Sonja Wendel

Snape and the Question of Good and Evil in Rowlings Harry Potter Series Sonja Wendel

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject English - Pedagogy, Didactics, Literature Studies, grade: 2,7, University of Bremen, course: The British novel from the 18th to the 20th century, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction: Contemporary Research and Thesis Statement In most literature discussing fantasy for children and adults, we are informed about the central position of the fight of good and evil, which is the case within the Harry Potter series of author J. K. Rowling as well. It has been argued by academics that good and evil can be separated from each other because of a strong polarity (cf. Cohen 352) and that the description of scenery, architecture and presented figures are also included to represent the fight between both sides. Imagery that is described in relation to the evil side is always assigned to concepts from similar semantic fields, such as for example "chillness" and "blankness". Dark colours serve for the creation of evil figures by which these can be accurately distinguished from figures of the good side (cf. Meißner, "Phantastik der Gegenwart" 127-133; "Phantasie der Kinder" 34).