I sorted out my thoughts & opinion on fantasies and scribbled them onto a paper when I was in my XI std…..I studied in D.A.V Matriculation H.S School and this article was published in my school magazine…..Don’t blame me if it is not very matured….look at it as an article by a 15-year old boy!(as i wrote it at that time)….
THE WORLD OF FANTASY
To you the world of fantasy may look completely different from our world, yet they both share the same objective and some resemblances .Evil powers are rising and spreading like fire everywhere. Only the good have the ability and heart to put an end to them. Fantasy, once was considered childish magic stuff by the adults of India.
However nowadays it is accepted by them especially due to books like the Lord of the Rings and some authors like J.R.R.Tolkien and J.K.Rowling. Now let us enter the world of fantasy and compare it with the present world using 2 fantasy books (or series) namely the Harry Potter series by J.K.Rowling and Stravaganza-The City of Masks (which is also a series,trilogy,though we will be seeing the first part alone) by Mary Hoffman which are completely different from each other.
Well, let us see the objectives first. As you must know both the stories have the same objective:
A war between the good and the evil. In the Harry potter series it is a war between the famous Harry Potter and the dark wizard Lord Voldemort along his many followers like Lucius Malfoy.In Stravaganza it is a war between the young boy Lucien and the di chimicis headed by Ronaldo di chimici. Of course the evil is crushed by the good at las
t in both the books.Harry Potter has a magical wizarding world and a muggle(Non-Magical) world (which is actually the present or normal world) while Stravaganza -The City of Masks has a 16th century world and a 21st century world(which is actually the present or normal world).In Harry Potter ,the main attraction is the magic stuff that is the wizarding world especially Hogwarts (the school of witchcraft and wizardry ) Stravaganza-The City of Masks main attraction is the art of Stravaganza through which you may travel to the 16th century world if you are in the 21st century world and vice versa.
There is a way to enter the other than normal worlds in both the stories .In Harry Potter the entry to the magical world is a wall between platform 9 and 10 in London’s Paddington station and in Stravaganza you can enter the 16th (or the 21st) century if you have a talisman which is usually an object that is brought from the other world.
There, of course, is always a difference in clothing, food, customs, and living beings and even in games, between the normal world and the fantasy world. In Hogwarts, the students and wizards wear long cloaks and tall hats (One that speaks and thinks and even reads your mind!!!) while in the 16th century world in Stravaganza-The City of Masks people wear different types of weird masks We find that in Hogwarts the food is very different ( and some magical too!) with Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts’ Every Flavored Beans etc., Lucien’s friend 
of the 16th century is amazed to hear about the present day dishes like pizzas , burgers, etc.,
Fantasies usually have fantastic beasts and creatures. Harry Potter is no exception to that. It has weird beasts and creatures like three headed dogs, basilisks, dragons, unicorns, goblins etc. Stravaganza – The City of Masks is an exception. Both the fantasies have Divination as a part of them.
Although the games they play are very strange (and interesting), they do have some resemblances. In Harry potter a part of the game Quidditch resembles basketball. While the chess they play is almost the same except the coins move like real men.
Though the author’s imagination is worthy of praising it i
s to be noted that the author’s ability and quality is proved by the way they have made the seemingly incredible things believable.
Fantasies are a runaway hit in foreign countries, if they are really good. Harry Potter alone has made its author richer than the Queen of England. However, apart from making the publisher’s and authors a lot of money, they make a huge impact on all our minds, particularly the young ones. True Friendship, Bravery, Helping others is some thing that they normally teach. They are normally filled with huge suspense while the young minds are left to think about the future.
So, fantasies particularly the HP, do have a huge impact on the society, after all a billion readers can’t be fools!
From this, we can conclude that although fantasies seem childish to some (or many) they do have a good (and important) objective along with giving us a lot of pleasure. So let us appreciate them and hope that the present world’s objectives are attained just like in the fantasy world.
. For a man whose second novel is The Firm it is not up to the mark, but it certainly is not among the not-so-good books of Grisham. It keeps you wondering, how Grisham has criminal for a hero, but you know when you finish the book, Grisham didn’t fail you. Believe me, you won’t regret reading this book!
