Damour's essay, "Harry Potter and the Magical Looking Glass: Reading the Secret Life of the Preadolescent, discusses why the Harry Potter series has such an appeal to children. She analyzes Harry through a psychoanalytic and developmental perspective. This fits into the theme of absence of parents because children must learn to come to terms with difficult lessons, Harry's lesson being that his parents were murdered by someone who is also looking to kill him. She discusses Freud's idea of "the fantasy of the family romance" which relates to Harry yearning for his parents whom he will never have a real relationship with.
Damour, Lisa. "Harry Potter and the Magical Looking Glass: Reading the Secret Life of the Preadolescent". Reading Harry Potter. Ed. Anatol, Giselle L. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003. 15-24. Print.