A reader named Melissa S. e-mailed to say that she explains Iraq policy to her 8-year-old son in terms of Harry Potter characters: “Dick Cheney is Lord Voldemort. George W. Bush is Peter Pettigrew.” Don Rumsfeld is Lucius Malfoy, while Cornelius Fudge represents administration supporters who deny that anything is wrong. And, she concludes, “Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter is Fox News.”
Kristof had written an earlier piece which asked readers what parallels to our current struggles in Iraq can be found in classical literature.
If you are interested in seeing what other people had to say, go here.
Some suggestions that we may cover this semester: Beowulf, Macbeth, Henry V, Hamlet, Othello, "Ozymandias", Slaughterhouse 5.
Some you may know from last year: The Great Gatsby; The Scarlet Letter, "The Raven", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Fall of the House of Usher", Huck Finn, The Catcher in the Rye.
Others that you may know (some of them "borderline" classics): The Lord of the Rings, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Animal House, Yertle the Turtle, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
6 comments:
Hello everyone. I'm just checking out this "blog thing" (for those of you who don't know me that well, I'm not really a blog person, but I'll do my best!). I noticed that Leah has been very busy, but she is the only one. So, I'll make my contribution in any way that I can. I'll try to "fork some lightning" with my words and make my actions less frail. So, with regards to this article, I must say that I found it disturbing at the least. I understand that many Americans have less than positive views towards our government; however, I find it somewhat sad that someone would spend so much time thinking of ways to compare political figures to Harry Potter. Wouldn't this time be better spent thinking of ways to "fix" this system, rather than degrading individuals. I understand where this analogy is coming from, but I don't think it accomplishes anything. And I would rather enjoy reading Harry Potter without distracting parallels to these political figures.
I would imagine my views are not the majority, and I am completely open to alternate views and ideas. I know many of you might find this parallel amusing and/or accurate, but it doesn't do anything for me. Sorry.
Oh boy! This really was a definite relaxant after studying for the test tomorrow. I enjoyed this passage especially the excerpt that compared Fox News and Rita Skeeter (I am not a big O'Rielly Guy). I am not agreeing nor disagreeing with the analogy, but I will say that I find it as a good comic relief. I am sorry it has taken me a while to respond but I will say again that I enjoyed this passage due to the fact that I love political cartoons and analogies. Well that is it, back to studying. Thanks.
ok. I tried writing something earlier here and it got deleted. Here it goes again.
I love this article- I was highly amused by this mother's creative method for explaining the Bush administration to her eight year old in such an inventive manner.
I think that Cheney is less of a "Voldemort" figure and more of a "snape/ slughorn figure."
Snape and Slughorn are men who work behind the scenes. Authority figures and those in power rely upon them. They play a hand in the decisions the powerful make and they get benefits(like gifts of candy or certain teaching positions) in return. Also, slughorn was the one who told Riddle about horcruxs, thus creating the wizarding world's war with Voldemort. Cheney also works behind the scenes. He influences the decisions our president makes (including, i'm sure, the decision to go to war with Iraq). Anyone seeing a parallel here?
Playing the Devil's Advocate: It was slightly inappropriate for this Melissa to explain Iraq policy using Harry Potter characters. She's may have indoctinated her son with an extreme hatred for the Bush administration...Although...That was proabaly her point-
lol.
Additionally-I think that this analogy actually accomplishes a lot. By relating the Iraq policy to Harry Potter, it makes it easier for people to recognise what we are dealing with (obviously the real world is in a less extreme situation than the wizarding world). This is important because you can't come up with solutions to a problem until you know what your problem truely is. Does that make any sense to anyone besides me?
I think Snape will turn out to be a good guy in the seventh book. Random I know, but I thought I would throw that out there.
I've gotta say I'm not really big into politics (and civics is REALLY pushing it for me - i'm struggling to force myself through the NEWSWEEK articles...), but the whole Harry Potter explanation actually made sense to me. I know, kinda sad that I don't know what's going on in my own country...but i'm getting there!! Why can't everything being as easy as a Harry Potter explanation?!
You write very well.
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