In her essay “Harry and Hierarchy: Book Banning as a Reaction to the Subversion of Authority,” Rebecca Stephens explores the Christian outcry surrounding the Harry Potter series. In America, many Christian fundamentalists advocate for the banning of J. K. Rowling’s fantasy series, claiming that it corrupts young readers with its focus on magic and wizardry. In other countries, however, religious organizations interpret the stories differently. According to Bishop Stephen Sykes, “… Children who are capable of reading Harry Potter could be told not to take witchcraft seriously, or might even realize that for themselves” (52). Despite Harry Potter’s global popularity, the United States is unique in its widespread outcry against the novels. Roberta Harrington calls the United States “a violent culture that is home to millions of fundamentalist Christians” (52). Therefore, it should come as no surprise that these fundamentalists reject the story of a young wizard from a nontraditional family.

Stephens compares and contrasts the Harry Potter series with another fantasy series, C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. Despite also featuring a significant amount of magic and pagan creatures, such as witches, dwarves, and fauns, Christians seem to have little to say about the series in terms of bashing it. This could be because of Lewis’s focus on the Christian perspective (52). Many aspects of the Narnia series have religious connotations. Aslan’s sacrifice and resurrection, for example, are a direct reference to Jesus Christ’s death and revival. Despite its inclusion of Christian components, however, the Narnia books are not directly religious allegories. This perspective comes from interpretation, rather than direct reference. While Aslan can be interpreted as a Christlike figure, omniscient and self-sacrificing, he is only a lion. Lewis himself recommended not explaining the Christian symbolism in his series to children because “they should simply be enjoyed as stories” until the children are older.

I think that part of the reason that banning Harry Potter is a mainly American fight is because of the difference in American stories. Instead of exploring whimsy, magic, and the supernatural, like British children’s stories do, American tales hold Puritan values close. They focus on realistic settings and establishing morals like work ethics and humility. Unlike British children’s stories, they do not encourage imagination and magic. American stories, like the tall tales of John Henry, Paul Bunyan, and Johnny Appleseed, teach kids to work hard and follow the right path while instilling a moral. If one gets too proud, such as John Henry does, bad things happen. American tales work more to scare kids straight than to instill a sense of wonder in them. They feature realistic characters who use their brains or brawn to get by. Even the Pevensies, despite being in a magical world, are ordinary. They are not handed a wand and taught to cast spells, but rather learn to shoot a bow or to sword fight. Once they leave Narnia, they are regular kids again. Harry does not have the same experience. Once he enters the Wizarding World, his sphere is permanently changed. He cannot cross the threshold back into a normal life. He gets to keep his power even in our non-magical world. What scares Christians more than a blurred divide between Us and Them?