Almost all books that are fiction have a variation of their themes either chaos and/or order. Harry Potter and the Sourcer's Stone is a good book to analyze when taking an in-depth look at the theme of order and chaos. This book goes back and forth between these two themes a lot.
Harry, being one of the main characters, is tossed from very chaotic situations throughout the book. He goes from order and having his life under control once he gets his letters to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The first switch from order to chaos was when the letters from Hogwarts were flying all over the Dursley’s home and he could not get one. That was a chaotic moment in the main character’s role.
The whole book Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle through chaos to try and prevail and bring back order. Essentially in chaos and order themed books it is more of a versus type situation. The main characters are forced to struggle through and make order. For instance in Harry Potter the three main characters struggle to fight through tasks that are rebellious acts. When they were trying to get past Fluffy the three headed dog; the series of tasks they had to complete where chaotic tasks that tried to stop them from maintaining order which is stopping Voldemort from getting the stone and setting things in the wizarding world back to normal.
Sometimes the theme of Chaos v. Order is intertwined with the theme of good v. evil. These two go hand in hand with one another, especially in the novel of Harry Potter. The good searches for order in both Hogwarts and the wizarding world whereas the evil search to destroy the order by conveying havoc and chaos to the people who oppose them.
Chaos is derived from what scientist call the chaos theory. This is essentially the study of nonlinear events in a linear manner. That means, in literature, that random events are placed in a book in almost a predictable fashion. Ex: When Harry Potter goes through tasks with Ron and Hermione to get to the Stone and Voldemort. You know do not know what lie ahead, which is chaos in itself, however it is predictable that there are difficult events which lie ahead because they find out from Professor McGonagall that the teachers set the trap themselves. You can infer that the traps will be difficult to pass but you just do not know what they are.
Chaos and order go hand in hand with one another, just as good and evil do. The point must be reached where chaos and order are formed together and work together for the better good of nature and/or the situation; or one triumphs over the other.
Harry, being one of the main characters, is tossed from very chaotic situations throughout the book. He goes from order and having his life under control once he gets his letters to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The first switch from order to chaos was when the letters from Hogwarts were flying all over the Dursley’s home and he could not get one. That was a chaotic moment in the main character’s role.
The whole book Harry, Ron and Hermione struggle through chaos to try and prevail and bring back order. Essentially in chaos and order themed books it is more of a versus type situation. The main characters are forced to struggle through and make order. For instance in Harry Potter the three main characters struggle to fight through tasks that are rebellious acts. When they were trying to get past Fluffy the three headed dog; the series of tasks they had to complete where chaotic tasks that tried to stop them from maintaining order which is stopping Voldemort from getting the stone and setting things in the wizarding world back to normal.
Sometimes the theme of Chaos v. Order is intertwined with the theme of good v. evil. These two go hand in hand with one another, especially in the novel of Harry Potter. The good searches for order in both Hogwarts and the wizarding world whereas the evil search to destroy the order by conveying havoc and chaos to the people who oppose them.
Chaos is derived from what scientist call the chaos theory. This is essentially the study of nonlinear events in a linear manner. That means, in literature, that random events are placed in a book in almost a predictable fashion. Ex: When Harry Potter goes through tasks with Ron and Hermione to get to the Stone and Voldemort. You know do not know what lie ahead, which is chaos in itself, however it is predictable that there are difficult events which lie ahead because they find out from Professor McGonagall that the teachers set the trap themselves. You can infer that the traps will be difficult to pass but you just do not know what they are.
Chaos and order go hand in hand with one another, just as good and evil do. The point must be reached where chaos and order are formed together and work together for the better good of nature and/or the situation; or one triumphs over the other.
Works Cited
"Chaos Theory." What Is ? N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2012. <http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/chaos-theory>.
"Literary Order and Chaos." Literary Order and Chaos. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2012. <http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~tpl/texts/order.html>.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter & Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic,1999.
Russell, D. (2008). Literature for children: A short introduction (6th ed). New York: Allyn & Bacon.