queenrikki (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
queenrikki) wrote2005-02-23 05:26 am
queenrikki) wrote2005-02-23 05:26 am
Thinking in of Harry...
I’ve been reading the Harry Potter series for six years now and with the impending release of the sixth book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince I thought it would be appropriate to talk about something that has always been on my mind; namely whether or not Harry survives the series.
Now, I won’t make any predictions on whether or not he actually live (only Joanne Rowling knows that for sure) but I would like to state the reasons I have for wanting him to live. First of all, I don’t see how Harry’s death would further the story. That the story should end with Harry sacrificing himself for the sake of the Wizarding World does have a sort of tragic poetry to it, but what would it show us that we didn’t already know? Every fan of the series knows that Harry is willing to sacrifice his own good for the sake of others (i.e. Keeping the Philosopher’s Stone from Voldemort, rescuing Ginny from the Chamber, trying to save all of the hostages during the Second Task).
We also know that Harry really doesn’t have any great fear of death. In CoS After being bitten by the basilisk, he thinks:
And though we all know that he wasn’t dying (this after Fawkes has laid his head against the wound), Harry doesn’t. But he readily accepts the condition. And in Ootp when Voldemort gains possession of his body and is taunting Dumbledore, Harry’s mind is not on fighting or winning: he wants the pain to stop (I can’t help but see this as both the actual pain of Voldemort’s possession and the emotional pain he has experienced):
For Harry, death hold so much more promise than life. He’ll get to be with his parents and Sirius, the people who loved him most in the world. In life, he has the spectre of his destiny with Voldemort hanging over his head. And while by the seventh book the latter will be gone (and maybe Harry with it) I’ve always felt that life was a more fitting ending for Harry than death.
Hopefully this is intelligible. It almost 5:30 in the morning and I haven’t been to bed since Monday. If this doesn’t make any sense, I’ll correct it latter...after I’ve been to bed. :D
Now, I won’t make any predictions on whether or not he actually live (only Joanne Rowling knows that for sure) but I would like to state the reasons I have for wanting him to live. First of all, I don’t see how Harry’s death would further the story. That the story should end with Harry sacrificing himself for the sake of the Wizarding World does have a sort of tragic poetry to it, but what would it show us that we didn’t already know? Every fan of the series knows that Harry is willing to sacrifice his own good for the sake of others (i.e. Keeping the Philosopher’s Stone from Voldemort, rescuing Ginny from the Chamber, trying to save all of the hostages during the Second Task).
We also know that Harry really doesn’t have any great fear of death. In CoS After being bitten by the basilisk, he thinks:
If this is dying...It’s not so bad. (p. 236, Canadian ed.)
And though we all know that he wasn’t dying (this after Fawkes has laid his head against the wound), Harry doesn’t. But he readily accepts the condition. And in Ootp when Voldemort gains possession of his body and is taunting Dumbledore, Harry’s mind is not on fighting or winning: he wants the pain to stop (I can’t help but see this as both the actual pain of Voldemort’s possession and the emotional pain he has experienced):
Let the Pain stop, thought Harry...let him kill us...end it, Dumbledore...death is nothing compared to this...
And I’ll see Sirius again...(p. 720, Canadian ed.)
For Harry, death hold so much more promise than life. He’ll get to be with his parents and Sirius, the people who loved him most in the world. In life, he has the spectre of his destiny with Voldemort hanging over his head. And while by the seventh book the latter will be gone (and maybe Harry with it) I’ve always felt that life was a more fitting ending for Harry than death.
Hopefully this is intelligible. It almost 5:30 in the morning and I haven’t been to bed since Monday. If this doesn’t make any sense, I’ll correct it latter...after I’ve been to bed. :D
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Oh, I agree with you completely. It would make my heart hurt if she kills him. And I just think that Harry deserves a chance at a better life than the one that he's had.
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Don't worry. He will.
^_^
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Don't worry. He will.
LOL. Such faith is alway encouraging. But yes, he will. Harry's a (reasonably) bright boy. He'll figure it out eventually.
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For some reason I heard Darth Vader's voice when I read this.
That's not good!