… and the Man who rose!
After listening to the 25 June edition of the White Horse Inn, I’ve been re-reading the HP books looking specifically for Christ. The guest, who is the author of Finding God in Harry Potter (at least, I think that’s the title), claims that in every book there is a figurative death-and-resurrection accompanied by “Christ-symbols”.
I finished re-reading the first last night, and there was. Harry, after defeating Voldemort, is put into a coma and doesn’t come out for three days, as Dumbledore tells Harry.
Oh, read the book! You’d appreciate it, I’m sure, with all the classical symbolism Granger mentions. He claims Rowling’s basically a modern-day Inkling… The title is _Looking for God in Harry Potter_. It’s good stuff!
The most obvious one to me is in book 2: Harry descending to the depths to rescue his traitorous beloved (which is what we must believe Ginny to be) from the serpent. Hmmm…where have I heard that story before?
(Now your comments are fussing about my e-mail address. Somebody else’s were doing that the other day.)
I haven’t read Granger’s “Looking for God in Harry Potter” but I have read his earlier (and much longer) book “The Hidden Key to Harry Potter” . I’m not exactly sure how the two books differ… I think “Looking for God in HP” is just a condensed version of “Hidden Key” . Highly recommended .
He published a long article on the the Potter books in Touchstone mag a few years ago :
http://www.touchstonemag.com/docs/issues/16.9docs/16-9pg34.html
I agree with Valerie: the Christ-likeness is especially plain in The Chamber of Secrets. And while Harry Potter is the Christ figure, Fawkes the phoenix might be seen as the Holy Spirit figure.
The Phoenix is a symbol of resurrection — that’s what gets Harry (and those he saves) out of the “grave.”
Another excellent place to visit is Hogwarts Professor. Lots of Granger articles there.