Voldemort as Christ figure; Ira, not Cole

[Philip Nel]

No: HPFGUIDX 37091

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_.)  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.

Re:

> Tomato, tomato
> Potato, potato
>
> Let's call the whole thing off.
>
>                    - Cole Porter

Actually, the lyric is by Ira Gershwin (music by his brother George).

Best,

Phil
--
Philip Nel
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Denison Hall
Kansas State University
Manhattan, KS 66506-0701
U.S.A.
-----------------------------------------
http://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/
philnel at ksu.edu