Microsoft Word final-current Developments at the Intersection of British Children-online-version doc

Particularly in Rowling’s Harry Potter novels morals and values are passed on 
through the deeds of the three main characters and the recurrent philosophical talks of Harry 
with Hogwarts’ headmaster Dumbledore at the end of the first five novels.
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Here, Harry is 
taught how to come to terms with what has happened, to digest the events and experiences 
and to fit them into the overall picture of life the boy is forming. Dumbledore assists and 
guides this evaluation process with worldly wisdom, explanations and answers to Harry’s 
questions as well as advice, pointing the way ahead. Illustrated by means of the competitive 
point system of the four houses, correct and desirable behaviour such as courage and bravery 
are rewarded, whereas unacceptable behaviour is punished. A true hero is shown to 
distinguish himself by consciously deciding to make positive, individual choices and by 
standing in for the consequences. The older Harry gets and the more experience he gathers, 
the more subtle the worldly wisdom conveyed to him becomes. Whereas the introductory 
novels cover basic values and allow room for funny aphorisms,
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the later, more serious ones 
focus on moral obligations, matters of conscience and existential problems and do not allow 
this room any more, even though they could.
Yet again it is Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy which serves as an example for 
morals, values and messages passed on in current British fantasy novels for children. 
Although the judgement of good and evil is highly important for both works, Pullman’s more 
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As for instance in Hussey’s The Valley of Secrets, Brennan’s Faerie novels and Colfer’s Artemis Fowl series.
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Also, the obligatory villain-talk at the end of each novel, i.e. the respective final confrontation of the two 
sworn enemies Harry and Voldemort, reveals negative behaviour; thus showing how not to behave if you do 
not want to be evil.
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For example in Rowling, The Chamber of Secrets, p. 242. 

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complex and profound novels contain a greater variety of crucial points. They do not permit 
straightforward judgement but require intense consideration, thus compounding the coming to 
a satisfactory conclusion to matters of conscience. Right from the beginning, the overall tone 
of His Dark Materials is more serious as in the first Harry Potter novels. The above-
mentioned morals, values and messages can all be found in His Dark Materials, too. Honed to 
the biblical subject of the Fall, the behaviour of the main characters Lyra and Will, and, in a 
mitigated form that of Lyra’s parents Mrs Coulter and Lord Asriel, is presented and judged 
under the aspects of good and evil, trust and betrayal, sin and atonement as well as love and 
loss. Against this background Pullman’s trilogy makes use of the many occasions offering 
themselves for discussing morals, values and messages. In His Dark Materials too, the right 
of self-determination and making choices is considered an important feature, thus emphasised 
repeatedly.
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As the trilogy shows, sometimes the best, yet most difficult decisions have to be 
made against one’s own desires or preferences.
In order to be able to defeat the angel, Lord Asriel and Mrs Coulter have to unite
their 
forces, overcome their past and any negative feelings and to sacrifice themselves for the 
benefit and the future of the next generation, symbolised by Lyra and Will. Similarly, the 
latter too have to work together so as to first understand and then to fulfil their fate. Love 
gives them the necessary strength to bear their future life-long separation and to actively build 
the Republic of Heaven in their respective Oxford. It unites them in their separation, 
permitting them to grow with their task. As in other current British fantasy novels for 
children, the message is clear: If required, one has to learn to give up one’s own happiness for 
the benefit of humankind, even if it is painful since it comes at great cost. Also, putting 
oneself last instead of seeking personal advantage is revealed to be true heroism as it takes a 
lot more courage than being selfish. 
A further crucial point concerns the awareness of one’s acts, its sharpening and 
control. Whereas young children tend to do things without consciously thinking about them, 
adults are expected to always know exactly what they are doing and for which purpose. In His 
Dark Materials
it is suggested that a child’s playful, instinctive mastering of its world has to 
be revised when growing up, since then learning and hard work supersede play and easiness. 
This development is illustrated by Lyra’s ability to read the alethiometer. As long as she is an 
innocent child, she can interpret it instinctively. Once she becomes conscious of her actions 
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Pullman, The Amber Spyglass, pp. 503, 525.

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and falls in love, Lyra leaves this innocence behind when she grows up and faces difficult 
studies in order to remaster reading the alethiometer.
Morals, values and messages play an important role in Crossley-Holland’s historical 
Arthur
novels, too. Set in the Middle Ages, this trilogy is firmly rooted in chivalry and its 
code of conduct. A marked sense of justice, noble-mindedness, honour, bravery and faith 
belong to the knightly ideals
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at the time of the crusades, supplementing the values already 
mentioned above. On their mission to spread Christendom, the knights’ conduct is expected to 
be governed by responsibility und duty to the weak and the poor. Ideally, a knight should be a 
role model: Strong and unyielding, yet also charitable and merciful. Young Arthur is 
confronted with the morals and decisions of the mythical king Arthur as well as the real life of 
the crusader-knights and has to draw his own conclusions from what he experiences. The 
clash between ideals and reality makes him reflect, judge and revise morals and values and 
adapt them to his own situation.