Blog 2, Option 1

Our generation has grown up with the Harry Potter books, so they contain a special sort of relevance to culture that I think anyone reading them can appreciate. One main cultural issue that is constantly shaping the Harry Potter books is the idea of making choices. Harry is a fine example of having to make difficult choices. His choices and decisions, although sometimes rash as they are, effect the course of the novels.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the choices that Harry makes during the Triwizard Tournament drastically effect the course of the storyline. First, he makes the choice to not only bring Ron back with him during the underwater challenge, but lingers to make sure that the others who are trapped make it back safely too. This decision causes Harry to return outside of the time limit, but as the judges believe it showed "strong moral fiber," they were willing to award him more points. I find this to be relatable to all readers, because we often find ourselves making decisions where we have to choose between putting ourselves first or putting others first. Harry put others before himself, and this had a big effect on the outcome. However, we wonder how his fate might have changed had he put himself first. I find this dilemma to be very relatable to our culture.

An example of a rash choice that Harry makes is in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix where he decides that Sirius is in trouble at the ministry and he goes to find him, only to find out he has been fooled by Voldemort. This outcome was directly related to Harry's choice to not put forth enough effort during occlumency lessons with Professor Snape. We can see from this example how all of Harry's choices are connected to each other. This is apparent in our culture today as well. Each choice we make yields a particular outcome, and then soon enough we find ourselves faced with another choice.

Life is an endless cycle of choices. Sometimes we make the right choice and sometimes we make the wrong one. Sometimes we are happy with our choices and sometimes we regret them for awhile. I think the Harry Potter series does a great job of showing how life is a series of interconnected choices. I mean, just think how the series would have been different had Voldemort made different decisions in his past.