J.K. Rowling Criticism

J.K. Rowling: Critiqued and Beloved

Success is a two-headed dragon, with great success also comes great criticism. To be successful, a person should be able to take one with another, take the criticism in stride and use it. J.K. Rowling, the world renowned author of the Harry Potter series, does just that with criticism like “…written for people whose imaginative lives are confined to TV cartoons,” (Byatt) and also being called “derivative and clichÐ"©d” (Del Negro). Not only does she not let the criticism she has received affect her, but she uses it as leverage to become an even greater writer.(Wilson) For every bad thing that was said about Rowling and her writing, there were good things being said by the tenfold, “…quite likely the books will become popular classics.” and “…engagingly written; they are well-paced; they make enjoyable a read-aloud, either at home or in the classroom.” (Del Negro).

Not only was Rowling criticized for being “derivative and clichÐ"©d” (Del Negro) but she has people, mainly Christians, saying that “…if children read these materials, they are going to become believers in the religion of Wicca, the religion of witchcraft," said Judith Krug” (Delfiner) and this quote by Michael Duff gives further evidence of the criticism Rowling has dealt with from religious criticizers:

I have a strange affection for Harry Potter, because he is hated, equally, by the extreme right and the extreme left. A figure who can annoy both these groups must be doing something right.

Opponents of Harry Potter break down into three main categories: the religious right, who are threatened by competing visions of the supernatural, the extreme left, who are threatened by old-fashioned notions of good and evil, and by cynical hipsters, who hate anything that becomes popular.

Christians have always been hostile to people who use their imagination, as if reading about magic and supernatural creatures is a kind of "gateway drug" that will get kids into Satanism. (Duff)

This shows how ruthless and absurd some of the criticism Rowling has received is. Duff goes further into his disliking of the Christian criticizers:

Extreme Christians discourage enjoyment of fiction because they want God to be your only imaginary friend. And however dumb the Christians are, the left-wing critics are even dumber than that. A postmodern literary scholar named Andrew Blake has just written a book called "The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter," a book which claims to be a Marxist critique of Harry Potter.

In other words, Blake has written a book that analyzes the Harry Potter books in terms of class struggle. Now that, in itself, is not a stupid thing to do. Rowling has put some overt class elements in her work. The wizards hate the muggles, the muggles hate the wizards, and the house elves are literal slaves.

But here's a quote from the back of the book. Pierre Bruno of Liberation magazine says, "Harry Potter is a sexist neo-conservative autocrat."

This quote is so absurd, I don't know where to begin. (Duff)

And while Rowling has endured such great criticism from all different angles, she has also found a great deal of success. She has been called “one of the best children writers of all time” (King), World Famous author Stephen King has even been noted as saying that the вЂ?Harry Potter’ series is a “feat of which only a superior imagination is capable….” and that “Rowling's