Evil With a Heart of Gold Bryan Baum In the Harry Potter series we see a constant struggle between all of the characters, both good and evil, for their desire of power. It is their differing responses to that desire that differentiate them from each other. However, this clear-cut dichotomy is not as simple in The Lord of the Rings and His Dark Materials. In these other texts we see similar themes of good versus evil, yet they are much more complex. There is this idea of a clear separation between good and evil, but these works show that there are more complicated cases because people can change. Thus, it makes more sense to say that particular actions are good and others are evil. The real difference between good and evil is that a good person, no matter what mistakes they have made in the past, eventually sacrifices his or her craving for power because he or she realizes that there are more important things in life. In Harry Potter, the character of Dumbledore shows a clear representation of how power can corrupt a person. Dumbledore and Grindelwald are both consumed by their superiority over muggles and plot to take over their society using magic. They justify this fact by saying that taking control would be “FOR THE GREATER GOOD” (Rowling, Deathly Hallows, 357) and feel that as Dumbeldore says, “that power gives us the right to rule” (Rowling, Deathly Hallows, 357). Their desire for power leads them to begin a quest to search for the Deathly Hallows, which would allow them to conquer death. Aberforth, Dumbledore’s brother, tries to thwart their plan, which leads to a fight and the eventual death of Dumbledore’s sister Ariana. This incident made Dumbledore realize that his craving for power changed him into a different person. In his book, Some
