Cinderella and Harry Potter: The Role Models for Youth Chloe Alexandra Kohlman College

Though most children’s literature is not necessarily always intended to be read solely by children, it is important to consider the reception of the child. In the Grimm Brothers’ “Cinderella” and J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the child-reader is able to learn good from bad. Cinderella and Harry Potter are both characters who act as models for positive and acceptable behaviour. Cinderella remains morally good, despite her unfortunate situation of her mother passing and her step-family treating her unjustly. Cinderella, however, appears to have birds watching over her and rewarding her for all of her acts of piety, translating to readers that they, too will be rewarded for similar behaviours. Harry has an inward battle in discovering what being good and being bad really means and, in the end, is similarly rewarded for his heroic actions. Cinderella in the Brothers Grimm’s “Cinderella” and Harry Potter in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone experience many tests that assess their morals, demonstrating to readers what good behaviours really are and the importance of incorporating them into their own lives.

Young readers are directly influenced by what they read, and at especially young...