Page "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" Paragraph 13

Philip Nel highlighted the influence of Jane Austen, whom Rowling has greatly admired since the age of twelve.

Both novelists encourage re-reading, because details that look insignificant foreshadow important events or characters much later in the story-line – for example Sirius Black is briefly mentioned near the beginning of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and then becomes a major character in the third to fifth books.

Like Austen's heroines, Harry often has to re-examine his ideas near the ends of books.

Some social behaviour in the Harry Potter books is remininiscent of Austen, for example the excited communal reading of letters.

Both authors satirise social behaviour and give characters names that express their personalities.

However in Nel's opinion Rowling's humour is more based on caricature and the names she invents are more like those found in Charles Dickens's stories, and Amanda Cockrell noted that many of these express their owners ' traits through allusions that run from ancient Roman mythology to eighteenth century German literature.

Rowling, like the Narnia series ' author C. S.

Lewis, thinks there is no rigid distinction between stories for children and for adults.

Nel also noted that, like many good writers for children, Rowling combines literary genres – fantasy, young-adult fiction, boarding school stories, Bildungsroman and many others.