Major Themes, Influences, and Artistic Styles

If anyone were to read any of the seven books or just know the story itself, it would be known that one of the mjor themes the J.K. Rowling writes about is Death. "My books are largely about death. They open with the death of Harry's parents. There is Voldemort's obsession with conquering death and his quest for immortality at any price, the goal of anyone with magic. I so understand why Voldemort wants to conquer death. We're all frightened of it." Throughout the series, there are both deaths of good guys and bad that show the greatest fear of most people, the fear of someone loved dying. J.K. Rowling is quoted to say that "[she doresn't have] the faintest idea where [her] ideas come from, or how [her] imagination works. [She's] just grateful that it does, because it gives [her] more entertainment than it gives anyone else." Rowling has sited some of her influences for Harry Potter being everything from British folklore and mythology to the Bible, and Shakespeare's Macbeath to Jane Austen's Emma. J.K. Rowling is mainly a fantasy writer and she has many writing characteristics that make her distinct from other writers. For example, she makes up her own words for creatures (thestral, hippogriff) and uses latin for spells in the book. (lumos, crucio). She also has the most unusual names for her characters, like Mundungus Fletcher and Luna Lovegood, that are also very memorable.