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Deconstructing Rowling
National Review ^ | 6/9/03 | Dave Kopel

Posted on 06/20/2003 8:43:14 AM PDT by Antiwar Republican

Deconstructing Rowling
By Dave Kopel

J.K. Rowling is an Inkling. That's the well-argued thesis of John Granger's fine book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter. Granger demonstrates the absurdity of the claim that Harry Potter is anti-Christian. And even if you've never worried about charges brought by misguided fundamentalists, The Hidden Key will substantially augment your understanding of what's really at stake in Harry's adventures.

The Inklings were originally a group of Oxford dons who wrote Christian fiction. The most famous of them are J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series never mention Christianity overtly, and in Tolkien's books, religion itself is absent from the plot. Yet these mythopoeic books aim to "baptize the imagination" of the reader — to teach her the importance of fighting for the right, no matter how powerful the forces of evil may appear.

Rowling has confessed herself to be a great fan of C. S. Lewis, her use of "J. R." for her byline evokes "J. R. R." Tolkien, and she is a member of the Church of Scotland (that's Presbyterian, for American readers).

The most useful parts of The Hidden Key are the author's extensive discussion of symbolism. Harry lives in Gryffindor House, founded by Godric Gryffindor. "D'or" being French for "of gold," we could translate the name as "golden griffin." The griffin has a lion's body and an eagle's wings — a hybrid of the animals that are master of the sky and of the earth, the griffin was traditionally a symbol of Jesus, master of the spiritual and temporal worlds.

The unicorn, too, is a traditional Jesus symbol; pure and powerful, it could only be tamed by a virgin, as Jesus could only be incarnated by a virgin. In Sorcerer's Stone, drinking its blood brings life, and its killing is an especially hideous crime.

The phoenix (which saves Harry's life in Chamber of Secrets) rises to life from its own ashes, and is described by T. H. White as the "resurrection bird." This explains the title of the almost-released book five, The Order of the Phoenix — that is, the alliance of people who band together to fight for resurrection values. "Order" also evokes the fighting Christian religious orders of the Middle Ages, such as the Order of the Knights of Malta.

Harry's father James was nicknamed "prongs," for his ability to turn himself into a stag. In Prisoner of Azkeban, when Harry conjures a magical patronus to drive away the soul-stealing Dementors (Latin for mind-removers), the patronus appears as a stag, shining "as bright as a unicorn." The stag is also a medieval symbol of Jesus.

John Granger recaps the plots of the first four books, explaining each of them as a form of trial in which Harry's purity of heart is tested. In The Sorcerer's Stone, Harry is able to find the power of immortality (concealed in a magic mirror) only because he does not want to use it for selfish purposes.

The villain in Chamber of Secrets is Gilderoy Lockheart — the gilded, or false, king ("roi" in French) with a "locked heart." Lockhart, best-selling author of a string of false books, is, Granger suggests, modeled on Philip Pullman, the militant atheist and best-selling real-life author of the Dark Materials children's series — books that were written as a deliberate refutation of Narnia.

In the climax of Chamber of Secrets, Harry descends to a deep underworld, is confronted by two satanic minions (Voldemort and a giant serpent), is saved from certain death by his faith in Dumbledore (the bearded God the Father/Ancient of Days), rescues the virgin (Virginia Weasley), and ascends in triumph. It's Pilgrim's Progress for a new audience.

Prisoner of Azkebanrevolves around two characters (Sirius Black the magician and Buckbeak the hippogriff) who are falsely accused and condemned. Jungian and Freudian themes abound, as Harry begins by fleeing from his fears (running away from the Dursleys), confronts his hidden memories of his dead parents, forgives the man who betrayed his father, and triumphs by mastering his fear. "Expecto Patronus," invokes Harry — or in Latin, "Expect the little father." As Harry achieves identity with his father James, the luminous stag appears and drives away the soul-killing Dementors, rescuing Harry's godfather Sirius.

Granger reveals the meanings of the names of all the important characters. Draco (dragon/serpent in Latin) Malfoy (faith in evil, in French); Harry's parents James (the brother of Jesus) and Lily (the Easter flower), nasty journalist Rita Skeeter (read: a bloodsucking pest), and more.

And "Harry Potter"? Well, the name does evoke Harry Hotspur, the prince Hal of Shakespeare's histories. But if you say it with a French or Cockney accent, it also reminds us of "heir." For "Potter," Granger tells us to look to the Bible's "potter verses" (e.g., Isaiah 64:8), in which God is described as the potter who shapes man out of clay. Granger's summary of Rowling's theme is that we are all heirs of God.

The Potter books are a magical work aimed to liberate their readers from materialism and to elevate their spirits. Harry leaves the temporal world of London by entering Diagon Alley — that is, by moving diagonally, not in the lines of the ordinary material world. And Dudley's grotesque weight and surfeit of toys are an extreme case of a spiritual death from immersion in a purely material world: a world which Rowling shows can be put aside, if one can think and live diagonally.

Harry Potter fans are used to scouring the Internet for the morsels of hints Rowling has offered about the rest of the series. The last section of Hidden Key offers informed speculation about what will happen in the final books; of course, some of Granger's guesses might be wrong, but his exposition of the series' themes makes many of his ideas seem almost inevitable. For instance:

Harry will be revealed as the true heir of Godric Gryffindor and the climatic battle will be fought at Harry's birthplace, Godric Hollow. The heir of Gryffindor will confront the Heir of Slytherin (slithering, like a snake), Voldemort. Dumbledore has powers of invisibility; that is how he knew that the orphan Neville Longbottom (no-village, long at the lowest place) stood up to his friends in Sorcerer's Stone. Dumbledore will die, because Harry must defeat Voldemort himself. Snape's mixed feelings about Harry — he saves Harry's life, but is angrily jealous of Harry's fame — can be traced back to Snape's school days; then, Snape loved the green-eyed Lily (perhaps a Slytherin student, since house color is green) who rejected him for James. No matter — love and sacrifice will battle with death, at first appearing to be defeated, and then triumphing gloriously.

There's much more in Hidden Key: Rowling's extensive use of alchemical symbolism (alchemy being a process in which spiritual purification is correlated with metallurgical purification), Aristotelian and Platonic themes, and Arthurian legend. Like King Arthur, Harry was hidden as a baby, raised without knowledge of his true identify, watched over from afar by a great wizard, and proves that he is the true heir by pulling out a sword — in Harry's case, by pulling Godric Gryffindor's sword from Godric Gryffindor's sorting ("sword-in") hat.

Hidden Key can be read in an afternoon, and if you can interrupt your progress through the Order of the Phoenix for a little bit, Hidden Key will greatly add to your understanding of J. K. Rowling's magnificent work.

Dave Kopel is a contributing editor of NRO.


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: christianfiction; rowling
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To: null and void
Quad witching? Jeez, I HAVE been out of the securities industry for long. How did that get by me?
41 posted on 06/20/2003 9:57:50 AM PDT by Xenalyte (I may not agree with your bumper sticker, but I'll defend to the death your right to stick it)
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To: eyespysomething
That and I will be at the bookstore at midnight.

Wimp. The party starts at 7:00 Be there or be square!

42 posted on 06/20/2003 9:58:03 AM PDT by null and void (Who Cries For The Krill?)
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To: Antiwar Republican; sheltonmac
Ah well heck, if the National Review says it's good, that means it's acceptable literature for all 'conservatives'. They've gone from backing questionable foreign policy to throwing in their support for fictional children's books. Talk about different ends of the spectrum. And then again maybe not....
43 posted on 06/20/2003 9:59:51 AM PDT by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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To: Antiwar Republican
I guess we are so lucky to live in such an enlightened age. By using occult images and practices to represent "good" we can safely disregard the word of the LORD God on the matter.

Gosh... the combination of the inventive mind of man plus "symbolism", is there anything it cannot explain away?

Deuteronomy 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee. 13 Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God. 14 For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the LORD thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.

Isaiah 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.

Isaiah 19:3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.

Acts 19:19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.
44 posted on 06/20/2003 10:00:27 AM PDT by protest1
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To: LizardQueen
As much as I like the Potter books, this article seems like a load of crap, IMHO. It's a kids fairy tale, for pete's sake. What's with the constant deconstruction of it from both sides? The anti-Potters pick it apart because it's not Christian enough, the pro-Potters write things like this trying to prove everything in the book is a pro-Christian symbol.

One of the things I find enjoyable about the series (I'm series) is all the tie ins to Latin and classic mythic tales.

45 posted on 06/20/2003 10:01:52 AM PDT by null and void (Who Cries For The Krill?)
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To: Xenalyte
Kinda like me saying, "La Boheme sucks and is all that is vile," without having seen the opera.

I would say that about opera in general. :-)

46 posted on 06/20/2003 10:07:48 AM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative (http://c-pol.com)
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To: Xenalyte
No + no.
47 posted on 06/20/2003 10:09:52 AM PDT by AmericaUnited
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To: It's me
The purple dinosaur quite the fairy.
48 posted on 06/20/2003 10:10:18 AM PDT by bonfire
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To: Antiwar Republican
"According to the Pagan Federation of England, the interest of thousands of teens to learn more about witchcraft has been stimulated through Harry Potter and television programs like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

This quote speaks for its self.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33175
49 posted on 06/20/2003 10:10:48 AM PDT by protest1
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To: billbears
Yes, yes, the evil David Frum actually ghost-wrote the entire series to advance the Trotskyite philosophies of the nefarious neo-cons!

Mumble...mumble...mumble...Illuminati.

Mumble...mumble...mumble...Bilderbergers.

Mumble...mumble...drool...drool...

50 posted on 06/20/2003 10:11:05 AM PDT by AmishDude
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To: nina0113; Xenalyte
I just got the email now, however, obsessed by evil as I am, I've been checking my order status on the website all week and the website said a couple of days ago that it had shipped.

Xenalyte, I think you need to add nina0113 to your prayer list along with the Barnes and Noble and Borders employees and the poor Fed Ex men.

51 posted on 06/20/2003 10:13:23 AM PDT by retrokitten
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To: Xenalyte
Kee-kee!

You've broken the code!

Dan
52 posted on 06/20/2003 10:20:24 AM PDT by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: r9etb
My wife and daughter went to North Dakota for Grandma's 90th birthday.

I have strict orders to not open the package when it arrives!

YEAH! RIGHT!

53 posted on 06/20/2003 10:21:27 AM PDT by Young Werther
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To: Young Werther
Methylene chloride will make the tape's adhesive let go. You can unwrap the package and reuse the tape after the solvent evaporates...
54 posted on 06/20/2003 10:25:01 AM PDT by null and void (Who Cries For The Krill?)
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To: AmericaUnited
Then please tell me how you get "good=evil, evil=good" from the Potter series.
55 posted on 06/20/2003 10:25:12 AM PDT by Xenalyte (I may not agree with your bumper sticker, but I'll defend to the death your right to stick it)
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To: It's me
If anyone wants to get in a snit about anything, they could get into one about Star Trek, which emphasizes a socialist, atheist society.
56 posted on 06/20/2003 10:25:29 AM PDT by Paul Atreides
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To: retrokitten; nina0113
Nina, I shall pray for your soul as well, and for you to be brought to God and saved from that EVIL book. ;)
57 posted on 06/20/2003 10:26:50 AM PDT by Xenalyte (I may not agree with your bumper sticker, but I'll defend to the death your right to stick it)
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To: Xenalyte
link

Some 8.5 million copies of "The Order of the Phoenix" have been printed for the U.S. market, and millions will see the cover of the colorful phoenix rising above the flames of a red hot fire on Saturday, but what is its significance? In Barbara Walker's "Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets," she says, "The phoenix is part of Egyptian mythology and identified with the bennu bird, a spirit associated with the phallic obelisk. He rose to heaven in the form of the Morning Star, like Lucifer, after his fire-immolation of death and rebirth. He embodied the sacred king cremated to be reborn".

Is it a coincidence that Adolph Hitler also used the phoenix as his symbol of reincarnation and "born again" power to resurrect the Second Reicht to his Third Reicht in an attempt to bring about the New World Order? His Nazi uniform boldly emblazoned both the phoenix and another powerful occult symbol, the lightning bolt. Interestingly enough, the so-called descending phallus of heaven, the lightning bolt believed to impregnate Mother Earth, or the sea-womb with life, is the curse mark Harry's arch enemy, the Evil Lord Voldemort scarred Harry's forehead with when he murdered Harry's parents on Halloween night.

Yup, "Christian symbols" indeed! Sometimes the utter stupidity of people just amazes me. The self-deception and delusional is just staggaring.

58 posted on 06/20/2003 10:29:46 AM PDT by AmericaUnited
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To: AmishDude
Did I mention Illuminati or the Bilderbergers? Of course not, however I see where I went wrong!! I dared question the wisdom of NRO, apparently second only to the Bible as the holy written word of God Himself.....
59 posted on 06/20/2003 10:30:30 AM PDT by billbears (Deo Vindice)
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To: AmericaUnited
"Good = Evil, Evil = Good.

It's later than we think."

Well, now. Another non-reader of the Potter series, I see. There seems to be a rash of such folks posting about yet another book they will not bother to read.

You know, nobody's going to force you to read any of the books. Nobody's going to send you a magic wand to wave around, or send you an owl.

You could just ignore the whole thing and save yourself a lot of stress.
60 posted on 06/20/2003 10:31:14 AM PDT by MineralMan
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