A children's novel which has spawned an entire fandom, making Harry Potter a household name started with J.K. Rowling's, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The novel narrates the tale of an orphaned boy, Harry Potter. He soon discovers he is a wizard, who is the only known survivor of the killing curse. It follows his adventures as a first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. The tale comes to its thrilling conclusion when Harry faces Lord Voldemort via Professor Quirrell. In this novel some of the themes deal with choice, love, and good/evil. A running theme in the novel is choices or the ability for a person to decide their own fate. "The wand chooses the wizard, remember. . . . I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. . . . After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things --terrible, yes, but great." (pg. 85). The wands themselves don't determine if a wizard goes …show more content…
In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the characters are split into two categories those in the dark side, Lord Voldemort's side, and those who fought against him. Voldemort embodies evil in the novel. He has murdered loads of people, done great terrible things, and slain a unicorn (which is something described as pure and defenseless, so to slay one it is a monstrous act). Goodness is shown through the Golden Trio (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) who would break school rule not for the sake of breaking one but for the sake of saving people. A reminder that Rowling gives the reader is that Professor Snape may have had the impression of being evil but one's action truly show who they are. Another interesting tidbit to add to this is the idea that "there is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it" (pg. 291). Professor Quirrell uses this to rationale the actions he partook in. Yet, we learn that there are action that are bad and actions that