Harry Potter, The Deathly Hallows and Christianity
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: A review
The New Testament is all about life, death, sacrifice, resurrection and battle between good and evil. These themes or conceptual constructs found in Bible are indicated in fictional literature too as they are the common traits of the heroic characters and villains found in the fictional universe.
Examining Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Life, death, sacrifice, endless battles between good and evil as well as resurrection are all discussed thoroughly in New Testament. The themes mentioned above are building blocks of many fictional novels as they are popularized themes crossing the time barrier. Many fictional novels have references to biblical events and analogies are found everywhere in the fictional universe. The battle between good and evil are ageless themes (Duffy, 2002). This is true for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows where analogies are far too many.
Harry Potter is the epic concluding book in the Harry Potter series, which focuses on Harry's final fight with the evil Lord Voldemort. Lord Voldemort is a famous talented wizard gone rogue from the magical community. The book is a fantasy tale of an imaginative journey, which leads up eventually to final duel between Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. There are many question marks and tough decisions lying ahead. Harry Potter's life as well as his fellow friends is in equal danger in a life and death situation. Sacrifices are inevitable in a battle against good and evil. Lord Voldemort has laid down a path of death and doom for those who follow him. Harry Potter is bewildered as to how he survived the Avada Kedavra curse while his parents died in front of him. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley are his two friends who can't even fathom the mystery and questions Harry Potter is full of. Their parents are alive though. Harry Potter is the epitome of forgiveness, heroism, sacrifice and compassion. He is humble and far from arrogant. The analogy is similar to Jesus Christ (Rowling, 2007; Rowling, 2013).
The concept of life and love in Harry Potter and the Bible
Lord Voldemort has a fundamental flaw which is his potential weakness. Lord Voldemort lacks love, a feeling which marks his own death ultimately. Professor Dumbledore has a huge influence on the life of Harry Potter because it's him, who had known his traits and missions since the beginning. Professor Dumbledore knew from the start that it was Harry Potter who will bring down Lord Voldemort's fall (Rowling, 2007; Rowling, 2013). The relationship between Harry Potter and Professor Albus Dumbledore is linked just like the one with Jesus Christ and God. The resemblance is uncanny. Albus Dumbledore is his mentor and guide through the thick and thins of Harry's life. Though, Professor Albus Dumbledore's past is cloaked in mystery. His character is pivotal to Harry Potter's victory against Lord Voldermort. Evil is the absence of love. Lord Voldemort lacks love from an early age. He adores power and authority. He has an obsession with immortality from teenage. Tom Riddle develops seven horcruxes during his ascension to power. Each historical artifact has a historical significance. He attempts to cheat death forever only to find Harry Potter in his path. In order to protect one from death, a horcrux is an ordinary object in which a portion of the soul is sealed magically. Lord Voldemort chooses magical artifacts steeped in wizarding history (Rowling, 2007).
Lord Voldemort enters Harry Potter's house and kills his parents in front of him. His parents are dead on the spot while Lord Voldemort's curse rebounds back on himself from Harry Potter. The remaining portion of Lord Voldemort's soul is left dangling on Harry Potter. So in essence, Harry Potter is a horcrux too. This is finally revealed in last book named Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows (Rowling, 2007; also see, Rowling, 2013).
Love is the founding theme in The Holy Bible and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is the very virtue which is featured in both Harry Potter as well as Jesus Christ saving the humanity from evil. They sacrifice their lives to do so. For bringing evil to an end, Jesus Christ and Harry Potter end up sacrificing their lives for the greater good. Entering the forbidden forest, he murmurs "I am ready to die." The snitch contains the spirits...
Rowling's series of fantasy novels "Harry Potter" have had a strong impact on the contemporary society and on how people perceived fantasy novels in general. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is the seventh and final book from the series and it has generated much controversy with regard to how it tends to step away from attitudes promoted in its predecessors by introducing several Christian references. This came as a
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