Blog #1 Prompt #2

Iser’s evaluation of truly literary texts applies to the first two Harry Potter books because they produce expectations that are not fulfilled which turn into more and more expectations. The expectations that are raised are that Harry Potter is destined for greatness, Dumbledore know more than what he lets on, Snape is the bad guy, the heir of Slytherin, and Voldemort is still trying to kill Harry for whatever reason. The expectations are raised in order to enhance the reader’s understanding of each character and how their personalities and intentions tie in with the other characters and the overall plot.

One of the expectations that is fulfilled  is that Harry Potter is destined for great things. This expectation was first raised by the wand maker in Diagon Alley when Harry first bought his wand. He made the comparison because both Harry’s wand and Voldemort’s wand share the same core. Voldemort did some extremely terrible things but they were great things. They were things that people  never imagined could be done. Harry does prove that he is destined for greatness. He saved the sorcerer’s stone and he saved Ginny Weasley in the Chamber of Secrets. In order to save the stone, he had to fight off Lord Voldemort who was living inside of Professor Quirell’s body. In order to save Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry had to kill a basilisk and kill Tom Riddle’s diary. Even though he had a lot of help from Dumbledore, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid, he did some great things in his first two years of school because no matter how much help he received he had to face Lord Voldemort alone. Harry also shows that he is destined for greatness because he has the ability to make some good decisions by surrounding himself with positive people at the age of 11. He sees that Malfoy is not a good person and he distances himself. The next expectation that is fulfilled is that Dumbledore knows more than what he claims to know. In the Sorcerer’s Stone, he was able to tell Harry exactly why Professor Quirell/ Voldemort could not touch his skin. In the Chamber of Secrets, he knew that Harry, Ron, and Hermione were trying to solve the mystery and he told Harry what to do if he needed his help.

One of the unfulfilled expectations in the Sorcerer’s Stone is that Professor Snape is the bad guy and the one trying to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone. However, we find out at the end of the novel that it was Professor Quirell trying to steal it for Voldemort. In the Chamber of Secrets, we are led to believe that one of the students is the heir of Slytherin. We were right that one of the students was opening the Chamber of Secrets but she was not the heir of Slytherin. Tom Riddle aka Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin and he controlled Ginny Weasley through a preserved version of his 16 year old self place in a diary.

It is important to raise an expectation and then fail to fulfill it. It is important in one way because it produces a Red Herring. We are given clues that what the character sees is reality when it is really not. It is similar to real life in that hardly anything is ever what it seems to be. There is always more to the story.