Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter Part II: The Good and the Not So Good

A good way to evaluate Harry Potter is to compare it to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Taking into account the facts that Tolkien’s masterpiece is the standard for fantasy literature and that Rowling is writing a slightly different genre and for a different audience, Harry Potter holds up fairly well. Nevertheless, Rowling falls short at a crucial point. That shortcoming, however, is one that much Christian thinking about God and evil shares. We desperately need to hear Tolkien in order to avoid the errors of moralism and a simplistic faith that cannot withstand the tidal waves of disappointment in the face of the hiddenness of God. The similarities between Tolkien’s and Rowling’s works are obvious. They are both fantasy literature, have a deep concern with the dangers of power, and share a typically British appreciation for normal life. The differences are just as important. Harry Potter is also a coming of age story and shows a marked preoccupation with death. The Lord of the Rings is an epic tale and so more in tune with the tragic dimension of life. As a coming of age story, Harry Potter is necessarily geared to a younger audience than Tolkien, and, at least in the earlier volumes, is at the level of intelligent older children. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione grow up, the story becomes more appropriate for adolescents and young adults. I think this is why Rowling has so much more humor than does Tolkien. Her marvelous gift for invention is used to entertain children and teens. Howlers, disgusting jelly bean flavors, and quidditch are great fun. She also includes a wonderful collection of queer beasts and odd ball characters. Tolkien is the better stylist. As an epic author his prose has a gravitas that is lacking in Rowling, and his landscape descriptions carry the reader into a world of sweeping grandeur. At times Rowling’s writing contains some painful lapses. Rowling does avoid the trap of simplistic characterization, a failing of many children’s and cosmic conflict stories. Her characters are not mere cartoon figures of pure good and evil. There is internal conflict and failure by the good. Hermione can be a prig. In addition to Ron’s adolescent addiction to snogging (which is Rowling’s fault not his), he is subject to juvenile jealousy, and Harry can feel real hatred. Harry also has to come to grips with the fact that his father had mistreated Snape, and, as a young wizard, even Dumbledore had lusted for power. Also, some of the bad characters are not purely evil. The Malfoy family is a case in point. Lucius Malfoy, a nasty bigoted man, in the end is a weak person. His wife Narcissa is too, but at the same time she is strongly devoted to her son Draco, a devotion that leads her to lie to Voldemort and save Harry Potter. Draco, the bad boy bully in all the earlier stories, still has enough decency not to want to kill Dumbledore and in the end, if not reconciled to Harry, at least has become a husband and a father who is no longer actively hostile to Potter. Both Rowling and Tolkien finish their tales in the typically British fashion in which the great cosmic battle for evil results in the reestablishment of normal life. In Tolkien the Shire is restored, and Sam becomes happily married. In Harry Potter the main characters are married and send their children to Hogwarts. Yet this return to the normal points to the most serious shortcoming of Harry Potter. Rowling’s portrayal of evil lacks the depth of Tolkien’s. Harry’s loss of his parents and friends poignantly portrays the human desire to escape the tragic consequences of death. Voldemort’s quest for immortality shows how that desire can be perverted to very evil ends. In the end, however, Harry can go on to live a normal life, having matured from his combat with evil but not being permanently marred by it. He can live a normal life even though he has a scar. The effect of evil upon Frodo is lasting, symbolized by his loss of a finger and the injury received on Weathertop that never completely heals. Frodo does not just have battle wounds. He is a wounded person. He cannot return to a normal life in the Shire and is granted passage to Valinor where he will find peace. As I watched Harry snap the Elder Wand and cast it into an abyss in the movie version of The Deathly Hallows (in the book he returns it to Dumbledore’s grave) so that it could never be used for evil purposes again, I couldn’t help but think of the contrast with Frodo and the ring of power. Harry, the true hero, resists the temptation to abuse power. In The Lord of the Rings Frodo fails. He cannot resist the temptation to keep the ring and use its power for himself. The ring is only destroyed because Gollum wants it for himself, takes it from Frodo, and then falls into the fires of Mount Doom. In Tolkien evil is not defeated by the heroic efforts of an individual. Evil defeats itself in what he calls a “eucatastrophe” (See his “On Fairy-Stories” in Essays Presented to Charles Williams edited by C. S. Lewis.). Tolkien’s eucatastrophe is undoubtedly derived from the biblical notion of evil defeating itself, especially in the cross of Christ where the forces of evil do their worst and unwittingly trigger the means of saving the world. The theme of evil defeating itself is present in Harry Potter. The killing curse that Voldemort uses upon Harry is his own undoing, but in the final analysis it is Harry’s heroic action that saves the day. We Christians often present the Bible as a collection of tales about heroes from whom we can learn moral lessons and ways to live victoriously. We look for evident victories. Sadly our quest for evident victories means that we will seek power to win them. In so doing we walk by sight and thus succumb to power’s hidden capacity for evil. We forget that God has chosen to reveal the biblical characters as sinners and frequently as failures. The hero of the biblical narrative is God, and his ways are not only higher than ours they are often hidden from us. In the darkest hour, at the moment of testing, the Christian will often fail. Yet even then the unseen hand of God’s providence is working to overcome evil. Indeed, the very victories of evil, such as the cross, are the moments of its greatest downfalls. By trusting in the hidden God, we learn to walk by faith and not by sight and overcome the temptations of power. As the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

I MUST NOT TELL LIES....I rarely find that final books, movies, etc. live up to expectations, especially ones generating such a mainstream buzz. But after nearly a decade of devotion, as a reader introduced to the series early, I am content with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This is also exceptional because of the sheer enormity of the body count on this one, like the 2 books before it, most of the fallen turned out to be my favorite characters. The author had released before the release that two major characters who die. This is an understatement. Of course, plenty of death happen "off screen," TEN deaths are "major" players in the sense that they appear in 4-7 books!

While J.K.Rowling avoids making this the largest novel in order to answer all the questions and plot requirements, she does do the finale staple in the referencing or return of many, many, many concepts, characters and catch-phases of the past 6 books. Settings, spells and special guest appearances are all welcome additions to HP VII. Things big and small appear with parts to play: For example Dedalus Diggle, a very minor player, was the first wizard to appear in Book 1, and he is the first to do so here in the final story. Other characters returning in person or as a passing reference include the likes of: Mr. Ollivander, the surviving members of the Order and the D.A., the Malfoys, the Weasley's Ghoul, Stan Shunpike, Grindelvald, Nearly-Headless-Nick, Norbert, Bathilda Bagshot, R.A.B., Gregorovitch, Viktor Krum, the Lovegoods, house elves, Wormtail just to name a few. Watch out for cameos or references to inanimate and animate objects like, Harry's first snitch, his invisibility cloak (which plays a major role ), the Monster Book of Monsters, the Whomping Willow, the Marauder's Map, pensieves, Polyjuice Potion, and even Sirius' flying motorcycle as referenced early in Sorcerers' Stone.

Book SIX focused on tracking down the Horcruxes or magical objects into which the Dark Lord Voldemort a.k.a Tom Riddle has divided his soul to be virtually immortal. Horcruxes we've seen the Diary, the Ring, the great snake Nagini and Voldemort himself. We get some insight into his history and plans, but by the end of Half-Blood Prince we have as more questions than answers.

Questions ultimately answered in Book Seven:

Is HARRY himself one of the remaining Horcruxes? How to destroy them? How did Dumbledore destroy the ring? Where is real locket Horcrux? Who is R.A.B.? What becomes of Hogwarts? Is Snape evil? Why did Dumbledore trust him? Did Dumbledore have a plan? What are the Deathly Hallows? What is Voldemort's ultimate goal? Must HARRY die to stop Voldemort? What did Dumbledore really see in the Mirror of Erised, back in Book 1?

BOOK 7... Careful some plot spoilers below.......

This one opens with scenes behind enemy lines, revealing Harry's 17th birthday and the end of his protection from the Dark Lord is fast approaching. The Death Eaters are ready for the Order's plan to move Harry to a safe house. Following a down-rite heart warming good-bye to the Dursleys, the action-packed escape ends with the loss of more than just Harry's broom, but two friends fall as his childhood innocence is symbolically stripped from him. Things slow-down just long enough for The Wedding, before the chill is off the drinks all hell breaks lose and Harry's quest begins again for the "you know whats" and this time Harry's archetype takes on literal interpretation as his searches for a sword, "the Sword of Gryffindor" possibly the only way to finish his assignment for Dumbledore. The Sword is at Hogwarts and Hogwarts is again controlled by the Ministry, but a corrupt or controlled government which has placed Snape as Headmaster. He has the Sword in Dumbledore's office, or does he? This quest and the search for the Horcruxes lead Harry back to the ex-headquarters of the Order, Grimmauld Place where he makes things right with Kreacher, the house elf willed to Harry along with the family estate itself. Harry visits his own family's home which has become a memorial of sorts like GRACELAND. I think Hermione would disapprove of the graffiti there as well. Before this there is a daring visit to the "Muggle-Born Registration Commission. Forced further into hiding the trio learn more of Dumbledore's early history, the tale of the 3 Brothers and possible revelations about Harry's cloak.

The Sword is recovered by a Gryffindor other than Harry, but pulled from a lake like the Arthur archetype. Harry learns the hard way that there is power and fear in a name as the taboo on the Dark Lords name leads to the trio's capture and imprisonment at Malfoy Manor where Voldemort himself is a house-guest. Wormtail makes good on his debit to Harry. Ultimately they escape at the cost of a friend's LIFE along with fellow prisoners: Griphook the Goblin, Luna Lovegood and wandmaker Ollivander. They learn lots of wand lore that will be Harry's key weapon in his "final" battle with the Dark Lord, the "Elder Wand" will be the deciding force. Griphook will lead Harry and friends as they break into the best protected place in the wizarding world Gringotts Bank in order to claim a Horcrux. Are there really Dragons and traps protecting the place? Griphooks price for this good deed?

During return to HOGWARTS, new secret entrance to the school is revealed, along with a character previously only referenced Aberforth Dumbledore, who reveals his late brother's motivating guilt. Also the D.A. are summoned, among others to help Harry in his final quest. Harry up to this point has walked a fine line, between falling into the traps that both Tom Riddle and Dumbledore fell. The desire for the "Greater Good" costing a lot of lives. For all of his trust in people Dumbledore's greatest weakness was his secretiveness, and it cost both him and Harry plenty. Meanwhile, Harry risks his life turning away from killing whenever possible, Lupin even calls him on this early in this story. Harry here makes a choice to include the D.A., his friends & students from Hogwarts in his last mission for Dumbledore. This final battle at the school sees the return of many magical forces from the Forest and more. What begins as a play for time becomes the end of the war. The cast of characters and tied up plot lines is enormous here, Ron proves his worth and cleverness in "now or never" moments while Neville Longbottom proves himself a true Gryffindor as well.

Fear not there is an epilogue that is a satisfying bookend for the series as is the entire novel, "An exceptionally satisfying bookend to an exceptional series" that will live on long past the final Hollywood interpretations, as surely as THE CHUDLEY CANNONS will rank bottom of this years LEAGUE!!"

Thanks J.K.

Long live Gryffindor, where dwell the Brave at Heart!