Voldemort as Christ figure; Ira, not Cole

[lucky_kari]

No: HPFGUIDX 37379

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Philip Nel <philnel at k...> wrote:
> Dear HPforGrownups listmembers,
> 
> While it's true that (as CMC points out) the phoenix is a symbol of 
resurrection, it (he) is also a character in E. Nesbit's _The Phoenix 
and the Carpet_.  His symbolic value may be as likely tied to E. 
Nesbit as to Christian symbolism.  Indeed, in E. Nesbit's novel, the 
phoenix arrives in the children's lives just after Guy Fawkes' Day, 
>leading one to speculate that Rowling's phoenix may be named Fawkes 
in homage to Nesbit's.  (As I'm sure most listserv participants know, 
>Rowling often cites E. Nesbit as a childhood favorite -- in the _O 
Magazine_ piece [Jan. 2001], for example, she specifically expresses 
>admiration for Oswald, the narrator of _The Story of the Treasure-
>Seekers_.) 

She liked Oswald, did she? My favourite was always Noel. I never 
could understand why all the others were so short with him and his, 
admittedly horrible, poetry. And I identified most with Alice.I loved 
those books, and I actually started loving Harry Potter because they 
reminded me of them. 

>So, what I'm suggesting here is, yep, the Christian allegories do 
>intersect with Rowling's series, but Fawkes the Phoenix says as much 
>about Rowling's debt to Nesbit as it does about anything else.

Yes. Rowling's children are somewhat like Nesbit's. Harry and company 
are in mortal danger and I can't remember any of Nesbit's ever being 
so. I suppose there were lots of situations where something could 
have happened. There were certainly frightening incidents like the 
time the escaped lunatic was trying to "teach" the Bastable children 
how to fly, or the time that they were locked up on the top of the 
tower and the tramp was trying to rob them, but you never felt that 
death was just around the corner. In HP, there is that feeling, and 
furthermore, Cedric has actually died. 

Yet, the Weasleys remind me very much of the Bastables. 7 children: 
Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny against 6: Dora, 
Oswald, Dickie, Alice, Noel, and H.O. Of course, Alice and Noel were 
twins, but I don't think they're at all comparable with Fred and 
George (though if F&G really sent that Valentine to Harry after all, 
there may be a parallel - thinks of Noel's awful poetry). However, 
they had the same "Devil May Care" attitude that the Weasleys have 
except for Dora who was very Percy-like in her scoldings. Dickie and 
Oswald were always playing practical jokes on people. In the first 
book, they were very "poor": in an turn of the century English 
literature fashion (two servants). They were a wonderful family. They 
played together, and fought, and made up continually, though they 
lacked a Mrs. Weasley (their mother was dead), and their father never 
seemed to be around. Albert's uncle, though, reminds me of Dumbledore.

Eileen