Reviews Literature / Harry Potter

A good, fair review — I like it.

I agree with you regarding the black and white morality in the series. However (spoilers ahead!), I don't think the series is really a good versus evil story. On the surface, yes, as it has big battles and a stereotypical bad guy. But I remember reading an analysis of the series (that I agreed with), that Harry Potter is really about coming to terms with death. And Harry and Voldemort are really opponents in this struggle — one who absolutely refuses to confront the possibility, who is phobic to the point of destroying his soul, while the other recognizes that death must be faced but it isn't the end or the worst thing we will face. I think the series really comes to life when you keep this in mind since I speculate that the death of JK Rowling's mother had a profound effect on how it developed.

Huh. That's actually a pretty interesting interpretation. The more I hear about Harry Potter, the more I hear about really deep things that were implied, but never said. Another good example is the way Rowling stated Lupin was supposed to be a metaphor for AIDS - you'd never guess it reading the series, but when you hear her say it, it makes perfect sense. Still, I think I'm going to stick with my complaint because Voldemort is treated as pure evil by everyone that's not a Death Eater. Whatever he stands for, Voldemort is, in-universe, nothing but evil, and I think that's more important.

Coming to terms with death? Really? Up until the point where he pulled his head out of the Pensieve for the last time, everything I knew about Harry dictated that he would rebel against the very notion of going to his death willingly. He had no way of knowing he'd survive, the way Aslan did in that scene this scene is obviously inspired by. Why did his characterisation do a 180? Just because it fit the plot, I guess.

I wouldn't say Voldemort is evil for evils sake. It's pretty clear that he treats fully blooded wizards who support him well enough. If you don't cross him and your a wizard he's very happy for you to have a comfortable life. He's the posh side of the English Defence League, callous self-serving and believing that Britain should be free of all those other people taking up 'honest' people's land and jobs. When they describe the actions of the death-eaters it's basically the same as thugs who go and beat immigrants to death, it's just that the Death Eaters have more power and less chance of getting caught.

The Hitler pure-blood/mud-blood comparison is obvious but it's not Hitler in charge of a country. It's the Beer Hall Putsch Hitler and the death-eaters are similar to the SA, not the SS. Extremist political views backed by intimidation by thugs but more of gang than an army, and then they get arrested and dispersed but only to return. And when they are in charge suddenly the organisation levels pick up and the thumbscrews come out (but again pre-war Hitler. So slightly more hidden and without the support of the nation). The regulations enacted by Voldemort's Ministry are obviously meant to be reflections of the conditions imposed on Jews before the death camps were set up.

In terms of the death thing. I do think that's an important theme between Harry and Riddle and amongst the things which make them different JK Rowling was showing that Riddle feared death and would do all he could to stop it because ultimately his thoughts stayed with himself. Whereas Harry eventually faced death without fear because he knew it was necessary and there were lines he would not cross to save himself.

I wouldn't call it a character 180 though. Harry consistently proved himself to be brave and selfless throughout the books, when his friends needed him. He never really sort to accumulate power on his own behalf. And then when the idea of death comes up in books 6 and 7 it frightens him and he spends a lot of time running away from that responsibility. But throughout those books he learns to accept and understand those circumstances and when he's actually put to the test the goodness in him holds firm and allows him to do nothing but what is right for his friends and everyone else. It's about him coming to understand that his own death is unimportant compared to the things around him. He always knew that deep down, but it took him time to fully realise it

The true Unfortunate Implications come from interviews, like when Rowling said that while D had a boyfriend, he was evil, and after he became celibate, he became good.

Citation Needed, as Dumbledore never dated Grindelwald. He was attracted to him, but the attraction blinded him as to who Grindy really was.

That the main thrust of the series is that death is inevitable is clear from the first time we encounter the name "Voldemort," which is a dog-Latin compound of "volo" "I wish", "de" "away from", and "mort" "death." I.e., his name means roughly "I wish to escape death." His entire motivation is to gain power so as to avoid death. It's why he makes the horcruxes. It's why his minions are called "Death Eaters." It's why Harry can only win if he is willing to die: he has to be the anti-Voldemort. Voldemort has a very strong motivation; he isn't just evil for evil's sake. In fact, I was impressed by that fact that he wasn't; I thought it was good of Rowling to give him some good motivation.

@ Naiant: True about Voldemort's motivation, but unfortunately, it's not the only thing about him. There are Nazi parallels, too, and they soon got way too heavy-handed, especially given how little of Rowling's world-building actually stands up to scrutiny.

For instance, whereas the Nazi Aryan beliefs were coherent enough for all of Germany + their allies to understand, blood purity makes no real sense when there are, what, 3-5 pureblood wizarding families left? If Wizards don't want to die out or degenerate incestuously under Voldemort, they'll have to have more halfblood offspring pretty soon; a point no-one truly addresses in the series.

My biggest problem with the antagonists' motivations is not so much Voldemort himself, who often seems to adopt his pure-blood ideology only because it give a pretext for more selfish motives of personal power, but his Death Eater allies. Why are they following him when not only is he seen in-universe on a level with the Nazis, but most of them seem to experience only terror around him? Hitler and Mussolini were feared but also possessed enourmous charisma and the Nazis kept secret their worst deeds. But the Death Eaters obediently come to him when they give every sign of utmost reluctance. It could have been believable with a stronger ideology and a more manipulative leader, but as it is I could never take them seriously.

In answer to that, it depends on the Death Eater in question. For some like Snape and Lucius, they came to Voldemort to the allure of power through the Dark Arts, just like how Hitler promised the expansion of Germany and the return of the glory days of Rome. These sometimes had a moral crisis when Voldemort began to target their loved ones late in the war, but it felt it too late to back out. For many others like Bellatrix and Regulus, Voldemort appealed to their sentiment for blood purity, just like how Hitler built a powerbase by the decades, nay, centuries of anti-semitism already common through Europe. Some like Bellatrix liked getting revenge on the "inferiors", others like Regulus changed their minds after seeing his methods, feeling Voldemort was going too far.. The last group of followers was people just as bloodthirsty as him, like Greyback and the dementors who just wanted to live out their sadistic urges. And it's no secret that many in Hitler's higher ups like Goebbels and Mengele were just as nasty as him. Those are the kind of people who became Death Eaters, all coming to Voldemort because he could promise them these things.

We also see that Voldemort was very charismatic in his youth, worming trust into Slughorn and Hepzibah to acquire Horcruxes. But by the time Harry meets him Voldemort is pushing 70 and beyond his prime mentally, much like how Hitler lost much of his grip and health towards the end of the war. By the time of Harry's years Voldemort has lost much of his charisma, since with so much power he no longer needed to act charming and could just Crucio anyone he wanted for anything.

Tuckerscreator's division of the Death Eaters by motivations is an interesting one, and it illuminates one of the strengths of the books. The bad guys aren't simple, with one motivation. There are a number of reasons why they are Death Eaters, just as there were a number of reasons why people were Nazis — nationalists, anti-Semites, fans of the Volksgemeinschaft, economic reformers, etc.