Posted on 07/21/2007 5:18:11 PM PDT by JenB
So you finally know what happens to Harry. All our questions are answered. Or not. What are your reactions? Whose death hurt the most? Do you want more, and about whom?
SPOILERS are ok on this thread! You have been warned!
Wow. It's over.
That's exactly what I thought! So that's the part of Harry that died, but he was able to return and stay with his friends, because his love for them was so great that he was willing to die for them.
Oh, that didn't surprise me at all. That's been building since "Order of the Phoenix", when he was so keen to join Dumbledore's Army. He wanted to fight those who had so brutally attacked his parents. I'm glad his Gran finally saw him in action, and could be proud of him!
I'm sure Bellatrix had the hots for him, but he wasn't interested in anyone but himself, and his rise to power.
This is a pity, because like you suggest, the book would have flowed better if Harry had died in The Forest Again and then the rest had finished off Voldemort. There could have then been a short epilogue bringing the book up to present day (from 1998), showing all the survivors going on with their lives while Harry, Dumbledore, etc. watched from above.
Was up until four this morning, finishing Book 6 and starting this one. Got up against 11.
Am up to page 536 now. OMG.
Well, as a Christian, Christ’s death doesn’t mean much without the Resurrection since that’s the triumph. The hero dying for his people is a wonderful dark-tragic, vaguely Norse-feeling myth. The hero rising again and ruling, that’s the Christian part.
And when the final curse rebounded on him, there was nothing left of his soul to survive, since all the horcruxes had been destroyed, including that part of his soul he killed when he ‘killed’ Harry in the forest.
I wondered about that, too, but at that point, Voldemort is just in such victory mode that he's not thinking anything except "He's dead; I win!!"
I should have rephrased that better. When I think back to the kid who lacked total self confidence - he’s come a long way. And as much as I liked Mrs. Weasleys part I wished it had been Neville to finish Bellatrix off.
I really liked that it was what Voldemort considered Harry’s “weakness” (defending himself instead of attacking)that brought V. down in the end.
Best part was the vindication of Snape! I TOLD my nieces & nephews that he couldn’t be evil (a litte mean, perhaps)
LOL
My daughter just came in after she finished and got on my case about being right about Snape.
Of course, God could resurrect Himself... He is after all the Supreme Being; He can do anything He chooses. What is more of a beautiful miracle to me is that He would want to suffer and die for humanity.
“The hero dying for his people is a wonderful dark-tragic, vaguely Norse-feeling myth. The hero rising again and ruling, that’s the Christian part.”
Norse pagan heroes don’t die for their people’s sake; they die because of their own pride and vanity (i.e. Beowulf and Siegfred). On the other hand, Christianity is littered with saints who seek to emulate Jesus by giving their lives for their faith and for others. This tradition therefore has a strong undertone in Western literature, with most authors choosing to emphasize the martyrdom of their “Christ-figure” over his/her resurrection.. Think Santiago in The Old Man in the Sea, Jim Casy in The Grapes of Wrath, Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings, etc., etc.... In most Western literary classics, the “Christ-figure” suffers either a real death or a metaphorical death... They don’t marry their high school sweethearts and raise their three children in suburban London.
Depends upon your definition of evil, I suppose. He betrayed his chosen leader for personal greed. He didn't do what I demanded, therefore I will work against him. He had no trouble with children and adults being murdered so long as it wasn't the woman he had taken a fancy to and been rebuffed by.
I see an explanation for his betrayal, not that he was 'good' inside. He did it for his own self satisfaction, not because it was the right thing to do.
Began reading book about dusk ,finished around midnight?. More deaths than expected,especially Hedwig. Kreecher changes a suprise;too much told in flashbacks.If the flashbacks and hidden memories had been part of the earlier books the suspense would have been less though. All these revelations of the past of many characters reminds me of the detective stories where all is revealed in the last gathering.
Sequels are a definite posssibilty,as are prequels and gap-fillers. Could be good if the new stories are kept true to the original magical world.I note the stories are all the property of Warner Entertainment so they presumably have options.
Random things like that stick with kids. You'll be dead for 30 years and she'll have that memory pop into her head and smile.
Reminds me of the great Gallagher line:
"I wish there was a knob on the TV so you could turn up the intelligence. They got one marked "brightness" but it don't work, does it?"
Good God.. It’s like all those ridiculous Star Wars novels all over again...
I thought the same thing. Go JKR.
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