Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer by Lykke Guanio-Uluru (review)

In Ethics and Form in Fantasy Literature: Tolkien, Rowling and Meyer, Lykke Guanio-Uluru's purpose is to evaluate the "formative ethical influence" of best-selling fantasy novels (1). The popularity of The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the Twilight series "makes their reflection (or refraction) of cultural values relevant to understanding contemporary Western society"; these are our "best-selling" ethics, and Guanio-Uluru has mined 7,000 pages of text to deliver a rich and sprawling analysis of their ethical arguments (1).

Guanio-Uluru draws on James Phelan's rhetorical theory of narrative and ethics to map the "ethical progression" of each series, arguing that the narrative strategies in each text create a discernable "ethical universe" (2). A consistent theme in the analysis is a theoretical conversation between Farah Mendlesohn's argument that there is "an 'unavoidable' link between narrative form and ideology" and Phelan's argument that narrative effects are ethically dynamic, stemming from complex interactions between narrative aesthetics, form, and the reader's ethical positioning (13, 234). Guanio-Uluru questions Mendlesohn's belief in a "rigid" relationship between ethics and rhetorical form; instead, the complexity and depth of Guanio-Uluru's analysis "suggests that individual texts tend to rely on dynamic combinations of formal patterns according to their ethical agenda rather than stay confined to any single and 'static' formal or ideological 'template'" (14). As a result, Guanio-Uluru not only draws on Phelan's work but also acts to validate it and expand its application to works for younger readers.

Guanio-Uluru's introductory section on methodology is thorough and useful, foregrounding her use of the contested notion of the "implied author" in the work of Wayne C. Booth and Dan Shen. In connecting the primary texts (the three main series of the authors indicated in the title) to contemporary ethical theory, Plato, Augustine, and Boethius are given some treatment, but the succeeding chapters do not dwell too much on them. The discussion of ethics in the primary texts is concentrated on discovery of how the aesthetic characteristics of the primary text communicate value assessments of right and wrong, good and evil. For each series, Guanio-Uluru focuses on how the narrative presentation influences readers to choose moral sides. This approach of eschewing lengthy discussion of ethical theory does not leave the ethical discussion feeling unmoored; on the contrary, it keeps Guanio-Uluru's discussion focused on the primary texts, allowing her to dig into the narratives to provide a thorough discussion, undistracted by too-lengthy forays into Plato. The accompanying plot summaries provided by Guanio-Uluru are ample, allowing a reader to compensate if they simply couldn't make it through seven tomes of Harry Potter, but are still curious about the ethical realities of Harry Potter "occulture" (88). Readers who have enjoyed any of the series that Uluru analyzes will feel that they have had a long and satisfying visit back to the worlds of Middle Earth, Hogwarts, and Forks.

The analysis of The Lord of the Rings is as sprawling as the Norse mythical traditions that were Tolkien's sources. And fittingly so, as the ethical vision of the implied author is "to amalgamate something of the (heroic) boldness permeating the Norse vision of life with the ideal of compassion and self-sacrifice on which the Christian faith is based" (47). Christian ethical values discussed include Bombadil's value of self-mastery and the collective consequences of individual choice (54, 75). Harry Potter, on the other hand, is presented as a text that utilizes some Christian symbolism and recognizable Christian story arcs, but ultimately the ethical rhetoric of the text rejects the notion of a spiritual reality that imparts morality (156–57).

The chapters on The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter are engaging, but it is when Guanio-Uluru compares the two series that the analysis shines brightest. While she concludes that the Christian ethical vision of The Lord of...