Blog Post 2: Option 1

              Rowling has created a variety of issues within the first 5 books of the Harry Potter series, which provide relevance to our culture. One issue I have seen throughout all of the books in multiple scenes, is the idea of bullying. Bullying has become a big issue within our society and is always trying to be prevented. Bullying has been going on for so long in our culture, and Rowling tries to display that as well through scenes where even Harry's father is showing these actions. In my opinion, bullying in today's world is taken very seriously compared to how it is in the Harry Potter series. I feel as if Rowling creates her characters stronger than humans in the real world, which is maybe how she thinks the real world should be.

             One character of whom we all know is a bully, is Draco Malfoy. Draco strives upon being the biggest and baddest student at Hogwarts and takes advantage of that by bullying Harry and his friends. Most of the incidents that happen between Harry and Draco, it is Draco starting the fight by bringing up part of Harry's past. One example of this is in the Half Blood Prince when Draco says "Didn't mummy ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop, Potter? Petrificus totalus! Oh yeah. She was dead before you could wipe the drool off your chin", and leaves him on the train. It seems as if Draco always gets away with bullying which would definitely not happen in today's society. Today, if someone is being bullied at school this would result in a suspension or even expulsion. 

             Another example of bullying in Harry Potter is when Umbridge gives Harry detention and causes him harm when he writes sentences. When he is writing sentences, the writing is being written into his hand and causes him to bleed. Harry brushes it off and decides to push through it and be strong. "That's right. Because deep down you know that you deserve to be punished. Don't you Mr. Potter?", says Umbridge. In our culture, this would be considered abuse and Umbridge would be sentenced to jail. Rowling creates Harry's character as strong though and he lets it happen. 

             The way J.K. Rowling creates her characters and the way they act towards each other is a lot like our culture and the way we act towards each other. There are a lot of issues in our society that I also see in the Harry Potter series, but bullying is an issue I constantly see and noticed how differently it is taken in the books. People in our society are a lot less strong because we know that we can call our parents and everything will be okay. Rowling decides to make her characters strong and independent, which I think is a great idea. It helps us as readers see that we can be strong as well and stick up for ourselves, because we know that deep down bullies are just hiding their weaknesses as well.