11 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Deconstructing Unreliable Text – Marissa Dellinger

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Deconstructing Unreliable Text

            The unreliable narrator can be defined as a narrator who tends to stray from their own credibility. Their thoughts, actions, and feelings are often portrayed in one way but are eventually exposed to be erratic and unpredictable. While first-person stories tend to take on the role of an unreliable narrator, many times a text itself is unreliable. For example, a text that we read within a story, potentially from a third-person narrative, may defy the actions of characters and events that occur surrounding a text within a text. While this is not always the case, it certainly can be viewed within a numerous amount of literature. Arguably, every text itself could be deconstructed as unreliable in one way or another, including the author of the story who is choosing to portray the unreliable works of literature within their own writing. This essay will explore the concepts discussed within the “Unplottable: Subversive Books and Radical Reading in Harry Potter” by Tracy L. Bealer, to deconstruct the viewpoint that a text alone makes up the authority of the character’s knowledge and advancement to overcome concerns raised in the plot of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.  Instead, characters gain knowledge from their experiences alone, and a text within a novel is often proved to be unreliable. Furthermore, characters within a novel may have to reach beyond the subversive structure of the books they encounter, so it is not radical reading that shapes them; rather, it is their experiences within the true world around them that affect the outcome of their perspectives and growth in knowledge.

Within Bealer’s “Unplottable: Subversive Books and Radical Reading in Harry Potter,” she discusses how books are often viewed as a way of escaping reality. Oftentimes, by reading stories knowledge is shaped and the reader’s perception is changed, or grows. Many theorists may argue that, when a person reads, they are transported into a new dimension of reality that causes a shift or transfiguration of that person. However, Bealer deconstructs that a text is often unreliable, and that reality appears to precede the latter in every aspect of truth and palpability. Within Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, there are many different elements of literature that Harry, Ron, and Hermione are exposed to at their school, Hogwarts of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some of these texts include Gilderoy Lockhart’s books and the diary of Tom Riddle. For example, Bealer states, “Harry, Ron, and Hermione frequently rely upon the written word to supplement their experiential knowledge of the wizarding world, and often come across and seek out texts that have nothing to do with their classes in order to acquire the knowledge Hopkins identifies as crucial to the trio’s survival” (Bealer 161). She goes on to discuss that while books and different texts do affect the students, they are often, “manipulated by their authors to mislead a too-trusting reader. CoS emphasizes the importance of learning to move within texts carefully and critically” (Bealer 164). Therefore, the reader must be very conscious of what they are reading, in order to ensure they are gaining only reliable information.

On the other hand, Bealer fails to recognize or address the elements that Rowling herself plays on contradicting the reliability of a text, when her end goal revolves around selling books. In order to deconstruct this viewpoint, Bealer’s argument must be assessed as accurate, but be deconstructed further to allow for the reflection of Rowling’s own unreliability in the writing of her novels. Although Rowling herself may suggest that books are necessary to enduring life, and must be used as resources to overcome life’s hardships, even as the author, she proves to be an unreliable narrator when writing about questionable books the characters encounter within Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. By looking at Rowling’s motives for her novel, readers can begin to deconstruct how she contradicts herself by placing the unreliable texts within her books. Obviously, an author who is publishing a fantasy novel wants readers who are indulged and entertained with the book. They should believe that it is something they can use to escape from reality. Regardless, Rowling still places elements of different fictional texts within the novel that disprove the idea of stories making such significant impacts within the characters’ lives.

In order to prove this, a text within the novel must be scrutinized as unreliable. Although impossible to evaluate every aspect of writing, the particularly important values of the novel suggest that the work should be something that the characters can use to gain knowledge within their studies and about the dark mysteries of the wizarding world. Previously discussed, the works of both Gilderoy Lockhart and Tom Riddle’s diary play the most prominent role within the novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when viewing a deconstruction of the belief that a text is used to advance and benefit the minds of the reader. However, often a text can be used to manipulate and deter from the knowledge that a reader gains. Likewise, it is most certainly inferior to the knowledge that can be gained from reading critically and actually viewing the reality and circumstances actually surrounding the characters within the novel. By looking at the world around them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione advance to valiant success that would never have been achievable by solely reading what they initially found to be reliable sources of information.

By looking at Gilderoy Lockhart’s books, the idea of an unreliable text (and even author) are immediately evident. Although initially trusted by the students, and praised for his valiant books, Lockhart soon proves to be unknowledgeable when he fails to control the pixies he released in their classroom, “It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk,” (Rowling 88). Although Lockhart’s memoirs, such as his claimed autobiography, Magical Me, were used as textual evidence for the student’s learning experience, he later, “reveals that he fabricated the nature of his role in the exploits his memoirs recount,” (Bealer 165). Likewise, the student’s information gathered from the memoirs never truly affects their learning, suggesting that their own experiences are far more valuable than the cowardly accounts depicted within Gilderoy’s writing. Thus, while Gilderoy’s novels made him appear heroic by using true accounts stolen from the identities of others in order to gain wealth and admiration, they were unjustified as credible, and could never be depicted as entirely accurate. Specifically, they would not prove to be something worth teaching or reading on account of gaining knowledge.

Therefore, the books could not be something used to help Harry rescue Ron’s sister Ginny. Likewise, Lockhart solidifies this theory when he admits his feats were untrue in order to escape the reality unfolding before him, and to avoid helping rescue Ginny himself, “‘Do use your common sense. My books wouldn’t have sold half as well if people didn’t think I’d done all those things…What d’you want me to do?’ Said Lockhart weakly… ‘There’s nothing I can do,’” (Rowling 253-254). In the midst of admitting defeat, Gilderoy acknowledges that even having accounted for the stories of others, his books are worthless in the scheme of reality. He acknowledges that common sense is needed and that Harry should have acknowledged this sooner. Keeping this in mind, a text itself cannot be used as something to change a character’s full knowledge or abilities, and the argument that Harry, Ron, and Hermione rely on books for their achievements is diminished.

Similarly, Lockhart’s extremely fraudulent accounts intertwine with the dark and mysterious diary of Tom Riddle depicted within the novel. While the main characters view both of the texts as something “stable and reliable”, in relation to the other books they have approached previously within Hogwarts, neither can be trusted, (Bealer 166). Hermione herself presumes the diary would give them loads of credible information, “His diary would probably tell us everything—where the Chamber is, and how to open it,” (Rowling 199). However, as later discovered the diary itself is used for the manipulation and deception of its readers, particularly the ones who believe in its credibility. While both Lockhart’s accounts and the diary do hold true events, they are to obtain the benefits of the author in order to accumulate power. Although Lockhart’s books were not harmful to the readers, Tom Riddle uses his to gain control and distort the reader’s perception, or furthermore, “the diary is a place that can not only epistemologically mislead but outright consume its readers,” (Bealer, 167). Tom’s intention is to exploit the reader’s empathy in order to control the body of the other individual. While it’s warned that books can be harmful, this is particularly important information to assess when determining the credibility of any work.

The model of controlling another’s thoughts may be connected to the argument made when reading the work, such as Tom Riddle’s diary used to control Ginny Weasley within the novel. If a character were to mindlessly read an unreliable source, they fall victim to the beliefs that change their perceptions of the world around them. When Harry chooses to read the diary, he is placed into an event where he is watching what occurred in the past. Reality, although appearing before Harry’s eyes, is being used in order to deceive him even more, and he is put in the position that changes his own perceptions, ultimately placing him into a dangerous realm. Through Tom’s selective accounts, Harry begins to believe that Hagrid is, “the culprit behind the attacks on students at Hogwarts,” even though he is one of Harry’s friends and the caretaker of Aragog, (Bealer 167). Although Harry does not become the victim of Tom’s diary, as Ginny does, he is still left with dangerous illusions that contradict reality. Therefore, the diary brings forth an even greater way of demonstrating that although a reader may be transported through text, reality must precede the deceptions. The unreliable author cannot be trusted, and the reader is forced to look to reality when overcoming circumstances of uncertainty and fraudulent accounts that may be detrimental to their discernment of the world around them.

In retrospect, Rowling’s novel itself unintentionally exploits itself in that while the author of the novel is attempting to sell the novel to willing readers, the text within it defies reliability. As Bealer addresses that reading a text passively, “allows texts to become tyrannical monologues rather than spaces for constructive dialogue,” readers can potentially begin to view Rowling’s authorship in this same way, (Bealer 162).  While Bealer’s argument may only include the texts within Rowling’s work, it’s necessary to view Rowling’s novel in the same light. If a reader were to believe that they could be transported to a new realm through the magical and wonderful elements of Hogwarts and the wizarding world, they’d likely continue to purchase and read Rowling’s work. Although this continues to happen, because reading is enjoyable, even Rowling herself acknowledges the power of reality over literature. This is seen through her characters, who are exposed to a variety of different books that are ultimately overcome by the actions surrounding them. Likewise, Rowling writes of unreliable narrators, such as Gilderoy Lockhart and Tom Riddle, furthermore suggesting that she herself is an unreliable author. Granted, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is fiction. However, it’s proven that Rowling wanted to indulge readers in a sensational experience to help them escape reality. Thereby, she contradicts what she set out to do by including such works within her fictional writing. Ironically, any work can be viewed as having an unreliable narrator and every text likely has forms of unreliability within it. Therefore, readers should think critically about the reality surrounding a work of literature in order to fully scope out the concepts discussed within the writing.

Bibliography

Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. NY: Scholastic, 1998.

Bealer, Tracy L. “Unplottable: Subversive Books and Radical Reading in Harry Potter.”  From Here to Hogwarts: Essays on Harry Potter Fandom and Fiction.  Ed. Christopher E. Bell. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016.  159-183.