What Civilization Does Harry Potter Create?

You're post bring to mind a couple key issues that bothered me about the fundemental workings of Harry's and Voldermort's relationship and the end of the book.

Are we really to believe that Lily and Harry was the first time that love happened to intercede with the Killing Curse? That this was the only time that anyone had ever acted out of true love?

I guess the answer might come fromt the prophecy, but the prophecy sort of fell by the wayside (which is fine by me. Too many prophecys can bore me)

And finally, perhaps I'm the only one who wondered at the end, but who was going to become the new Headmaster? (I don't have the book in front of me to double check, but I sure hope it didn't say and I missed it) After all that had happened, they needed a time of rebuilding and I'm not sure who was going to step in to do that. Education and helping people learn seems so important to me that this would have been a nice puzzle to solve. When Harry went up and saw them all applauding, I assumed that it was going to be him... but it wasn't.

I still have a lingering question about the "Christ figure" question. If we knew for a fact that Rowling intended for Harry to be a Christ figure, would that make any difference? There's a little known quote from her several years back in a Canadian newspaper where she was asked if she was a Christian, and her response:

"Yes, I am, which seems to offend the religious right far worse than if I said I thought there was no God. Every time I've been asked if I believe in God, I've said yes, because I do, but no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that, and I have to say that does suit me, because if I talk too freely about that I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books."

So for a long time I've suspected that the last book would be some form of Christian allegory, however loose (and I think anyone would agree that it's hardly definitive at all). I'm just curious as to whether or not Rowling's motives herself would change anything? Or are her personal religious beliefs and intentions unimportant to the question?

Thank you for this essay. I have a hard time expressing to my friends and family what exactly I got out of Harry Potter, so I will probably direct them here.

As to Harry's soul: for me, one of the clearest images of this is towards the beginning of the book, when Harry's friends drink the Polyjuice Potion to act as decoys. When Harry's hair is dropped in, the potion turns gold. Harry has, as we would say, a "heart of gold".

But at the same time, it must be recognized that Harry's friends, teachers, and others have been working very hard to make sure that he did indeed become such a golden soul. As Dumbledore remarks, his life is remarkably similar to Tom Riddle's, yet they become completely different people.

I found myself surprisingly devestated by Dobby's death. My current theory is that because Dobby had a kind of childish purity of heart, killing him was tantamount to killing a 5 year old.

Thank you so much for your essays. I have really enjoyed them.

I am a christian and all I see in this article is a bashing of the author, Do we as so called Christians act like that? I thought we were to love and pray for these people. And as for the movies and books what is the difference between the sin in those, or the sins of the world why is everyone focusing on Harry Potter? If we are teaching our children by bible standards then they would know the difference between fiction and non-fiction. It is my belief that anything you put before God is a sin, whether it be Christmas,Easter,Halloween, even the cross. 'I was once asked what I thought of Halloween and I stated anything that you put before the Lord is sin, she said"but it is evil, I told her only if you make it that way, why dont you call it candy day, dress you kids up in nice little costumes and have fun. I feel people are focusing on the least important and not on GOD!!!!!

to Orson Scott Card: as you are one of my favorite authors, it really touches me that you took the time to read this very popular "children's series" and to write such a beautiful essay. You drew my attention to some points I hadn't realized as I read, and reaffirmed for me why the tears flowed at certain points in the reading. I consider myself to be Christian, but didn't insist on making either Harry or Dumbledore to be standing for deity. Your remarks just reaffirmed for me what a remarkable thing Jo Rowling has accomplished, and (God willing) will continue to accomplish as her books are read and reread.

to Becky: I think you need to reread Mr. Card's essay, as you clearly didn't understand the points he was making! And far from "bashing" Ms. Rowling, he praised her efforts very highly. One more thing: anyone who is focusing on love (not to be confused with counterfeits) is focusing on God; you may have read somewhere that "God is love" and that "everyone who loveth is born of God, and knoweth God".

Mr Card,
Yours is one of the best essays and analysis of the Potter books I have read in a long while. It will take a place of honor and easy reference in my files on Potter et al. As I have read in many of your books, you and Ms Rowling share a sense of the divine that gets far deeper than mere celebrity infatuation and leads to some real expectations, which in turn leads to genuine hope.

By the way, Among the deaths I most grive are those of Tonks and Lupin. I love and admire Tonks attitude and spirit, and Lupin's ability to deal with who he is and still endeavor to be a positive presence. And I had to stop a while at Dobby's death. He was a hero in a very unqie way. And I cheered (quietly, everyone else was asleep at 2 am) at Kreacher's change of heart at allegiance.

I am waiting for some discussion about the 2001 Space Odyssey / baby in the background during Dumbledores final conversation with Harry, (almost) post-mortem. I'm still thinking about that one.

I finally finished the reading and turned to my favorite author who "reviews everything". If I may add a few cents.

J.K. Rowling created a masterpiece. As the great masters before her, she speaks about eternal essence of life: good and evil, love and hate, friendship and betrayal, sacrifice and cowardliness, fighting evil or submitting to it, freedom or subjugation, about special powers that require special responsibilities, and how Harry and his friends are growing up and struggling to find the meaning of, well, everything. It is very telling that very different people have found themselves equally enchanted by the books.

It seems to me that you can be a devoted Christian, or an atheist (as I am), or a card carrying member of Republican party or Democratic party (in US), or practically any party out there, a conservative (that's me) or a Leftist - you will end up rooting for the same group of good guys. In time when we complain about a shrillness of a political discourse, and can't agree about anything, this is a very welcome phenomenon. We share in our Judeo-Christian humanistic civilization much more than people realize. And looks like these values are universal enough, and the writing is good enough for the book to be adored in Japan, China and India as well. (I'd love to see reports from the Muslim world as well).

OSC is exactly right when he sees these books continue building our civilization, "a civilization worth living in". It brings me a renewed optimism that millions of people "cried for joy as much as grief at the end of the Harry Potter books" the same way as I did.

Uncle Orson,

I really enjoyed reading your analysis of the series in light of religion. It definitely made me realize some new ways of seeing the stories that I hadn't realized before.

On the topic of Harry's acting on his impulses of love, I was particularly impressed when he was having his conversation with Dumbledore at King's Cross when he kept being distracted by the whimpering baby nearby. His first impulse is to offer assistance and Dumbledore responded that there wasn't anything that he could do.

That baby was Voldemort's fragment of soul, and whether or not Harry realized exactly what it was, his impulse was that of compassion.

I'm looking forward to additional thoughts on the book(s) that you may be sharing on Hatrack.com.

THanks!
Dennis

I love how the mark of truly rich story telling (or myth making if you like) is that people from entirely different religious perspectives can all find something in it that affirms their own world view.

For me, as a Buddhist, I saw a vivid depiction of Harry as a Bodhisattva. In the scene where Harry has been cut free from the negative part of his soul and from the pain, and emotional turmoil of the battle back on earth, he chooses to return for the benefit of others. It's difficult to leave the peace of Nirvana, but he takes on the pains of re-entry to relieve the suffering of others.

Interesting that the two points of the book that brought me to tears were the same two that got to Mr. Card. I think the death of Dobby was a critical juncture for Harry. Clearly, the physical labor of digging the grave was a time of reflection for him. This is one of the many important spiritual lessons taught in this book.

Overall, Harry's journey of meaning-making on display in this book is one of the critical elements of this plot. I was struck by the way he handled the question of what truth is. In chapter ten we read, "There it was again: choose what to believe. He wanted the truth. Why was everybody so determined that he should not get it?" That was a profound moment for me as reader, even if it took Harry a few hundred more pages before he started to see the need to trust in order to find truth. That struggle of whom and what to trust made this book compelling. In the end, Dumbledore helps Harry see that there is no reason on earth why what happens in one's head is not real. And that is the moment when Harry very deliberately chooses to show the greatest love possible by laying down his life for his friends. This is not one of his typical impulses of the goodness of his soul, this is his ultimate intentional act. And we all knew he would do it. In this, he is a literary Christ figure, as it is in the great hero tradition of literature. Here, too, we all are inspired to do the same. Isn't that the point of great fiction like this?

Uncle Orson -
Thank you. What a wonderful piece. I thought I was odd for crying at the headmasters' applause. Pride in the accomplishments of an offspring/mentee (how I imagine the previous headmasters viewed Harry) often do me in. ;)

My other spot (beyond the obvious Dobby scene, which I think you nailed it in explaining that we readers had TIME to grieve there...) was when Lily told Harry in the woods "You've been so brave." What a short line, and (tongue firmly planted in cheek) uncharacteristically lacking an adverb in dialogue attribution. Still makes my eyes well up. I could blame it on the curse of motherhood, but I'd rather put it toward what you said:

"But the moments when the tears flowed and I had to stop reading aloud were the moments of approbation, when Harry’s virtues were recognized by others."

And I agree with you too...I want to live in a civilization who laughed and cried their way through these books, loving, hoping, caring, and allowing a talented storyteller and author take us far, far away, and simultaneously deep within.

KayTi (from Hatrack Writer's Workshop)

Enjoyed your interesting analysis. I loved the books and enjoyed the sensible, between-the-lines philosophy in all the books. I wonder if Harry Potter isn't just an old-fashioned humanist who believes that the best society is built on character, integrity, love, a sense of community and personal contribution?
My only regret with the books (and I notice that you overlooked him as well) was that the character of Neville Longbottom was not more developed.

One of the best, sanest and most intellegent essays I have read on this topic for a long time.

I would, however, like to expand one point: Harry's innate ability to love.

At one point when Harry is complaining to Dumbledore that everyone says he looks like his father, D. replies that this is true - except for his he eyes. He has Lily's eyes and D. opines that *in his soul* Harry is more like his mother. {Perhaps you remember that someone once said that "Eyes are the windows of the soul." ?}

James is a bit of a rascal. Certainly as an adolescent he can be pretty unpleasant at times although he grows up to be a decent man. Lily is a different matter. Right from the start, her compassion for all around her shines through. Even as a little girl she is nice to Snape - a born outsider if ever there was one. She is kind and forgiving to her spiteful sister. She attempts to remain friends with - and an influence for good on - Snape long after anyone else would have given him the push. She even attempts to divert James from his bullying. Finally she has compassionate concern for Peter Petegrew even when he is on the point of betraying them. Thus her self-sacrificing love for her child is totally in character. The Lily who defies Voldemort is the Lily who stood up to Petunia and the Lily who stood up to James.

Lily's influence in Harry's genes is strong. Dare one suggest that Lily Evans Potter is also a "Christ-figure" ?