MAPACA

Mid-Atlantic Popular &
American Culture Association

Harry Dresden, the protagonist of Jim Butcher’s supernatural detective fiction series The Dresden Files, is Chicago’s only professional wizard. In Butcher’s fictional version of our own world, many humans like Harry are born with innate magical abilities and dubbed “wizards.” Wizards are not the only magical entities in the series, however; vampires, werewolves, faeries, and countless other creatures exist in The Dresden Files. Human magic users are governed by The White Council of Wizards who fight against the use of what they consider black magic, or magic that causes intentional or unintentional harm to others. As a teenager, Harry is rescued from a death sentence – the standard penalty for use of black magic – by another wizard who sees, and promises to nurture, the humanity within Harry. Harry, in turn, grows to believe in a gray area, because he sees that the world of magic is not so simple as white versus black or good versus evil. Partly because of his experience, Harry chooses to distance himself from his fellow wizards by living and working among “regular” people. Furthermore, Harry’s point of view provides him with a unique power: he is able see goodness in those dubbed evil or inhuman. Although Harry uses his magical skills to solve mysteries, his real heroics lie in giving a chance to people and creatures who are victims of the bifurcated moral structure of the magical world. By uncovering the humanity in so-called monsters, Harry repeatedly shatters the preconceived notions of the magical world, and saves countless lives along the way.