introductory survey in Armstrong's illuminating analyses of the adventures of Harry Potter.
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The adventure stories of the boy wizard Harry Potter tap life's most pressing questions about love and values, evil, free will, and the soul.Ari Armstrong's Values of Harry Potter explores the complex themes of J. K. Rowling's beloved novels, illuminating the heroic fight for life-promoting values, the hero's need for independence, and the role of choice in virtue. Drawing on the ideas of Aristotle and Ayn Rand, Armstrong then critiques the Christian elements of self-sacrifice and immortality, arguing that they ultimately clash with the essential nature of the hero as exemplified by Harry Potter and his allies.Values of Harry Potter offers a unique, succinct, and provocative look at Rowling's revolutionary novels for both enthusiasts and critics. This Expanded Edition also reviews the novels' psychology, government, and news media.
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