Reconstructing Harry

AMS Staff | 8 January 2003

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Bluffers Guide to symbols:

Basilisk: The monster that inhabits the chamber of secrets (Book II). The basilisk was the mythical king of the serpents and symbolised the devil. The basilisk kills with its eyes. The crowing of a rooster is fatal to it.

Phoenix: A mythical bird, the phoenix is burned up before being reborn. The tears of the phoenix bring healing. The phoenix was an ancient / medieval symbol for the resurrected Christ.

(Golden) Griffin: The griffin (gryffin, gryphon) was a mythical creature with the face, beak, talons and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. The griffin's dual nature led it to be associated with Jesus Christ, God and man, king of heaven and earth. The eagle half of the griffin signified Christ's divinity and the lion half represented His humanity. During the Middle Ages, griffins were symbols of Christ's resurrection. Griffins were said to kill serpents and basilisks, both embodiments of evil, thus protecting mankind.

What’s in a name?

JK Rowling has chosen the names of her characters and places deliberately. Many of them have symbolic significance and have their origins in English literature. Ironically the name of Harry Potter was chosen for personal not literary reasons. Harry was Rowling’s favourite boys’ name and Potter was the surname of a childhood friend. Here are just a few explanations of Rowlings’ names.

Albus Dumbledore: The headmaster of Hogwarts. Albus means white, which could suggest purity. Dumbledore is an Old English word for bumblebee.

Argus Filch: Cranky caretaker at Hogwarts. In Greek Mythology, the Argus was a hundred-eyed giant. Filch means, “to steal”.

Cedric Diggory: Popular Hufflepuff quidditch captain and seeker. In the Magician's Nephew Digory Kirke discovers the way to Narnia. He is the professor with whom the children stay in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Draco Malfoy: A student at Hogwarts, adversary to Harry Potter. “Mal foi” is old French for “bad faith. “Draco” is Latin for “dragon”. “Draco” was also the name of a harsh lawgiver in ancient Greece – hence “draconian”.

Fawkes: Dumbledore’s phoenix. Guy Fawkes was a 16th century English conspirator implicated in the Gunpowder plot to blow up parliament. Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated in the UK with fireworks and bonfire. See Bluffers guide for more information on the phoenix..

Godric Gryffindor: One of the four founders of Hogwarts. He gave his name to “Gryffindor” house. Godric means "power of god", derived from Old English god combined with ric "power, rule". Gryffindor is a combination of Gryffin, a mythological character, and dor or d’or, meaning of gold. See Bluffers guide for more information on the griffin.

Mrs Norris: Argus Filch’s pet cat. Mrs Norris was an unpleasant, difficult widow in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park.

Salazar Slytherin: One of the four founders of Hogwarts. He gave his name to “Slytherin” house and sealed up a monster within the chamber of secrets. Slytherin - which conjures up could be a portmanteau of sly and slithering.

Voldemort: The Dark Lord who killed Harry Potter’s parents. The enemy of Potter and Dumbledore. In French, “vol de mort” means either “flight of death” or “theft of death”.

While some Christians continue to denounce Harry Potter as satanic Sarah Barnett discovers a growing number are taking the opposite view.

Cultural pursuits have an amazing capacity for dividing audiences and critics. And Christian audiences are no different it seems. A recent example is the dual response to Harry Potter. The novels, and their cinematic spin-offs, have been labelled demonic by some and divine by others.

the trouble with harry

Both sides of the Harry Potter divide are passionate about their views. Those who condemn the Rowling adventures do so on the grounds of protecting their children from witchcraft and the lure of the devil. Worthy reasons, to be sure. They draw on Paul’s injunction in his letter to the Galatians (5:19,20) which lists sorcery / witchcraft as being of the flesh. “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!” warns Paul.

Those opposed to Harry Potter take issue with the spells, potions, wands and other magical paraphernalia present in the Potter universe. The very existence of these things, whether they’re presented in a light-hearted way (most of the books) or more sinisterly (significant section) is enough to claim that Harry Potter promotes witchcraft.

The fear is that children will be attracted away from Christianity towards Wiccan belief and practices.

There are further complaints made about the character of Rowling’s hero. Richard Abanes, author of The Menace behind the Magick, argues that Harry, Ron and a range of “good” characters in the novels consistently behave in an immoral way. He argue that the novels endorse the dishonesty, disobedience and desire for revenge sometimes displayed by the “good characters”. He is not alone in his assessment.

“Repeatedly, the Harry Potter books promulgate lying, cheating, stealing, disobedience, and revenge – to name a few. The morality is distinctly pagan; the virtues when dissected read as Machiavelli for kids. People are either good or bad depending on someone’s outside arbitrary judgement, rather than on their actions,” says another critic.

in defence of harry

Those endorsing the books generally deal with these criticisms before building their own case for Harry.

Alan Jacobs, professor of Literature at Wheaton University, is an avowed fan. He acknowledges that Harry is often in trouble. “Harry’s tendency to bypass or simply flout the rules is a matter of moral concern for him,” he explains. “He wonders and worries about the self-justifications he offers, and often doubts not just his abilities but his virtue.”

The accusation that a character’s morality is entirely arbitrary is unfounded. Even a shallow reading of The Chamber of Secrets would discount such a view. Dumbledore assures Harry that it’s the choices we make, our actions that determine who we are.

Admittedly ‘good’ characters within the narrative transgress. However none of these figures are depicted as perfect. For want of a better phrase, they are still human. What is significant about Harry and his friends is that despite their faults and errors, they remain loyal to Dumbledore. In Chamber of Secrets, this loyalty is crucial to the plot. But more on that later.

The more serious charge against Harry Potter is its associations with Satanism and the occult.

Much of the Harry Potter spin-offs and merchandise does seem dubious or is plainly unhelpful. However should the novels be condemned because of this?

Rowling has created a fantasy world in her novels. There is a magical dimension to life that many simply cannot see and a battle between good and evil that many are unaware of. The magic in Harry Potter is a device the writer uses to create her world and make sense of it.

In his essay on “Magic, Christianity and Harry Potter”, William Bates, Adviser on New Religious Movements in the Diocese of Durham, sees a double standard in the analysis of the Narnia book and Potter.

“It would be fallacious to argue that Narnian magic is acceptable because its’ author was a committed Christian whereas Hogwarts’ magic should be censured because no such claim is made by J.K. Rowling.”

Bates is more inclined to the view of Alan Jacobs who sees the magic in Rowling’s world as somewhat metaphorical.

“The fundamental moral framework of the Harry Potter books, then, is a familiar one to all of us: it is the problem of technology. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is in the business of teaching people how to harness and employ certain powers — that they are powers unrecognized by science is really beside the point. ”

And there’s another dimension to the magic that Bates raises. Citing Michael Hertenstein (author of Harry Potter vs. the Muggles, Myth, Magic and Joy), he argues that magic in literature can open our eyes to the wonders of our world.

“By hinting at an existence which transcends the material and the mundane, fantasy stories play a valuable role in children’s lives, enabling them, in their imagination, to construct and believe in a visionary world. Nature and art perform a similar function, arousing stirrings of awe and amazement, thus saving us from becoming Muggles for whom mystery is simply nonsense.”

harry and Christian symbolism

According to some academics and analysts in the UK and the US, the hysteria surrounding the spells and wizardry misses the point.

John Granger, author of The Hidden Key to Harry Potter, believes Rowling has been misunderstood and misrepresented. He describes first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone as “a tale of the soul’s purification, illumination, and perfection in Christ (written in the medieval language of spiritual alchemy).”

Far from being a treatise for Wiccan practices, Granger contends that Rowling is writing Christian literature in the tradition of C S Lewis’s Narnia tales.

Scott Moore, philosophy professor at Baylor University in Texas, also notes the connection to Lewis and “wonders” about Rowling’s personal faith. He argues that the Harry Potter books consistently use “deep Christian symbols”.

In an interview with United Press International, Moore discussed a scene in Philosopher’s Stone where Voldemort killed a unicorn and drank its blood.

“This is a classic image of the atonement,” he explained. “In what is typically called a ‘Christus victor’ notion, Lucifer seeks to slay Christ under the delusion that in doing so he will live and Christ will die – and that fails.”

Granger also notes the symbolism of the unicorn.

“That the blood of the unicorn will curse those who drink it unworthily, and that it has life-giving power, echoes St Paul’s discourse on the unworthy reception of Communion, which is the blood of Christ.”

Granger has come to the conclusion that Rowling’s use of witty names and peculiar creatures has a purpose beyond amusing her readers.

Wildly creative, the Harry Potter novels are also steeped in allusion. Rowling makes connections to the writings of great British writers like Austen and Dickens, Tolkein and Lewis. She also weaves symbols and concepts from medieval folklore and ancient philosophy into her novels. Could these allusions be accidental or subconscious?

With degrees in French and the Classics and an abiding passion for literature, it seems unlikely that Rowling is ignorant of her novels’ layers. But whether her use of Christian symbolism is an intellectual exercise or indicates personal faith is another matter.

Granger would disagree. He is convinced that Rowling has left enough clues in her novels – particularly The Chamber of Secrets to be convinced. The second novel in the series, Chamber has the most obvious Christian symbolism.

Harry Potter as a morality tale?

Before the advent of secular dramatists like Shakespeare and Marlowe, Western European theatre was based on Christian experience. Morality tales, which pitted good against evil, were either dramatisations of Bible stories or fables of the Christian life.

At the centre of the morality play was an allegorical spiritual journey undertaken by ‘Everyman’. John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is written in this style.

John Granger sees the climax of Book II, where Harry descends to the chamber of secrets to rescue Ginny Weasley as “the clearest Christian allegory of salvation history since Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. ... Using only traditional symbols, from the ‘Ancient of Days’ figure as God the Father to the satanic serpent and Christ-like phoenix (‘the Resurrection Bird’), the drama takes us from the fall to eternal life without a hitch.”

Granger provides a compelling argument for seeing the divine in the ‘demonic’ Harry Potter books. Describing the scene in detail, he explains what happens in terms of allegory. The following is Granger’s key to unlocking the climactic scene.

• Harry is ‘Every Man’
• Ginny is ‘Innocence, Purity’
• Riddle/Voldemort is ‘Satan, the Deceiver’
• The Basilisk is ‘Sin’
• Dumbledore is ‘God the Father’
• Fawkes the Phoenix is ‘Christ’
• Phoenix Song is ‘Holy Spirit’
• Gryffyndor’s Sword is ‘the Sword of Faith/Spirit’ (Eph 6:17)
• The Chamber is ‘the World’ and
• Hogwarts is ‘Heaven’

According to the allegorical elements Rowling uses are so consistent with the morality genre that it’s hard to see how the meaning of Harry’s encounter in the chamber could be missed. It’s a valid point.

It will be worth watching the sparks fly again when the fifth book hits the shelves on June 21. The name of the next instalment? Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Bibliography:

Reference Sources:

Behind the Name: the etymology and history of first names
Encyclopedia Mythica
“The Griffin”, Myth Man’s Homework Help Center
“The Gryphon in Mythology”
“The Philosopher’s Stone” , What’s in a Name?
“TheChamber of Secrets”, What’s in a Name?
Wizard Words

Articles:

Abanes, Richard, “A Critical Analysis of What’s A Christian to do with Harry Potter?”
Apologetics Index, “The Harry Potter Debate”
Bates, William, “Magic, Christianity and Harry Potter”
Evangelical""" text="text="text="Alliance “Harry Potter Craze Is Not A Threat To Christians Says Evangelical Alliance” - November 2001
Granger, John, “Harry Potter and the Inklings: The Christian Meaning of The Chamber of Secrets ”
Jacobs, Alan “Harry Potter’s Magic” antithesis.com
James, Ken, “Is Harry Potter harmless?” ChristianAnswers.net
Komschlies, Jacqui “The Perils of Harry Potter”, Christianity Today, October 2000
Litwinski, Tony “A review of What’s A Christian to do with Harry Potter”

Morse, Ann “The Potter Magic”, BreakPoint Online
Pulford, Cedric, “Let Harry Potter Conjure Up ‘Gospel Magic’, Says Christian Magician” Christianity Today, December 2001
Wingfield, Mark “Baylor philosophy professor sees virtue in Potter” Baptist Standard, November 2001
The Christian Guide to Fantasy, “Talking Potter”
United Press International, “Harry Potter’s Christian Imagery”, November 14, 2001

Books

Abanes, Richard, Harry Potter - The Menace Behind the Magick
Granger, John, The Hidden Key to Harry Potter
Neal, Connie, What’s a Christian to do with Harry Potter?
Neal, Connie, The Gospel According to Harry Potter:Spirituality in the Stories of the World’s Most Famous Seeker

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