Harry Potter & the Magic of Love
WARNING: CONTAINS PLOT SPOILER!
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels were never primarily about magic. They were always primarily about sacrificial love. And in the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, as in the more nuanced novel, Rowling's exploration of love takes us into fresh and fertile terrain.
The Potter story begins with Harry's mother's self-sacrifice for her infant child. It is this love that protects him from the Dark Lord's murderous intent. Harry is covered by his mother's blood - her life for his. Similarly, in the first novel, Ron risks death that others might live but survives, whilst Flammel, the owner of the Philosopher's Stone, consents to its destruction, and thereby foregoes his own immortality.
As the series progresses, Harry comes to realise that what distinguishes him from his enemy is his capacity to love. In the denouement, that capacity is tested to the limit, as he, like Aslan, like Jesus, deliberately puts himself in the power of his enemy.
Rowling's exploration of love and its costs, however, goes wider. Yes, the children are central but, unlike most children's fiction, the adults in the Potter stories are critical both to the action and the themes. So Harry's allies - surrogate families and godparents and teachers - are not just committed to a cause but committed to Harry. In particular, Dumbledore, Harry's headmaster and surrogate father, nurtures him, protects him, empowers him, loves him. Still, we discover, he had always known that, if Voldemort were to be defeated, Harry would have to die. What kind of love, the film asks, can nurture a child with that dread knowledge? What kind of love enables a loving 'father' to raise a son for a death so premature?
And what kind of love does Snape display? Not only working, at enormous personal risk, to defeat Voldemort but committed to the protection of Harry, the child of a man he despised and of a woman, now dead, whom he had loved from childhood but who had not loved him. Here is the nobility of an unrequited love that does not curdle to bitterness or revenge but does what the beloved would want, even though that love cannot be returned. Selfless faithfulness indeed.
True love, Rowling teaches us, comes in many forms. And she has thereby given us, it seems to me, one of the richest explorations of love ever offered in children's fiction.
Bravo, I say.
Mark Greene
Comments
such a shame, was hoping to share this great article on facebook, but feel unable to because of this overheated debate. If we were to avoid something in a story because it is what God hates, it would exclude rather a lot of literature. The story is a vehicle, not a user's manual :(
I am particularly mortified to think that such a book as Harry Porter that advocates, promotes and encourages children to see witchcraft, sorcery as a vehicle or promoter of love. As a pastor I am more horrified that it could be use as a manual in churches for youth projects.! As an African I know personally that these things are not kids playground experiment things, they are occultic, demonic and in the easiest way possible an avenue to plant the seed of darkness into kids hearts where there parents see nothing wrong with it. Children's mind are so delicate and should be guarded, why sow an evil seed when there are abundance of good books children can read and learn from. Our hunger to conform to the world's norm is what is destrying todays society and our kids, there is no boundaries, no sin anymore everything is acceptable. Yet we have forgotten that Gods word changes not. He Judges not on society's norm but on God's law. We should let our children know that witches are not the same as Angel of Light, darkness is not Light!. If you confuse them from their young age how are they suppose to grow up and preserve the inegrity of God as God's spokes person. Same way Alcohol and drugs slowly enter and destroys so will promoted books like harry porter teach us to accept witches and wizards, sorcery as ' a love thing'!. Life and death has been set before us. Please, please let us teach our children, things that pertain to life. There is no compromise, grey line with God's word. HARRY PORTER IS NOT A MOTIVATIONAL BOOK.
Excellent article. I have written a book, due out in November but orderable in advance from Amazon, entitled, "Harry Potter: a Christian Chronicle". In it I show many paralells between Harry Potter characters and experiences and those of New Testament persons, For example Harry is not merely like the Christ child, he encounters much of the misunderstanding and aprobium of the authoirties that Jesus did whille being pure of heart. Hagrid and Peter are very similar, Severus Snape is redolent of St Paul having to be 'all things to all men that some might be saved'. Then, there is an analysis of Rowling's world view covering, amongst others, racism, slavery, gender equality, authority, obeying and disobeiying rules, death, berevement and the afterlife. I explore the Bible's attitude to witchcraft and the use of it in the Harry Potter universe and why HP is not likely to lead children into exploring the occult.The book concludes with a study guide with exploratory questions aimed at Youth Groups, encompassing issues such as: self-sacrificial love, loyalty, courage, compassion, corruption, temptation with Old and New Testament and Harry Potter examples. Perhaps you might like to let your friends know about it. With all good wishes and God bless Sonia
Excellent article, Mark. I remember reading the final book and being taken aback by the picture of loving self-sacrifice that stands at the very heart of the story. If it was truly about magic, Harry would have defeated Voldemort by being a better wizard than him, using magic to overcome him. But he doesn't, he overcomes through becoming weak and powerless. He even goes via 'King's Cross', as if Rowling could have made it any more obvious! Is Harry analogous to Jesus? No, he's not, but his actions are a powerful echo of the reality of Jesus' redemptive work on the cross. As to the witchcraft issue, yes there is a possibility that some naive individuals may find the idea of witchcraft more interesting as a result, but this hasn't been borne out statistically over the last decade. I would have thought it would just have likely got children interested in going to boarding school! John Granger in 'Finding God in Harry Potter' (he finds a bit more 'God' than most, but he makes some good points nonetheless) makes the distinction between the 'incantational' magic of the world of Potter, which often involves Latin puns and is always an individual effecting the world outside of them, using established 'magic phrases', and 'invocational' magic of actual witchcraft, which involves 'invoking' spirits to enter the individual to take control of them. Harry and co are in control of the magic they do, but real witchcraft (as far as I am aware) involves surrendering control to an external power (a demonic one). This difference is key. So it's disappointing to read the comments above, neither of whom appear to be familiar with the books themselves. God hates witchcraft,yes, as it is destructive and involves people worshipping demonic powers and looking to them for strength and power - a very dangerous thing to do. He hates it because of what it does to his beloved children. But the magic of the Potter books just isn't like that. The worldview there is one in which loving self-sacrifice is the highest good, where loyalty, courage and standing up to evil is constantly applauded. While there are few direct mentions of God (the Bible verses in the 7th book come to mind), the overall 'worldview' as seen from the values espoused, is, I believe, a Christian one. Do I unreservedly recommend it to everyone to read unthinkingly? No, but I wouldn't to that with any book. My point is to say that to buy into the idea that this series is 'evil' is to miss the point completely. We should celebrate the opportunity that this series brings to discuss the kind of values that we should encourage in our children, while making clear that love, not witchcraft, is the central theme of the story. Thanks again, Mark. :-)
Thanks Mark for this article. I'm saddened that so many Christian folk see the surface of HP and don't look underneath. I'm a youth pastor and many of my young people are looking at things like HP, Twilight, LOTR, Narnia and Star Wars for a story that they can inhabit because the way church talks about the greatest story ever told is so sterile and unforgiving it makes no connection with their lives and offers no hope to live for. Jesus walked among the people telling them stories based in their own lives, but then drawing them from there into his story of grace and hope. The hope they need to hear, to paraphrase "James" is that yes, evil really is that bad, but that it can be resisted and ultimately overcome through the power of a love that lays down its life for friends.
"Evil: it's not that bad" So read a T-shirt at a New Age event I recently attended.
Thank you Mark for this foray into the Potter/Rowling landscape. I agree that there are many things to ponder in the series of books, even more than the films. After a rocky start with many Christians looking askance at the witches in the first books - we have been slow to see the string of Gospel connections. Like Narnia the books are not without literary faults but are teeming with grace and glimpses of the Lord. * that no character is faultless (including Dumbledore) * Snape's 'love' of Harry while not liking him at all * the parallel heroic trajectory of Neville's life * the faith Harry has in Dumbledore's ultimate trustworthiness etc. etc. I hope that there will be a re-evaluation of these books, accepting their limitations, but recognising the great Christian imaginative tour de force they are.
After reading the article it comes to my mind that how easy and how difficult for many christian to make judgment on matters that our enemies put in front of us. Apparently, the theme of the Harry Potter portray a selfishness love and unconditional love to save the magic world. Surely this is a magic formula, like superman; spider man, all 'hero' have a heart, an obligation to save many strangers' lives. However, most of us ignore the true power of behind Harry. A black power over another black power, an evil against evil. Would that be the reality for those who chose to turn away the Lord. What Jesus demonstrated is a love that full of power, authority and most important love of forgiven. We, as Christian have the responsibility to show our next generation that Jesus is light and there is only one way to go to the Father and that is through him. In the movie Harry at the end did not died but our Lord Jesus died and rose again, perhaps both Harry and Voldemort should enroll School of the Cross which admission is 24/7. Love never died.
Hi, So sad to see this embracement of something God hates. I know the debate over potter has died down over the years but it is no less a positive portrayal of witchcraft now than it was at the start. My wife and i made a decision when our children were born to not let them watch anything that portrayed witchcraft in a positive light as it would cause them confusion in this as well as other areas. We are never sorry that we made that decision and cannot see how potter can offer us or our children any further spiritual development. Your comments seem whole heartidly inappropriate to me and i would ask you to consider rethinking your acceptance of this nonsense. Jesus asks us to think on what is good. Do you think witchcraft is good? Do you think that whole life discipleship means that christians have to swallow every latest fashion and fad that the world offers in order to look cool enough to attract the world. I certainly hope not.
Yesterday, I made a very rare visit to the cinema after reading the article and, no, it was not spoilt for me but enanced. Seen from Western European background and culture the witchcraft may well not be damaging but seen in parts of Africa that I have visited I am not so sure. I thought it was a pity that "...help is available from Hoggwarts for all who deserve it..." Is JKR, RC? A better message would have been "from all who ask" Do these styles and voices in our culture really matter?
Date:
2011-07-29 05:52:49
Author:
Allan Cheetham