Harry Potter Vs. Where The Red Fern Grows

Have you ever wondered about the difference between a literary novel and a commercial novel? Well I have. I recently read “Where the Red Fern Grows” by Wilson Rawls, which is a literary novel, and “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling, which is a commercial novel. There are many distinctions between literary and commercial novels. I was particularly interested in the differences in the characters and their behavior, the plot, and the theme of the stories.

In “Where the Red Fern Grows” the characters are very realistic and life-like. Billy is a very developing main character and the protagonist. The reader becomes very close to Billy and his family. You meet his dad, mom, two sisters, grandpa, and grandma. However, the most important parts of Billy’s family are Old Dan and Little Ann, his two hunting dogs. In the story, Billy meets and has to overcome many obstacles in his life concerning his dogs. He often prays and asks God for assistance with these problems. Nature and the hardships of life are the antagonist in the story.

“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is about a ten year old boy named Harry Potter. Harry lives with his aunt, uncle, and cousin, who are flat and static characters. When Harry goes to school he makes two best friends Ron and Hermione. The three of them are more round and developing characters. They also overcome many obstacles together. They are dramatized characters, but Harry is also presented indirectly.

“Where the Red Fern Grows” has all three types of conflict. Billy has conflicts with his parents when they do not buy him the pups and with Rubin and Rainie Pritchard when they were coon hunting. He struggles with himself when he is cutting down the largest tree in the woods, after his dogs treed their first coon. He has many battles with nature and society. He has to work and save his money to get his dogs, and then when they died, he blames God. The end of the story brings a surprising yet somewhat happy ending. Old Dan and Little Ann die towards the end and you are sad, but the book goes on. It tells that now the family will stay together and that the dogs will always be remember by the red fern. The book leaves you thinking about what happened and pondering on your own life.

In “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” Harry undergoes many conflicts and dilemmas with his friends. He had man to man conflicts with his cousin, Lord Voldemort, and an enemy from school, Draco Malfoy. He deals with himself and society, in the fact that everyone knows who he is, except him. The plot had a lot of action and kept you hooked on what you were reading. The end of the story

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