H o w t o R e a d L i t e r a t u r e1 7 4exactly imposing beasts, and may thus conveniently lend their
name to lowish- life characters like Ron.
We may also note the remarkable number of words which begin
like Voldemort with V and which have negative connotations:
villain, vice, vulture, vandal, venomous, vicious, venal, vain, vapid,
vituperative, vacuous, voracious, vampire, virulent, vixen, voyeur,
vomit, venture capitalist, vertigo, vex, vulgar, vile, viper, virago,
violent, verkrampte, vindictive, vermin, vengeful, voyeur, vigilante
and (for enthusiasts of traditional ways of performing Irish music)
Van Morrison. A V- sign is an insulting, symbolically castrating
gesture. Voldemort means ‘flight of death’ in French, but there may
also be a suggestion of ‘vole’, another less- than- majestic creature.
Perhaps there are also hints of ‘vault’ and ‘mould’.
There are literary critics who would not consider the Harry
Potter novels worth discussing. In their view, they are not of suffi-
cient merit to count as literature. It is to this question of goodness
and badness in literature that we can now turn.