People often ask me about the striking similarity between my book, Delivered Unto Lions, and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Actually, that’s a lie. I don’t think anyone has ever asked me about this striking similarity, because it simply isn’t that striking.
What we have, however, are two narratives which follow the story of a boy who is something of a misfit. The boy ends up in a rather unusual school environment where he is subjected to various threatening experiences. However, the similarity ends there.
The celebrated fantasy writer Terry Pratchett has questioned certain aspects of the Harry Potter mythos. In particular, he is critical of the (perhaps) derogatory attitude portrayed in relation to ‘muggles’, i.e. ordinary people without magical powers. Ordinary people are looked down upon in the Harry Potter stories, and yet, Pratchett argues, ordinary people have skills and abilities of their own. An ordinary person can be a skilled fisherman, for example, while a particularly gifted wizard might not be able to tell one end of a fishing boat from the other.
I agree with Pratchett to a large extent. But I also suspect that he may be missing the point of the Harry Potter books. When we first come across the character of Harry, he is a child in very unhappy circumstances. He is living with an unsympathetic family who force him to deny the person he is. But he is special and they are ordinary. And his special nature is eventually recognised and rewarded by admittance to Hogwarts, a unique school where his talents can be fostered and where he can work towards reaching his potential.
This is all in stark contrast to the character of the 12-year old Daniel Kinsley in Delivered Unto Lions. He too – as a sufferer of depression – is living in very unhappy circumstances. But there’s no reason to think that his family aren’t sympathetic; indeed, they are loving and caring. But his depression – the thing that is ‘special’ about him – is ‘rewarded’ by admittance to Oakdale Children’s Unit, a residential psychiatric institution which, if anything, stunts his potential and makes his unfortunate condition worse.
For children whose lives are unhappy, dreams of being special in some way may be the only things that keep them going through the darkness. So, in a sense, the Harry Potter stories encourage hope in those children who may feel like misfits, hope that they can rise above the unhappiness and be something more. It may be just a dream, it may not have any basis in reality, but it is supportive. With the right support and encouragement even an ordinary (or problematic) child can flourish and grow up to live a worthwhile life.
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Delivered Unto Lions by David Austin is published by CheckPoint Press.
For more information visit www.davidaustin.eu
For more information visit www.davidaustin.eu
The thing about the wizards in Terry Pratchett's books is they probably wouldn't even recognise a fishing boat let alone know which end is which. I should think most of the don't realise fish don't swim in the sea pre battered, of course on the disc world it is possible that they do.
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