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Makenna Mattal 

Salena Parker 

ENGL 1301.940 

10/9/2021 

Harry Potter and The Rhetorical Analysis 

Harry Potter has become one of the most beloved movie franchises since the debut of the

first movie in 2001. As I have gotten older and re-watched the series countless times, the more

mature and real-world themes have made themselves clear. The importance of unity, how your

trauma fuels both negative and positive behavior, and governmental corruption are all themes

specifically prominent in Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix. The 5th movie in the fran-

chise takes place around main protagonist, Harry Potter. He was made famous by Voldemort, the

infamous dark wizard, who killed Harry’s parents and attempted but failed to kill him. Harry an-

nounces to the world that Voldemort, has returned to full power. The wizarding worlds govern-

ment, the Ministry of Magic, is in denial of this and tries to discredit Harry in any way they

can. This film captivates its multi-generational audiences by using fantasy and adventure with a

touch of humor. It is timeless in a way that there is something for every age, however, the more

serious themes are quite glaring.  

 Throughout the movie, Harry and his best friends, Ron and Hermione, as well as The Or-

der of the Phoenix, a group of wizards fighting against the dark arts, stand as a united front

against Voldemort and the death eaters and try to spread their truth to gain people for their

side. According to Dr. Michael Laitman, “...the importance of unity is the importance of our very

survival, and whether we live our lives harmoniously or painfully.” (Laitman). This is a per-

fect illustration of the reality that Harry and his friends were living while at school this
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year. They were not allowed to use magic to defend themselves, so they took matters into their

own hands and formed a club called Dumbledore’s Army where Harry would teach defensive

magic to a group of his peers. Ultimately without the knowledge and skills to defend themselves

against dark magic, Voldemort and the death eaters would be much more likely to take over

and kill more than half of the wizarding community. It is because of this unifying club that Harry

and his friends were eventually successful in the demise of the Dark Lord (Voldemort).  

During the series, Harry Potter suffered numerous traumas that would’ve destroyed a nor-

mal person mentally. Said traumas all came to a head in this movie and really made Harry look

inward to decide how they will affect his thinking and actions. Instead of taking the easy option

of succumbing to the dark arts, he took all the horrible things that have happened to him and

used them to fuel his efforts against Voldemort and his sympathizers. Cheryl Holm-Hansen

states, “The term “resilience” is generally used to describe the capacity of people to success-

fully adapt and recover, even in the face of highly stressful and traumatic experiences.” (Holm-

Hansen). This is a faultless description of Harry, in most cases. Many times, in the

film the anger and frustration caused by his traumas pushed him to act recklessly. This is very

apparent when he lost his temper numerous times in class and ended up in several deten-

tions with the new teacher from the Ministry, Professor Umbridge. On the other hand, the nega-

tive circumstances Harry found himself in guided him to form Dumbledore’s Army to teach his

friends how they should’ve been taught in the first place. Despite the horrible experiences

he had, I believe that Harry’s resilience is what fueled him to never waver in his story of the

Dark Lord’s return even in the face of the Ministry of Magic actively trying to discredit him. 

The most notable theme in Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix is that of govern-

mental corruption. Early in the film it is said that “Fudge (the Minister of Magic) is using all his
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power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet, to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord

has returned.” (Harry Potter 00:15:50- 00:16:00). This quote sets the tone for the whole film in

that the Minister of Magic is hellbent on discrediting Harry any way he can. Because of

this, the ministry inserts one of their own into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Pro-

fessor Umbridge is found to be the most corrupt of all and with the power of the minister on her

side, she weasels her way up to becoming headmistress of Hogwarts and makes it a nearly ex-

pellable offense to contradict the ministry’s beliefs on the resurgence of Voldemort. This shows

that because she is associated with the ministry, she is essentially able to do as she pleases with

no repercussions. Umbridge’s corruption is most clearly demonstrated in the scene where she is

about to use one of the three unforgivable curses to torture Harry and his friends and tries to ra-

tionalize her actions in doing so (Harry Potter 01:39:45- 01:41:39). This act is the turning point

in realizing the extent of the Ministry’s corruption and that they would go to any length to hush

the notion of the Dark Lord’s return. The once ministry official, now headmistress of Hogwarts,

rationalizing torture of students for her gain in the name of the Minister of Magic is the epitome

of governmental corruption.

Throughout Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, very serious topics are

touched upon. The importance of unity, trauma, and governmental corruption are

themes that we can relate to our everyday life and cause us to deeply connect to Harry and

his struggles. Due to the length of the film and the weight of these topics, I feel they were not ex-

plored as thoroughly as they could have been. The limitation of the format holds this movie back

in that if each theme were realized to their fullest extent, the film could’ve gone from good to

great. I believe this could’ve been achieved if Harry Potter had been made into a TV series. De-
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spite this, The Order of the Phoenix is timeless in a way that the movie and its themes will be re-

latable for years to come.

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Works Cited

Laitman, Michael. “Why Is Unity Important to Us?” Dr. Michael Laitman, 10 Feb. 2021,

https://www.michaellaitman.com/nature/why-is-unity-important-to-us/. 1 Oct. 2021

Holm-Hansen, Cheryl. “How Can We Promote Resilience and Recovery for People Who Have

Experienced Traumatic Events?” Trauma Resiliency Model PDF University, Amherst H

Wilder Foundation Established 1906, 2 Oct. 2020, https://www.best-university.com/

trauma-resiliency-model-pdf/. 1 Oct. 2021

Yates, David. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Warner Bros., 2007