For those who have read/watched the Harry Potter series probably have wondered why wizards are stuck in the 1800s. Honestly, have they ever heard of a pen or a pencil?! Ron would never have to worry about spilling ink all over his homework. Not to mention they could be typing their papers! Talk about hand cramps… Also, so many problems could have been solved if they had telephones. Sirius Black would have never died if they had better communication! I love that JK Rowling has taken us back to the past and has invented magical ways that wizards do life. But I wonder if there might have been an underlying reason for her blast from the past. So I have theory and here it is.
What if JK Rowling was trying to teach us the danger of being prideful? Pride can keep us from learning from people who are different than us. Because maybe we think we are better than them or we think that we don’t need help from other people. Through out the series even the most accepting Wizards still have doubts of Muggles. Molly Weasley never thought Muggle medical practices could ever work, but in our world they work every day. Wizards obviously think they are have something that Muggles can never equal to, but they would be wrong. It’s because Muggles are living life without magic that they have things like electricity, phones, and pens. Because of their “weakness” they have indeed have become stronger than wizards. The wizarding world has been blocked from making advances and improving life, because of their pride and refusing to believe that Muggles have something they don’t.
Rowling may not have had this little lesson in mind when she decided to use quill, scrolls, and owls for communication. She may have just been trying to create a world that wasn’t centered around technology. Or give a world that is so very different then our own, so that we may escape. But even if she wasn’t trying to teach the readers something that is part of the magic of her story. The lessons never end, there is always something new. Just because you are different does not mean that you are better or lesser than the people around you. You can always learn something from them. So never let yourself become blocked by your own pride.
