Final Class Thoughts - Magic

We have spent the entire class talking about different aspects of magic across a large period of time and how peoples' idea of what magic is has changed. In the medieval period magic was often seen as a form of sacrilege used by heretics, given to them by demons and devils. As time progressed though we see a changing view point that came across strikingly in the Grimm Fairy-tales. In those we see magic as a form of wonderment and joy, something to be hopeful for. That sentiment has continued even till this day with the such classics as The Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter.

What I would like to propose is an answer to the question we were asked at the beginning of this year an answer to what magic means to you, in this case me. After spending an entire semester in this class and learning what it had to teach about magic, which I am sure is only equal to a small bit of the material out there in the world, I have come up with an answer to that question.

My answer is simple magic is that thing in life that takes away all your worries, if even for  a split moment in time. An example of this is when Harry got the letter in the mail to go into to Hogwarts it completely changed his life. I think that is what can be considered magic the ability to change a persons life for the better.

Lord of The Rings...Final thought...

As I began to analyze Harry Potter a little more, I too began to wonder as to why Lord Of The Rings didn't catch on as much. In my personal belief, I absolutely love Lord Of The Rings. I love reading the books and watching the movies and seeing how intense they got. They certainly made the movies so well and remember first reading them and getting so hyped to read them! I even remember how Legolas was and still certainly is my favorite character. Legolas is just so badass and makes any situation seem that much more hardcore and diehard. However, when I was analyzing I did of course forget to realize the obvious, Lord Of The Rings books and movies were not made necessarily with the intention of having readers and viewers as young as the Harry Potter stories. But believe it or not, I found that Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter share a lot of the same qualities.....in the sense that they both have "underdogs" or small characters that end up doing great things and taking on big, they are written in a fictional work that is easy to tap into and understand, and there is huge and apparent theme of good versus evil- with good always triumphing in the end. Yay or nay, thoughts on this one guys?

Magic

Near the end of this semester, Dr. Mitchell-Buck asked us why magic in books is so well liked? Why are Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter so important to society? Well after taking this class I feel the reason magic has such a big impact on literature nowadays is the escapism that it gives off. Magic has this idea behind it that it is unobtainable in our own world, and being the greedy society we are we all want that which we cant have. Its common psychology, like when you give a ball to one child, the other will want that ball just because the other has it. Then when the child gets the ball he doesn't even want it anymore. That's what magic is to us, we want it because we cant have it, but if we did get it we would tire of it very quickly. Magic has always been this great thing that seems to be so fantastical, but I think that is only because we don't have it. there are many things we do have in the world that are pretty fantastical them selves but because we can see them every day they don't seem so great. Take a rainbow for example, do you even know how a rainbow is made? Light refracts off of rain drops thus producing every color of the visible light spectrum. If you don't think that is one of the most magical things then something is wrong. But of course, since rainbows happen all the time most people just pass by them with out a second glance. Only things that are out of the ordinary are seen as special, and thus seen as better than the ordinary. That is what magic gives to these books, they give a look into an out of the ordinary world that people can imagine they live in. People want to escape to these worlds to change up the mundane life they are living. Magic, the final frontier.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

 I’m attempting to put a study guide together of sample passages from each of our readings on the exam; it’s a work in process. Reading over all of the past things, it just has me thinking about how much my thought of magic has changed from the beginning of class to the end. At first I really didn’t think of the in-depth thought of actual magic throughout the ages. Of course Harry Potter and Gandalf were the first two people I thought of when I heard magic, but they’re only characters in a more modern version of magic. Just from reading from Khors and Peters or of the four mystics, my perception has changed. Could magic just be a science that we don’t understand yet? If that is the case I definitely think we have already started to understand it more and more. The technology and medicine that we have in today’s world is seriously magical. It may not seem like to us, but if you honestly think about it there is something there. Just imagine going back to the time of the massacre in Trier Germany and bringing one of our IPads with us. There is no doubt we would have been burnt at the stake instantly with such witchcraft. What if we told them we had a cure for numerous diseases that usually kill off thousands? They wouldn’t believe our “satanic” lies.

We have so much magic in our daily lives from technology, science, or even the power of a higher being. I never really acknowledged it until this class. Whenever I get the chance I brag about this class because it is honestly the coolest one I’ve ever heard of. Most people are so jealous to hear that I got to read Harry Potter for a college level class, which of course was COMPLETELY awesome. However, the thing the people won’t understand is the absolute thought that went into this class. We did indeed read some tough pieces, but I think we mastered it. I’m sad that the class is over because fantasy is something that is one of my top interests when it comes to books and movies. But you better believe I will be using this class as a hot topic for my next job interview.

“All we can do is decide what to do with the time that is given to us.”

–Gandalf, Lord of the Rings

This was my quote in my senior yearbook. It is by far my favorite quote ever.