Fighting For Hope: The Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter Series as Transformative Works for Child Readers Traumatized by War

by Erin Brownlee

In The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and the Harry Potter series from J.K. Rowling, tales of child warriors battling evil are set within a buffered fantasy world, creating a safe haven for child readers to explore, frame, and define their own fears. These characters ultimately offer the possibility of empowerment to child readers lost in feelings of helplessness in the real world.

105 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2014

Reviews

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never thought before how literature could particularly help children affected by war (or other trauma), but the author makes some very interesting points about it, which made me think about the purposes of children's literature in general, as well as arguments sometimes made against fantasy literature in general, and children's literature in which parents are absent. I enjoyed both the Narnia and Harry Potter books, so I also enjoyed seeing how the author's points were made in relation to those, and seeing how they are compared and contrasted. I'm just finishing my most recent rereading of the Narnia books; perhaps now I will consider rereading the Harry Potter books.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some repetition of the main point, but there were interesting theories in the book. I found it thought-provoking.