Food is an energizer, food is culture, food is sharing and it can be an expression of love. Literature uses food in many different ways because it is something that any reader can connect with immediately. Everyone knows different cultures have different foods, so authors can put their heroes in situations where they eat odd foods to express a drastic cultural change. Authors can build trust between their hero and other characters by having them share food, just as they can easily build tension by using food as deception. Since even heroes need food plot points arise around the lack of food while on grand journeys, which can lead to new adventures, mistakes or new friends. Tolkien, Rowling, Lewis and many others use food expertly to express these ideas, whether it be the odd snacks of the wizarding world or the dwarves trying to avoid being ogre snacks. Food is important because it provides the underlying culture of the world, the villains, the monsters, the caretakers can all be quickly described by what they eat, how they eat and who they eat with. Culture is a huge part of our world and the one thing that many people can really enjoy with any culture is the food. Look in most cities and the choice of Chinese, Indian, Ethiopian, Thai, and French food (the list goes on) is everywhere. People love to experience culture and food is the quickest way to anyone's heart. So it is understandable that many author's use food to really show where the hero is at the moment. When Harry Potter first got on the train to Hogwarts, finally having money he wanted to spend it on chocolate, only to find that the wizard world does not have what he expected, “- but the woman didn't have Mar Bars.
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What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. “ (107-108). Being that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is aimed towards children it makes sense that Rowling utilized snacks and junk food to truly showcase the cultural difference through food. Obviously by that point in the story the reader has already noticed the wizarding world is quite different, brooms, magic walls, flying and just magic everywhere, but the food on the train just exemplified the difference, just as pad thai and poutine show the exceptional difference in cultural foods. But, not all the food was magical in the wizarding world, often the food was fairly “human”, but the presentation of it is what creates the contrast between the Dursley's and Hogwarts. Where at Dursley's there was an obvious hierarchy with Harry at the bottom, at Hogwarts the food is wondrously spread through magic so all the wizards could feast equally, not only showing the culture, but the sheer excellence and riches of Hogwarts and the wizarding world. In J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit”, a few different cultural foods and eating patterns are shown to highlight the changing cultures on the adventure (especially since food is so important to Bilbo). “The Hobbit”'s bear-man Beorn supplies an interesting meal and rations to Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves, as he provides them food of various nuts and honey. Providing such a simple, nature based meal shows Beorn's connection to nature and his love for other living beings as he does not provide meat, in fact Gandalf warns Bilbo against mentioning the word furrier around Beorn at all. The simple, natural food lets the reader know that although Beorn is apparently extremely dangerous, he is also really caring about nature and is likely a strong ally against the goblins that are fairly industrial. In contrast to the meat eating trolls, who care about nothing but their own stomachs, or the eagles providing the adventurers with only various animals to eat (and the means to cook them)the cultural change in food and eating habits shows the wide ranges of cultures on Bilbo's adventure. Tolkien makes great note on how important food is to Bilbo and the Dwarves, as well as to most other people or creatures,
What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. “ (107-108). Being that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is aimed towards children it makes sense that Rowling utilized snacks and junk food to truly showcase the cultural difference through food. Obviously by that point in the story the reader has already noticed the wizarding world is quite different, brooms, magic walls, flying and just magic everywhere, but the food on the train just exemplified the difference, just as pad thai and poutine show the exceptional difference in cultural foods. But, not all the food was magical in the wizarding world, often the food was fairly “human”, but the presentation of it is what creates the contrast between the Dursley's and Hogwarts. Where at Dursley's there was an obvious hierarchy with Harry at the bottom, at Hogwarts the food is wondrously spread through magic so all the wizards could feast equally, not only showing the culture, but the sheer excellence and riches of Hogwarts and the wizarding world. In J.R.R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit”, a few different cultural foods and eating patterns are shown to highlight the changing cultures on the adventure (especially since food is so important to Bilbo). “The Hobbit”'s bear-man Beorn supplies an interesting meal and rations to Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves, as he provides them food of various nuts and honey. Providing such a simple, nature based meal shows Beorn's connection to nature and his love for other living beings as he does not provide meat, in fact Gandalf warns Bilbo against mentioning the word furrier around Beorn at all. The simple, natural food lets the reader know that although Beorn is apparently extremely dangerous, he is also really caring about nature and is likely a strong ally against the goblins that are fairly industrial. In contrast to the meat eating trolls, who care about nothing but their own stomachs, or the eagles providing the adventurers with only various animals to eat (and the means to cook them)the cultural change in food and eating habits shows the wide ranges of cultures on Bilbo's adventure. Tolkien makes great note on how important food is to Bilbo and the Dwarves, as well as to most other people or creatures,