Editing J. K. Rowling (section)

== Style and themes ==
{{Further-text|[[Harry Potter series|''Harry Potter'' series]]}} 
=== Style and allusions ===
Rowling is known primarily as an author of [[fantasy]] and [[children's literature]].{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=11,20}} Her writing in other genres, including [[literary fiction]] and [[murder mystery]], has received less critical attention.{{sfn|Pugh|2020|p=107}} Rowling's most famous work, ''Harry Potter'', has been defined as a [[fairy tale]], a [[Bildungsroman]] and a boarding-school story.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|p=10}}{{sfn|Alton|2008|p=211}} Her other writings have been described by Pugh as gritty contemporary fiction with historical influences (''The Casual Vacancy'') and [[hardboiled]] detective fiction (''Cormoran Strike'').{{sfn|Pugh|2020|pp=114–116}}

In ''Harry Potter'', Rowling juxtaposes the extraordinary against the ordinary.{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=129}} Her narrative features two worlds – the mundane and the fantastic – but it differs from typical [[portal fantasy]] in that its magical elements stay grounded in the everyday.{{sfn|Butler|2012|pp=233–234}} Paintings move and talk; books bite readers; letters shout messages; and maps show live journeys,{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=129}}{{sfn|Butler|2012|p=234}} making the wizarding world "both exotic and cosily familiar" according to the scholar [[Catherine Butler]].{{sfn|Butler|2012|p=234}} This blend of realistic and romantic elements extends to Rowling's characters.{{sfn|Park|2003|p=183}}{{Sfn|Natov|2002|p=130}} Harry is ordinary and relatable, with down-to-earth features such as wearing broken glasses;{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|p=233}} these elements serve to highlight Harry when he is heroic, making him both an [[everyman]] and a fairytale hero.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|p=233}}{{sfn|Ostry|2003|pp=90, 97–98}}

[[Arthurian]], Christian and fairytale motifs are frequently found in Rowling's writing. Harry's ability to draw the [[Sword of Gryffindor]] from the [[Sorting Hat]] resembles the Arthurian [[Excalibur|sword in the stone]] legend.{{sfn|Alton|2008|p=216}} His life with the Dursleys has been compared to [[Cinderella]].{{sfn|Gallardo|Smith|2003|p=195}} Like C. S. Lewis's ''The Chronicles of Narnia'', ''Harry Potter'' contains Christian symbolism and [[allegory]]. The series has been viewed as a Christian moral fable in the [[psychomachia]] tradition, in which stand-ins for good and evil fight for supremacy over a person's soul.{{Sfn|Singer|2016|pp= 26–27}} The critic of children's literature Joy Farmer sees parallels between Harry and [[Jesus Christ]].{{Sfn|Farmer|2001|p=58}} According to [[Maria Nikolajeva]], Christian imagery is particularly strong in the final scenes of the series: she writes that Harry dies in self-sacrifice and Voldemort delivers an {{lang|la|[[ecce homo]]}} speech, after which Harry is [[Resurrection of Jesus|resurrected]] and defeats his enemy.{{sfn|Nikolajeva|2008|pp=238–239}}

=== Themes ===
Death is Rowling's overarching theme in ''Harry Potter''.{{Sfn|Ciaccio|2008|pp=39–40}}{{Sfn|Groves|2017|pp=xxi–xxii, 135–136}} In the first book, when Harry looks into the Mirror of Erised, he feels both joy and "a terrible sadness" at seeing his desire: his parents, alive and with him.{{sfn|Natov|2002|pp= 134–136}} Confronting their loss is central to Harry's character arc and manifests in different ways through the series, such as in his struggles with [[Magical creatures in Harry Potter#Dementors|Dementors]].{{sfn|Natov|2002|pp=134–136}}{{sfn|Taub|Servaty-Seib|2008|pp=23–27}} Other characters in Harry's life die; he even faces his own death in ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows''.{{Sfn|Pharr|2016|pp=20–21}} Rowling has spoken about thematising death and loss in the series. Soon after she started writing ''Philosopher's Stone'', her mother died, and she said that "I really think from that moment on, death became a central, if not the central theme of the seven books".{{sfn|Groves|2017|p=138}} Rowling has described Harry as "the prism through which I view death", and further stated that "all of my characters are defined by their attitude to death and the possibility of death".{{sfn|Groves|2017|p=135}}

While ''Harry Potter'' can be viewed as a story about good versus evil, its moral divisions are not absolute.{{sfn|Schanoes|2003|pp=131–132}}{{sfn|McEvoy|2016|p=207}} First impressions of characters are often misleading. Harry assumes in the first book that Quirrell is good because he opposes Snape, who appears malicious; in reality, their positions are reversed.{{sfn|Schanoes|2003|pp= 131–132}} In Rowling's world, good and evil are choices rather than inherent attributes: second chances and redemption are key themes of the series.<ref>{{harvnb|Doughty|2002|pp= 247–249}}; {{harvnb|McEvoy|2016|pp=207, 211–213}}; {{harvnb|Berberich|2016|p=153}}.</ref>