Has Harry Potter ever inspierd you? I know I'm inspierd.
After reading Harry Potter I realizeed that I have to do some more homeworks, and work harder. It Inspierd me to work harder and train harder (I'm playing Badminton).
I don't know why, it's just that when I'm thinking of what Harry just managed to do, or anything that happend, I feel good and inspierd to work harder..

so what what about you guy's?

So far it inspired me to read the books more carefully.

hieveryone. i just wanted to know how have the harry potter books changed your life. before reading this books my life was really boring. i had just a few friends . but after reading the first book i realised that friends are really important and life must continue in a very happy way. now i have a lot of friends,n not only in my country but from all over the world because of thie harry potter chatrooms. i love the life i am doing now.

Hmm..I would have to say that Harry Potter definetly got me to read more, making me the bookworm I am. I'm definetly obsessed with HP (who on here isn't?!) and I think that's really about it.

For me the books have really inspired me to become a writer. I am a writing and literature major at university and have always loved writing and have even been published in a few things...but seeing JKR's success has really inspired me to follow my instinct and my heart. I mean, I doubt she had no idea Harry Potter would turn into what it has when she first came up with the idea. Also, I think they are really good pieces of literature so they have definetely influenced my writing style and the way i use foreshadowing and such.

Mmm...this topic is very similar to 'Has Harry Potter ever inspired you', so what I'll do is merge this topic with that one and tweak the title a little to broaden the discussions.

Harry Potter probably hasn't really changed my life, but it has heightened my awareness of certain things.

Rubi mentioned friendship, and I would agree with that. It has made me less critical of my friends, and accept them more for who they are, faults and all. I have been reminded that they are among the most important people in the world to me.

Also, I have questioned my own motives more. Learned to be more giving. I think this was inspired by Harry's character particularly, who almost always puts others needs before his own. *bless'im*

Jk does not write with in-your-face moralism. It's far more subtle and has a way of creeping up on you. It leaves a lasting impression on the reader that I think is very cleverly planted. Just one of her many talents.

yup! harry potter really influenced my life! HP rules my world!
i was actuallty encouraged by harry potter to read more and more books! you lknow before, i was very lazy reading books! but after i've read harry potter it really encouraged me! i was fond of reading now!
and for your information guys, i was kinda weird in school because of harry potter! i was used to bring my wand and cast imaginary spells on my schoolmates! nah! my other classmates are harry potter fanatics too! and we enjoy each others company! but it doesn't mean that i'm not making friends of other people who are not obsessed with harry potter like us! i'm friendly indeed and funny!

Well, as soon as HBP is released, a friend and I will probably know whether or not our theory book on the series is a viable project, and if so, it will be full steam ahead for us in completing it!

Does that count as an "inspiration"?

harry potter has influenced my life so much.
I have become a huge potter freak!
I have become a huge book worm!
but most of all i have learned never to take my parents , my family, and the love i get from them for granted.

I've been thruogh many topics, and i saw that to many of the questions posted i could give always the same answer: harry potter is a big metaphor of life, so certain things are not just likely to happen.

The reason why i was charmed by this book was that it looked so like real life, and it had a wonderful way of explainig the sad things of life.

i know it may sound strange but let's think of what macic really means in this book.
it is not magic as it has always been described in fairy tales, it is something different.
In this book Magic can be a metaphore of human talet, of what people can achive if they really commit themselves to something. They can use magic to do wondrful things ( dumbledore) or to to horrible things ( dark magic), just as people can use their talents to do good or evil things.
magic is something you recieve from your birth, but is only thruogh study and discipline that you can master it.(just lik ethe talents everyone has) i think this is highly insturctive for children. you don't just make your homework through magic, you have to actually work and study.
Magic can't solve the big problems of life such as sickness or death.

Another metaphore that jkr uses is the archway with the veil: it is just a metaphore of death in my opinion. think of it: when poepole die they sort of "desappear" one momen they are with us and next moment they are just..gone, they sort of fall behind that veil...
that's why i really think sirius is dead...it can't be otherwise..his is not a strange death, that's simple how popole die..

these are some metaphores of life that jkr uses...could anyone help me find other ones?

for example dementors are metaphor of depressy. JK said it herself. you don't feel hapiness, you see only worst moments of your life...

Wow! deep. I have never realy thought about this before but I guess it kind of is full of metaphores. O.K., this is lame but the thestrals show us that we can only see some things when our loved ones are gone. When we have never seen anyone die we cannot view evrything. Or something like that.

That's a good one. Like when someone close to you dies, you understand so much more about life than you did before. Obviously Voldemort represents pure evil. I would also say that Harry's scar represents (other than his obvious connection to Voldemort) pains of the past that can not be erased. Like a memory that you want to forget, but you can't.

I have always thought this same thing, but was never able to put it onto paper (or computer).
You did a wonderful job with examples and summing it all up, and I really think that JKR would think that you hit it right on the spot.

There are many other metaphors, including harmony among race, gender, age, "being," and nationality.

People in the book go out with others who are years older/younger than them, boys and girls live in the same quarters, and nationality and race are almost nonexistant factors in the Wizarding Community. it is a model of how our world should run and function, and JK Rowling planned it out very well!


_daviD

Hi evereyone, thanks for answering

Something major that I am suprised wasn't mentioned all together was racism. Although physical and spiritual &/or religion are not hte mark for the racism it does exist. Those with power like wizards and witches that think they are better than others are racist towards those who are not like themselves, because they are muggles. It isn't black or white (I mean obvious when using this phrase, not color - sorry if it is confusing) It's hidden in teh RGay area, but I think the relationship between pure-bloods and muggles symbolizes hatred between color, religion and any other form of racism.

thanks padfoot...
it is perfectly true what you have written..
i have opened this topic to put our ideas together because i found it diffucult to trace down the many metaphors of life that jkr putsn in these books, so your contribtion was very important!

Last night i was thinking of what feilx_felicis could be a metaphor of..
what is that taken in small dosis can be usefull, but that can bring you to addiction if you abuse it?
in my opinion she's trying to say that not everything in life could go as we want it to go.. failure are a foundamental part of our life..thay make us learn from our mistakes, if we become overconfident we may commit many mistakes...we become reckless..
well i've just put down some thought... what do you think of felix felicis..and i still like to know your opinion about horcruxes..and what they can be a metaphor of..

what do you think of felix felicis..and i still like to know your opinion about horcruxes..and what they can be a metaphor of..[QUOTE]

Felix Felicis
- Quite literally is a luck potion, for those who use it to aid themselves in victory over anything ( a fight, work, love etc...). I think Slughorn says that it could be addictive, that you could develop an unhealthy dependance on it. "Because when taken in excess, it causes giddidness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence....Too much of a good thing, you know...highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly and occassionally..." He also says that it is banned insporting events, elections and some other stuff. I must strongly agree with you that this could be a metaphor for either alcohol or drugs. Social drinking, or a glass of wine every now and then is fine, but to over do it causes alcohol poisoning and sometimes death. Although Drugs are wrong, prescription drus are ok, but overdosing causes death. So I must agree that this metaphor was toward alcohol dependency as well as presciption drug addiction.

Horcruxes
- Literally objects/containers that contain pieces of youself/soul after a devious crime such as murder. As for the metaphor idea, I am not sure if this was suppose to have a hidden meaning. After all metaphors are hidden meanings in literature with symbolism of real lifer events. The only logical thing I could think of is that in real life, every time you commit a crime, you lose a piece of your sanity. Murder is not a natural act, it takes a mind filled with rage, anger, mental instability, sick tendencies and soemtimes self defense. For those who do it in self defense, they never really recover from teh incident, that memory stays with them forever. For the others, killing is meaningless, another act of violence that has consumed their lives, they do not think abotu it, they send it out of their minds and move on to their next devious task. So I guess that by casting part of the soul after each killing, they are riding themselves of the emotional attachment, like criminals in the real world do when the kill and have no feelings for it, no guilt anyway. That is the best I can say for now anyway. If I think of anything else, or if you do I will post again on these matters.

harry potter has helped me through a lot of hard and stressful times and got me into reading. ya i would say it influanced my imagination as well

I get inspired by HP for a lot of things. I write a lot better now, having noticed some of JKR's techniques, and whenever I am scared of something I think: You fool, why are you scared of the[dark basement, creaking house etc.]; Harry endured much worse! HP also helps thinking about books, cos I think so much about how to figure out who'll die and so forth. It also made me realize that my cousins read really good books!

ginevra

wow. It has made my life worth living. I love this series more than anyone will ever know. I didnt' really like reading until HP came out, and then I went into a non-HP related depression, and I didn't really have good friends anymore, and it was like the world was specifically against me, and HP just took me to a whole different world, and it was like all my problems were temporarily gone when I read it.

I totally agree. I don't think anybody will ever actually understand the extent of my love for Harry Potter. Anytime I need an escape, I know I have my HP books. I was in a really bad relationship a couple of years ago with a very controlling guy, and HP is what gave me the courage to stand up to him and end the relationship regardless of his threats. That sounds very dramatic and cliche, but it's the truth. And when my parents fight (which is all the time), I'm not bothered by it because I have my books to disappear into.

I love my Harry Potter!

Harry Potter has influenced me in two major ways:
1) I've always really loved to write but J.K Rowling has really inspired me to keep writing and put a lot of effort into it, since the release of OotP I have attempted 4 novels and finished 2.
2)I don't know if this really fits with influenced me or rather affected me but when I'm going through a really hard time and everything in my life is overwhemling I reach for my Potter books and it takes my mind off it completley, those books got me through some hard times. Rowling is just such an amazing writer, it's so easy to escape into her books.

Hehe, I think Harry Potter has influenced all of our lives here, in a matter so to speak. It's made us all HP addicts!

Well, I wouldn't say Harry Potter is what made the voracious reader that I am today. I read so many books before that. But, it has definitely made me a better writer. I was never into writing, but writing HP fanfics has definitely helped me write better and just appreciate writing as a whole.

On a more negative note, [], my obsession with HP is definitely taking a toll on my grades. Spending so much time on fansites, I'm losing focus on school and not performing as well as I should. Oh well. Every obsession has it's downs.

But, I do thorougly enjoy everything about HP. It broadens my imagination and I guess you could say the fact that I love Hermione makes me want to become an academic perfectionist. Also, I value my friendships more than before.

So...I guess out of all of this, you could say:

My fandom killed my GPA!

Well, indirectly my Harry Potter fandom has improved my translating abilities (since I'm a translator at Veritaserum.com)... I can translate English to Spanish almost as fast as I read it... Besides, it encouraged me to read more books in English and is the reason why I learnt British slang.

I think Hp has inspired me to be a better person and I think it reveals the true meaning of friendship with just a bit more than average children and teens!
It has also inpsired me to look deeper in books and really read what the writer is trying to convey.It has also broadened my imagination,not that it wasn't wild enough ,but it has challenged me in that everyone persieves the writers discriptions differently that it allows me to listen to othres and hear what they have to say about things...
I feel inspired by Hp as Harry stuck up for himself and others and never let anything get to him and he didn't care what others thought of him, and I have grown from that I never try to be someone I am not!Wow...I feel relieved!

Harry Potter inspiried me to read bigger books and got me more interested in reading.
Harry Potter also made me realize that I take my families and friends for granted.

Harry Potter books have influenced me to value friendship more and that loyalty is the key to having good friends. I used to be a bit careless with my words, switching from friend to friend every year. Well, after reading about the Marauders and the golden trio, I try to be loyal to my friends. If I'm told a secret, I won't tell anyone else and I'll simply say, "It isn't my secret to tell." Or if there is a problem with one of your friends, you should let them contemplate and listen closely. This sounds kind of corny, but that's how I feel and that no one could ever replace your closest of friends. When I think about how important loyalty was to the Marauders, how if they had all been loyal to eachother, they would be living and Harry would have parents and none of these tragic incidents would've occured. I have to admit, I am still not the "perfect" friend, but I honestly think that I have been improving because of these books.

O my goodness, harry potter has not only inspired me in so many different ways, but it has literally helped me through the toughest times I think I have ever gone through and I will probably go through. It has been such an aide and I will never ever forget what it has done to help me partially turn my life around, but also get me through the darkness to where I could see the light again; harry is the only other thing besides my Lord that can do that, and I would never take it for granted, just as it has taught me to never take it for granted either.

well harry potter got me to read more, repsect books and authors, do more homework, pay more attention, and it actually made me better at spelling and i was bettr at vocabulary than all of my friends put together.Without the books i wouldnt be who i am. and it has taught me ALOT about friendship.

I guess HP has influenced the way I think about things such as why certain things may happen. It has enabled me to think that all things happen for a reason and HP storylines show that, for example, Sirus, Dumbledore, or even Harry's parents - their deaths had a huge impact on Harry, therefore, he grows from that and get a new perspective - I think this would be very evident in the 7th book.

So yeah, when I get down or upset about something, I try & think of Harry Potter and tell myself that things happen for a reason and I gain a new perspective on things.

Also, it influenced my use of imagination even more - I always have a mini-story about HP in my head or get stuck into that world! Wish I didn't have to face the real world all the time!

I really do think that HP inspired me because before i started reading the series i never could imagine loving a book and reading so much! Before HP i thought that reading was a waste of time and i hated it,..i despised readingin school...and i am not exagerating.
but then i got really into the series and i learned that not all books are horrible... Also, i got really good at typing from this website....and forums..i never knew so much would come from a book..

i think im one of those who are really reeaally obsesed with hp, but is just because is one of the greatest and important things in my life.
i havent read nothing (except the books that i have to readfor literature) and when i read the 1st i couldnt stop till i finished all. everytime of my life i think what would happen if that world exist (and i actually love that to happen). and i try to think what hp characters would do in situations that i have to solve or stuffs like who i would be, in what house or what i would do in the situations in the books
hp gave me a huge reason to be happy

Harry Potter helped me when I waas really depresed, I could identify with the book and the characters, I´ve learned a lot of new vocabulary and I have started to read things outside of school. Before Harry Potter I thought people who read for pleasure were geeks. No I guess Im a geek because I repeatedly read Harry Potter and an assortment of other books. Harry Potter has helped me realize that not all books are boring, and while most schoolbooks suck there are some other books out there worth reading. Harry Potter has helped me increase my reading and discussing skills, because now I read loads faster and I debate on Harry Potter. My analyzing and infering skills have also improved thanks to Harry Potter. On a more personal basis HP has made me appreciate my parents and brothers seing as Harry has no parents and the closest thing to a brother is Dudley who is an idiot (sorry but I cannot seem to find a better word to describe him). It has helped me appreciate my friends and my life and how good it is!!

I earlier wasn't reading anything that didn't had drawings, only the books that the school made me read... until I saw the first movie of Harry Potter, then I borrowed the book CoS from a friend ... and I loved them ever since, I bought all the HP books, after that I've read more, from harry potter to Angels and Demons. Thank you J.K.Rowling!

Ooh, this is a good topic.

Harry Potter has helped me with learning to love to read, I really didn't like reading before I picked up a Harry Potter book. It widened my vocabulary, and...it just makes me happy.

It's one of my favorite things in this world, it's helped me in so many ways. I carry a Harry Potter book with me in my bag at all times when I go to school, I just like having it there to read if I have time. It just makes me feel more at home.

I'm a lot more happy about who I am because of Harry Potter, it's just opened me up to many things, and it's helped me grow more mature and self-confident over the past while.

Oh, I just can't explain it. But, I love it very much.
If only we could all say thank you to J.K. Rowling.

<3

Oh well, i must note something in this thread...i'm a big fan of Fiction fantasy, but not initially in HP at first...thats right, younger nephews & nieces kept nagging and bickering about the plots...if i cant beat 'em...

The books are marvellous. Loved the complex characters and never seen a bigger fascination in a book plot since the uproar when Sherlock Holmes was killed off by the bombarded author...

Like others have mentioned, when i prefer to turn off from a hectic day, its time to go into 'Harry's world' read the books again and again...and read the latest theories on the fansites...great way to get away from the real world and all its problems...would be fantastic to have a magical world in existence.

In NZ, we were LOTR-mad when the movies came out...(sigh)...now its over, its great to know that Harry Potter is still going, i'm Potter-mad now...loved both stories and the movies.

Well seeing what a great writer JKR is I started writing stories myself. Writing is now part of my life although I keep them secret stories. When I was 8 I wanted to be an author but I got interested in other things and gave up on writing. After my friend got me hooked on HP I started being ( as I like to call myself) The secret author of my own short and long stories.

One metaphors' that i see very clearly is the the metaphor for racism.
It comes across with the vendetor against muggle born wizards and the want for a pureblood race. When marvolo thinks he should be treated different because he is a pure blood wizard that reminds me of people who think they are superiour because they are white.At the founding of hogwarts slytherin only wanted pure blood wizards to learn magic at school is is exactly like the australian aboriginals they weren't aloud to go to school untill about 30 years ago (maybe more i didnt really listen in australian history). muggle hunting for sport again the Australian Aboriginals, american indians, africans were all hunted. voldermort reminds me of **** "one pure race" they both tried to wipe out a whole race of people.

lutsija, I think that the glasses are not really a metaphor or mabye it is. I think the reason Harry is short and has glasses is for the same reason Buffy was blonde, you don't expect them to be the ones who save your life. Is that a metaphor?
MargheritaDolceVita, deep stuff. I read in a philospy book on HP that magic was a replacemnent for sciene, but I think it could be the metaphor of talnets, or both.
I love that JK made her world to be like ours, it's so not prefect. I agree with all the racism stuff people said. Voldermort is a symbol for Stalin or Hilter is my guess.

I like this topic! I've always viewed the HP books as very metaphorical, with the main metaphor being magic=technology. Firstly, both are forces which can bring about both supreme good and evil. Secondly, the back of our minds may wonder if we would better off without it, yet we know practically that once it exists, there's no way of turning back or giving it up.

Other metaphors (in my opinion, anyway) include the dementors=depression, Patronus= hope, the Imperius Curse = brainwashing, the Death Eaters = the Ku Klux Klan, fascination with pure blood=racism, and the wars between Voldemort and the Wizarding World = World War.

Also, I like the comparison that several on this board have made between Felix and alcohol. I used to kind of think of Felix as steroids (you know, how they're forbidden in sporting events). Part of me, however, has always thought of Felix more as a placebo than anything else. In a way, it's kind of metaphorical for confidance and self-fulfilling prophecy.

Talking about self-fulfilling prophecy, I think Dumbledore alludes that the prophecies in the DoM are more of a self-fulfilling nature than of actual supernatural value. Kind of goes back to the entire MacBeth debate, doesn't it? Guess we have another metaphor!

And Padfoot - I love your explanation of horcrux=destruction of sanity by guilt!

Peace,
McG

Firstly jk rowling is such an inspiration to me, she has such a great imagination and showed how one little idea can create a whole new part of the world- harry potter world! woo!

and also this is gonna sound so corny and cheesy and everything in between but before reading harry potter i was a bit of a wuss and such a pushover, but after reading about harry's bravery and how he always thought of others' safety before his own its inspired me to do the same. and after reading about all the times that ron stood up to malfoy for something he said about harry/hermione/his family, i now stand up for my friends when they're being harassed, even if i risk getting beaten up, whereas before id be too scared to interfere...pretty bad huh?

so harry potter has indeed changed my life!

Harry Potter has had a large impact on me. After reading the books, or the first few I started to like reading and now I can read for hours at a time where as before I hated to read. I guess after reading the Harry Potter books I found out that I had to find a certain type of book to hold my interest. It has furthered my imagination and helped me want to persue my dream of being a writer. Sounds corny I know but its true

The HP series (especially the first 3 books) brought out my inner child, first and foremost. It's done so much for my imagination. I sometimes wish I had a magic wand so I could make the house clean itself up, lol. I love the thought of flying on a broomstick and having an invisibility cloak and being able to transform things at will. Also, I actually enjoy reading again! I used to love reading when I was a kid, because I wasn't expected to "interpret" all the pointless metaphors and such. HP does have a LOT of symbolism and easter eggs, (i.e., Voldemort : Hitler), but you don't get graded on it and it's up to YOU to decide what it means to you.

well i wouldnt really say that it has inspired me but it had a giant impact on me. its just so amazing its what i live for

'How Has Harry Potter Influenced Your Life'
Well...
Without Harry Potter my own stories wouldn't exsist and could live without either of them!

How Has Harry Potter InfluencedMy Life?

Put it this way...
about a million people would not exist if HP wasn't here.... HP has influenced me into writing and broaded my horizions as it were... writing is a part of my life! and i don't think half the things i have written would be here now if J.K had not wrote HP.... she is a real inspiration... i am very greatful to her...