At the end of the last book, Potter ends up knowingly sacrificing his life to save others, dies (sort of), comes back to life, and ends up defeating evil.
Did anyone else see this as sort of vaguely similar to the Jesus stories?
After reading it, I wondered if maybe Rowling decided to take one last big jab at the fundamentalists by equating Harry Potter with Jesus in an allegorical sense.
2007-08-07 09:19:30 · 12 answers · asked by Azure Z 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Of course, the last Superman movie pretty much the same thing. But the fundamentalists don't target Superman the way they do the Potter books.
2007-08-07 09:20:34 · update #1
Oh yeah. Did you notice how when Harry died (sacrificing himself for the greater good) and met a long bearded man who had served as his father figure in a sort of afterlife...and the place they were was called "King's Cross"? And then he came back to defeat evil? Not a coincidence, I'm sure.
Rowling is well versed in all sorts of mythology, and it permeates the books. I don't think she was taking a jab at anyone. She was practicing a long tradition of Christ figures in literature, such as Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities.
2007-08-07 09:24:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I think fundamentalists take the fun out of anything. I thought the scene where Harry was walking through the woods with his parents and the others who had died, was very religious, definitely a "cloud of witnesses" type metaphor. Whether she admits it or not, whenever you write about good and evil you are going to have religious/spiritual themes. It would be hard to argue against Harry being a sort of Christ figure.
2007-08-07 16:29:18 · answer #2 · answered by keri gee 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I did not read this one, as I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan. But I was talking about the ending with a co-worker, and I'm shocked that J.K. Rowling would have an ending like that, portraying Harry as a "Christ-figure," so to speak. If other evangelical Christians catch wind of this, there will be extreme upheaval.
2007-08-07 16:25:26 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Osiris was killed by Set and then 'resurrected' by Isis. Then, he became God of the Underworld, therefore it was useful to everyone. It has the same theme every religion has so of course Christianity will say it's similar to them...not knowing/admitting their own similarities to other religions.
Edit: Oh, BTW, yes Harry Potter seemed to have alchemical and Wiccan/Celtic themes throughout all the stories. I thought it had a lot to do with religion.
2007-08-07 16:31:56 · answer #4 · answered by strpenta 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It was more blatant with the Superman movie, which is one thing I didn't like about it. Associating Superman with Jesus just makes Superman look bad, and the whole "comes back to life" thing is pretty much a cliche.
However, I think Harry's "resurrection" was more a clever way to kill off Voldemort, and I think the scene with Hagrid carrying him back was just a nod to the literary tradition of alchemical symbolism, since Harry had his nigredo (death of Sirius Black), albedo (death of Albus Dumbledore), and rubedo (his own quasi-death, accompanied by Rubeus Hagrid) scenes that "purified" him by turning him into an adult who kicked Voldemort's sorry butt.
2007-08-07 16:25:17 · answer #5 · answered by Minh 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I noticed that. After Harry's "death" and "resurrection," Voldy's spells could not make lasting harm upon Harry's friends -- saving Neville from having the Sorting Hat toast his head.
Edit:
Also -- fundies would hate this -- Snape invokes the "spirit" of Dumbledore through Dumbledore's portrait. Calling up ghosts for consultation -- that's a total no-no in the Bible. Come to think of it, Harry calls up his parents and Sirius too using the Resurrection Stone! Oh my!
2007-08-07 16:31:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
"F" words about that first answer, spilling out of my mouth like vomit upon finding a dead whore under the mattress.
Harry's not SUPER cool, but he demonstrates positive human values without the need for OTHER stupid mythological references.
2007-08-07 16:26:37 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Harry Potter from beginnig to the end is witchcraft which God hates, and promotion of the satanic New World Order.
2007-08-07 16:23:48 · answer #8 · answered by CJ 6 · 2⤊ 6⤋
Haven't read the book yet.
2007-08-07 19:18:40 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
He didn't die. Dumbledore even tells him he isn't dead. He's just unconscious and having a little conversation with a dead wizard.
2007-08-07 16:25:36 · answer #10 · answered by §αғịỳỳẩ² Ẫ†нэậ†ị 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋