Blog Post #1: Villainous Expectations

I definitely agree with Iser’s statement that “expectations are scarcely ever fulfilled in truly literary texts” (53). There are a lot of expectations that are raised that go unmet in the first two Harry Potter books, yet there is still a sense of satisfaction at the end of these two books. This goes along with the element of “mystery” that Rowling uses in this series. The key to a good mystery is to have a balance between providing evidence and perpetuating the feeling of the unknown. Rowling is excellent at this in comparison to other genre series. For the sake of comparison, I am going to use examples from two lesser-known book series’: Pretty Little Liars and The High Heel Mysteries. In Pretty Little Liars (the books, not the TV show) by Sara Shepard, someone is murdered in book one. We discover the identity of the murderer in book 8, and it ends up being someone who was never mentioned in the previous 7 books. This is an instance of not providing enough credible evidence in a mystery series in order to create a sense of satisfaction for readers. On the other hand, in The High Heel Mysteries series by Gemma Halliday, the murderer in each book is extremely obvious and the red herrings are not believable enough to lead most readers astray. Rowling, on the other hand, creates a satisfying reading experience by providing enough evidence of the real villain in each book while still expertly crafting red herrings to distract from the real evidence. For instance, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that either Harry or Draco might be the heir of Slytherin. Draco is in Slytherin and has a lot of prejudice and anger. Harry is a parselmouth and is hearing voices, which could suggest that he is not in complete control of his faculties. However, the real villain is Voldemort who is possessing Ginny. There is plenty of evidence in the book to cast suspicion on Ginny: she is often found trembling after people have been petrified, she seems more pale and nervous than usual, she suggested to Harry and Ron that she had information about the chamber that she needed to tell them in secret. However, despite all of this evidence, everything is written so subtly that it is not at all obvious that Ginny has any involvement until the end of the book. Likewise, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, it is far more obvious that Snape might be the villain because of his unpleasant demeanor. Thus, it is easy to miss the subtle signs about Quirrell: the turban’s strange scent, the fact that he was in charge of the troll, etc.

Rowling raises the expectations that we, as readers, can guess the identity of each villain, yet most people will guess incorrectly. Thus, our expectations of ourselves as readers are challenged, yet this creates a more satisfying reading experience. In part, it is more satisfying to guess the end of a mystery incorrectly than to guess correctly. However, other expectations are not met initially. For instance, in the first book, Harry wants to know why Voldemort targeted him. This is a very important question that readers also want answers to, yet Rowling does not answer the question in the first book. This is perhaps one of the reasons that people want to continue on with the series: in order to find more large-scale answers about the wizarding world. Yet, the question still is not answered in the second book. In my opinion, Rowling is incredibly successful in giving answers while still raising large questions throughout the series, but this is a risk that she takes. While I devoured each of these books while I was growing up and anxiously awaited reading each next book, there is a risk that some readers might become frustrated by the fact that it is necessary to read all seven books to really understand everything. I think that the key to her success is that each individual book has a mystery that is wrapped up and contained while there is still a larger mystery that is not wrapped up until the end of the series. 

And now, because I have rambled longer than the recommended 350 words, I will share an amusing photo about shattered Harry Potter expectations when it comes to aging: