1) True Friends Will Always Have Your Back:
If the Harry Potter series has taught us anything it is that good friends are indispensable! Throughout the saga, the magnificent trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione remind us that all of the hero’s achievements would not have been possible without Hermione’s brains (and trusty timeturner, of course) and Ron’s bravery and relentless loyalty. Memorable moments come from Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone (1997) where Hermione uses her extensive magical knowledge to release the three friends from Devil’s Snare and Ron makes the courageous decision to finish the larger-than-life-size game of Wizard’s Chess alone in order to help Harry to retrieve the Philosopher’s Stone. But of course, Harry builds a legion of friends throughout the seven stories who all come to his aid in some way or another. In Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (2007) it is timid and nervous Neville who slays the final horcrux and defeats Voldemort once and for all. The resounding lesson throughout these novels is undoubtedly that good friends will always be there for you, and can never be overvalued.
2) There Are No Shortcuts To Success:
Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1606) has 2 important lessons for us: the first is that success can never be achieved through, shall we say, “dodgy” methods. Following the counsel of the witches, Macbeth exterminates King Duncan along with his former friend, Banquo, in order to secure his position as King of Scotland. His prosperity is short-lived, however, as he is swiftly beheaded by his great adversary Macduff in the final act. Shakespeare is famous for the moral undertones of his plays and Macbeth’s message to the audience seems to be that success can never be cheated; the only pathway to achievement is through determination and long, honest hard work. The second lesson is to never trust anyone whose first language is riddle.
3) Never Rely on First Impressions:
If you are not familiar with the complicated romance of Lizzie Bennett and Mr Darcy from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), you will surely have seen its contemporary reincarnation in the characters of Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy from Helen Fielding’s 1996 novel Bridget Jones’ Diary. Like Bridget and Mark, when Lizzie and Darcy first meet they despise one another. For most of the novel, both heroine and hero bear an unyielding prejudice toward the other, but once they discover each other’s true character, they find that they are hopelessly and madly in love with one another. Interestingly, Austen initially intended to title the novel ‘First Impressions’, and certainly the moral of her wonderful love story, and of 90’s revival, is that everyone deserves a second chance. Just don’t forget to ditch the diary first…
4) Don’t Follow The Crowd – Originality Always Pays Off:
The opening image of Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken (1916) is of an individual who, when faced with two divergent pathways, chooses to travel down the more wild, uncultivated track. The speaker of the poem deduces that this track’s untamed, natural appearance is a result of it having been seldom traversed by other people, and as he proceeds further and further on, concludes that he has chosen the best route. The speaker’s decision not to follow the road down which many have trodden, but to follow his own inclination and stamp out his own path seems to be an assurance to the reader that it is always better to be original and to take risks in the pursuit of personal content and achievement, rather than to follow the crowd and settle for an ordinary life which lacks real fulfilment.
5) Keep Persevering – There Is Always A Light At The End of The Tunnel:
Few literary characters have had a more miserable existence than the eponymous heroine of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847). After family deaths, being orphaned, imprisonment in an ominous red room, another death, another death after that, and disappointment in love, Jane feels ready to pack it all in, but thinks better of it and is determined to work as hard as she always has in order to regain independence and self-fulfilment. Eventually – after the revelation of a couple more deaths – Jane is given the happy ending she deserves. Jane Eyre’s story is a testament to us all to never stop persevering even though it may seem impossible to go on: hard work will always be rewarded in the end.
Happy reading to all of you book-worms!