Moves Beyond Magic—an Analysis of Critical Realism in J. K. Rowling’s the Casual Vacancy

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Abstract: This article intends to analyze the critical realism writing style in J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy by focusing on the narration of Chapter One and the first part of Chapter Two. Combining with a brief review of the theory of critical realism in fictions, which debuted in the 19th century English literature, the passage finally gives a personal understanding of the writing style. Key Words: Critical Realism, Characteristics, features, society 1. Preface As J.K. Rowling's first novel for grown-ups, The Casual Vacancy is an impressive work with adult features. The novel can be regarded as a major turning point of Rowling’s writing career, for she took a giant step to move beyond the magic, after the big success of the Harry Potter series. By taking a glance of The Casual Vacancy, we can see that the novel starts with a tragedy—the death of the character Barry Fairbrother, and through other characters’ unconcerned, maybe even gloating reaction, we shall feel the miserable life the novel presents, and realistic narration, like a sword, is used by Rowling in the novel to stick deeply into the evil and corrupt of the real word, along with a sharp criticism. As a literary trend, critical realism is used to objectively and faithfully reveal and criticize the darkness of the society. First appeared in the thirties of the 19th century, the usage of critical realism reached its climax after ten to twenty years. The vacancy of the title occurs when Barry Fairbrother, a local councilor, dies while in office. This is the key event that triggers the action in the superficially idyllic West Country village of Pagford, and several different townsfolk begin posting their enemies’ dirty secrets on the town council’s website, under the “Ghost of Barry Fairbrother” pseudonym . Through the very first two chapters of the novel we can see a bunch of typical

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