摘 要

《纳尼亚传奇》系列和《哈利波特》系列是现代以来最受欢迎的两部奇幻文学。本文以两部系列中的正义与邪恶主题为研究对象，对《纳尼亚传奇》和《哈利波特》作者描写正邪对抗的表现手法的变化进行分析。本文分为六部分。导论和文献综述后分为三章，分别比较分析两个系列作品中全知力量的介入和退出，正邪两阵营的绝对对立和模糊界限，以及理想的表现手法和贴近现实的叙述手法。最后得出结论：在不同的历史背景和时代要求下，奇幻文学关于正邪之战的表现手法产生了多方面变化，与《纳尼亚传奇》相比，《哈利波特》更符合现代读者的价值观。

关键词：纳尼亚传奇；哈利波特；正义与邪恶；主题研究

Abstract

Chronicles of Narnia series and Harry Potter series are two of most popular fantasy works in modern times. This paper takes the theme of justice and evil of two series as the research subject, and analyzes the changes in the description of the battles between justice and evil from Narnia to Harry Potter. This paper is composed of six chapters. Introduction and literature review are followed by three chapters, which respectively deal with the analysis of all-knowing power’s intervention and withdrawal, absolute opposition or fuzzy boundaries between justice and evil alignments, and idealized form and realistic form of description. At last, the paper comes to the conclusion that, in different historical contexts, the description of the battles between justice and evil has changed in many aspects. Compared with The Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter view is more in line with modern readers.

Key Words: Narnia; Harry Potter; justice and evil; thematic study

Content

1 Introduction 6

2 Literature Review 8

3 All-Knowing Power’s Intervention and Withdrawal 10

3.1 All-knowing power’s intervention in Narnia 10

3.2 All-knowing power’s withdrawal in Harry Potter 11

4 Absolute Opposition or Fuzzy Boundaries between Justice and Evil Alignments 15

4.1 Absolute justice alignment and evil alignment in Narnia 15

4.2 Fuzzy boundaries between justice and evil alignments in Harry Potter 16

5 Idealized Form and Realistic Form of Description 19

5.1 Idealized description in Narnia 19

5.2 Realistic description in Harry Potter 20

6 Conclusion 22

References 23

Acknowledgments 24

Justice and Evil: From Chronicles of Narnia to Harry Potter- A Thematic Study on Western Fantasy Novels

1 Introduction

Chronicles of Narnia is a series of fantasies written by C.S.Lewis. It includes The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe(1950), Prince Caspian: the Return to Narnia(1951), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader(1952), The Silver Chair(1953), The Horse and His Boy(1954), The Magician’s Nephew(1955) and The Last Battle(1956). Narnia’s books are individual in plots. This series is famous for imaginative plots, Christian meaning and modern view.

Lewis’ identity decides his works’ preciseness and innocence. As a theologian, the theological thought helps him create a character, Aslan, who has an important part in the fight of justice an evil. And in Narnia kingdom, justice and evil are incompatible like water and fire. The original reason for Narnia’s making is that there were little interesting fantasy books for children during World War Two. The tough environment made children long for entertaining and positive stories more strongly. Narnia series came into being during this moment. The religion element is an outstanding feature of Narnia.

Harry Potter is a series of fantasies and adventurous novels written by J.K. Rowling, a famous American writer. This series includes 7 books: Harry Potter and Sorcerer’s Stone(1997), The Chamber of Secrets(1998), The Prisoner of Azkaban(1999), The Goblet of Fire(2000), The Order of the Phoenix(2003), The Half-Blood Prince(2005) and The Deathly Hallows(2007). The background is set in Hogwarts magic school. The stories unfold by describing Harry’s school life and adventures in Hogwarts with his friends Hermione and Ron.

Rowling was born in the 20^th century’s Britain. She had an unhappy childhood due to broken home and mother’s death. Besides, her unhappy marriage with ex-husband and poor life made her mature enough when writing Harry Potter. Rowling writes bad endings: good men died at last. Her experiences make Harry Potter more realistic and closer to the truth.

The theme of justice and evil is a popular topic in literature work from of old. This paper selects Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter as examples, discussing the changes in the presentation of this theme in different historic times. Due to the extension of the theme, there are a lot of aspects worthy to be discussed. The paper will be divided into 6 parts. Introduction and literature review are followed by three chapters, which respectively deal with the analysis of all-knowing power’s intervention and withdrawal, absolute opposition or fuzzy boundaries between justice and evil alignments, and idealized form and realistic form of description. At last, the paper comes to the conclusion that, in different historical contexts, the description of the battles between justice and evil has changed in many aspects.

Different historic times determine distinct forms of presentation towards theme. By analyzing three aspects of dissimilarities in presentation, the paper aims to help readers understand how the expression of the theme of justice and evil changes over time in fantasy works. And readers will have a clearer understanding of this theme and choose what they like in the aspect of description.

2 Literature Review

As for Harry Potter, In China, a scholar named Gao Yuanyuan (2006) studied the book in the view of hero, she pointed out, “Harry is a hero experiencing growth and trouble, but actually he was an ordinary boy in nature.” Zhao Xuejia(2018) studied Harry’s growth experience by exploring its psychological changes. He claimed this series as classic initiation novels. Scholar Li Shiying(2016) studied the theme of love, adventure and justice. In abroad, the study of Harry Potter is about growth, love friendship and teamwork. As for The Chronicles of Narnia, the paper analyzes the theme of justice and evil by using the prototype theory. Also an author analyzed the images in The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter.

In conclusion, scholars have many studies on the theme of love, growth and heroism, but pay little attention to the theme of Justice and Evil particularly. Besides, the study of comparing The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter is little, and still confined to image analysis. Last but not least, the theme in two books should be studied deeper.

The theme of justice and evil to be discussed in this paper is not defined in a narrow sense. When referring to the theme of the justice and evil, invincible warrior, two camps in sharp opposition and happy ending are reminded as stereotypes. These ingredients are enough for a child who reads the fairy tale of knight and princess to live a very happy life after defeating the evil.

However, fantasy is usually more serious in theme and more complex in plots. The fight may fail; righteous characters may sacrifice; even the definition of the word “demon” should be reconsidered. For example, in Harry Potter, George, the Wesley twin, George lost his left ear in the last battle; Fred sacrificed. When the magic world won the last battle, Harry’s godfather Sirius Orion Black and the policeman Mad-eye Moody left the world. Voldemort is a deliberate demon, but he used to be an excellent student in Hogwarts. Harry is a hero to defeat Lord Voldemort, whereas Voldemort’s Horcrux existed in his body, which means Harry had a part of the same characteristic as Voldemort’s. In Harry Potter, there is a furry border of justice and evil. This uncertainty is the book’s feature, and gives readers more place to think about justice and evil. And at last Albus Dumbledore, the principal of Hogwarts magic school said:’’It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.’’ And the writer points out that only love can conquer all the things. And love is Harry Potter’s protection when he battled with Voldemort. But in Narnia, everything is under the lion, Aslan’s control. Although the characters have been hurt, they always been cured by Susan’s magic potion. Aslan once died for Edmund. But after death, Aslan resurged. And the whole Narnia is full of vitality, without any pity. In Narnia, justice overcame evil, forever, surely and perfectly, which is a little different from Harry Potter.

3 All-Knowing Power’s Intervention and Withdrawal

3.1 All-knowing power’s intervention in Narnia

In Narnia kingdom, there is an all-knowing power controlling the overall situation, Aslan. Aslan’s appearance is a signal of winning in the fight with demon, which helps plots be propelled hopefully.