Middle Earth, Narnia, Hogwarts, and Animals: A Review of the Treatment of Nonhuman Animals and Other Sentient Beings in Christian-Based Fantasy Fiction

Abstract

Th e way that nonhuman animals and other nonhuman sentient beings are portrayed in the Christian-based Harry Potter series, C. S. Lewis's Narnia series, and Tolkien's Middle Earth stories is discussed from a Christian animal liberationist perspective. Middle Earth comes closest to a liberationist ideal, in that vegetarianism is connected with themes of power, healing, and spirituality. Narnia could be described as a more enlightened welfarist society where extremes of animal cruelty are frowned upon, but use of animals for food is acceptable. In contrast, the more recent Harry Potter series portrays a less enlightened attitude toward human and nonhuman animals. Animals are treated merely as ends, vegetarianism is unheard of, and the view that even iconic species have intrinsic worth is ridiculed.

Rogue elephants in the news: A cultural-discursive study.

“…Researchers in HAS come to this work from multiple angles. The many conceptualizations of animals, their social meanings, and their cultural framings have been investigated, in part, by looking at the different places where animals and/or our symbols for them are present—for example, literature (McHugh, 2009; Morris, 2009; Parry, 2016), the animal poetry of a selection of Western writers (Lawrence, 1994; Malamud, 1998a), popular media (Luke et al 2002, Boyd et al 2009, Reiss et al, 2006), a museum exhibition (Pakeman, 2013), and zoos (Malamud, 1998b).…”