Cold Blooded Walk To Destruction: Part 3- Harry
Cold Blooded Walk To Destruction: Part 3- Harry
The final section of the meta where I analyse the Biblical symbolism surrounding deaths of Harry, Snape and Dumbledore. You can read Part 1: Dumbledore and Part 2: Snape here.
Harry James Potter
"The last enemy that shall be defeated is death'..." A horrible thought came to him, and with a kind of panic. "Isn't that a Death Eater idea? Why is that there?"
"It doesn't mean defeating death in the way the Death Eaters mean it, Harry," said Hermione, her voice gentle. "It means... you know... living beyond death. Living after death." - (DH)
This passage is what drives the Deathly Hallows book, and it speaks of Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection, which gave him victory over sin and death, and gifted eternal life to all through heaven. Harry embodies this idea through his act of self sacrifice at the end of the book, where he invokes the ancient magic that enables him to protect his friends and through his resurrection, defeat his nemesis once and for all (incidentally fashioned himself as Voldemort = flight from death).
The first big allusion to Harry’s status as a Christ figure in the story is his Stag patronus at the end of POA. The stag, according to medieval Catholics, was the enemy of the serpent, the symbol of Satan. It is also connected to ideas of regeneration (an important idea that Christ symbols have, such as the Phoenix), with its shedding of antlers during spring.
After ending HBP as “Dumbledore’s man through and through”, Deathly Hallows is dominated by Harry’s struggle to believe in Dumbledore, the God figure of the story. After the incident at Malfoy Manor (Narcissa marks the time for readers by telling us Draco is back for Easter holidays), Harry contemplates on Horcruxes vs Hallows. Harry undergoes something of a transformation at Shell's Cottage - he has faith in Dumbledore’s plan again (He specifically thinks of the blue eye that sent Dobby to him, and the phrase, "Help will be given to those at Hogwarts who ask for it"). Biblically - Easter represents the fulfilment of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the revelation of God's salvific plan for all of humankind. In commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus after three days, Easter also celebrates the defeat of death and the hope of salvation.
By the end of the book, like Christ to his crucifixion, Harry goes to meet Voldemort, and therefore his death driven by love for humanity ("Dumbledore knew, as Voldemort knew, that Harry would not let anyone else die for him now that he had discovered it was in his power to stop it"). And just like Christ’s meeting with the angel God sent on the Mount of Olives, the spirit of his parents along with Sirius and Remus appear in the forest to strengthen his resolve in the midst of his pain and agony ("Does it hurt?" "Dying? Not at all. Quicker and easier than falling asleep.")
Seemingly dead, Voldemort, as Satan had rejoiced in the Crucifixion of Christ, glories in the supposed death of Harry while Harry’s believers become even more fervent in their loyalty and resolve (“He beat you!” yelled Ron, Neville rushes ahead to meet Voldemort). Harry resurrects and offers Voldemort mercy, asking him to feel remorse because Harry has “seen what he will be otherwise” in King’s Cross - a maimed soul that will be "unable to go on" to the kingdom of God, as would be understood in religious readings.
"He took your blood believing it would strengthen him. He took into his body a tiny part of the enchantment your mother laid upon you when she died for you. His body keeps her sacrifice alive, and while that enchantment survives, so do you and so does Voldemort's one last hope for himself." - Albus Dumbledore, DH
Lily’s blood (which Dumbledore trusts upon for his blood ward) which contains the magic of her sacrifice, and therefore, can redeem even Voldemort, should he choose to repair his soul with remorse is another biblical idea. The blood of Christ is the shield against sin, and "Under the law [that is, the Jewish law of Moses] almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22, NRSV).
Voldemort rejects the idea of repentance and remorse, forgoing Harry’s mercy in giving him a chance to heal his soul and be whole in afterlife. Harry vanquishes him once and for all with death that hits in its “mundane finality.”
Three Part Symbolism of their Deaths is from larger meta "The Lightning Struck Tower"
