| The focus of this paper is to explore social constructs in the Harry Potter series, specifically race, sexuality, and gender. The same-as-difference methodology is utilized in the series as Rowling uses familiar tropes, themes, and concepts to characterize the Wizarding world. She shows a penchant for taking Muggle issues and ideas and flipping them on their magical head. One such issue prevalent in the series is racism, which Rowling comments on by portraying discrimination against magical creatures and blood purity. The prevailing argument is that Rowling's use of the same-as-difference methodology hurts messages of equality by confining the commentary on racism to the magical world at the expense of Muggle diversity and ultimately, it fails the message. In three sections the paper explores a lack of character development in minorities and house-elves' enslavement intermixing Marxist terminology with race, the omission of homosexuality, and sexist cultural narratives harming the development of female roles to argue that Rowling does not push her message far enough. While Rowling includes minorities in the series, she excludes them from the story itself. Thus, the series solely features an homogenous cast absent of engaging any characters of racial minorities, homosexuality, or non-traditional gender roles. |
