J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment in the Harry Potter series. In brief, Sirius Black has escaped from wizard prison, where he was imprisoned for murdering a crowd of people in the middle of a busy street, and everyone believes he’s coming to kill Harry. When Harry learns that Sirius was directly responsible for the murder of his parents, he sets out to track Sirius down and avenge their deaths.
Deviating slightly from my attempt to read these books with a fresh eye, I recall that previously, Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite installment of the series when I read them for the first time. One of Harry’s central conflicts as a protagonist is how he deals with the fact that he is an orphan. Prisoner of Azkaban not only deals with this subject, but dives headlong into it with a gleeful sense of abandon. Throughout the book we follow Harry coming to understanding the man he believed responsible for his parents’ deaths, eventually reconciling with him when he learns that his godfather, Sirius Black was not culpable for their deaths as Harry believed.
This realization prompts Harry to feel, for the first time in the series, that he still has a family. At the end of the book, this conflict seems resolved, even if its resolution is subverted by the fact that Sirius is still an escaped convict on the run from the law. Rowling’s choice to give Harry the feeling of a family, knowing that someone who can fill the need for a father-figure is out there is poignant in the extreme. More than any other aspect of the story, I was pleased by this addition.
At the end of Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling has accomplished a thorough preparation of her protagonist for the larger adventures looming before him. Sorcerer’s Stone was principally about Harry learning how the wizarding world works and how he belongs in it. Chamber of Secrets delved into the personal history of his antagonist, allowing Harry and the reader to understand the threat Harry will have to conquer by the end of the series. Finally, Prisoner of Azkaban explored Harry’s family and his own mind in great detail. With these three central aspects of her narrative established, Rowling is free to begin taking Harry into the main action of her series.
Perhaps my favorite moment in Prisoner of Azkaban was a callback to the end of The Chamber of Secrets and a general observation on the exploits of Harry Potter and company. During Professor Snape’s dressing-down of Harry Potter, he calls out the fact that Potter is a jock, and as such, is given wide-ranging freedoms which would never be accorded to any other student. It occurred to me at this point that I should have kept a tally during the novels of how many times Potter’s reckless disregard of the rules was simply hand-waved aside by the teachers and other authority figures at the school.
It is unfortunate that this observation had to come from the mouth of Snape, who up to this point in the series has only been given the slightest hints of depth beyond simply being the antagonist teacher. Had this come from Professor McGonagall or another professor, it would have stuck with the reader as a more effective observation than simply a cheap shot from the hero’s foil. That being said, it was still a worthwhile subversion of the narrative structure of blindly allowing Harry to work around and frequently against the rules in pursuit of his latest goal.
Prisoner of Azkaban is a solid entry in the Harry Potter series, accomplishing the final stages of preparation for Harry’s larger conflict with Voldemort. Rowling’s writing once again charms the reader with its smooth rhythm and carefully parceled out action sequences.
Would I recommend Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? Yes.
Score: 3.8/5
Would I keep this on my bookshelf? Yes.
-Mr. Cheddar
Would I recommend Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban? Yes.
Score: 3.8/5
Would I keep this on my bookshelf? Yes.
-Mr. Cheddar
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