HP and biblical parallels

[bluesqueak]

No: HPFGUIDX 46408

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Iris FT <iris_ft at y...> wrote:
> 
>  
>  bluesqueak <pipdowns at e...> wrote: 
> <snip>
> 
> JKR has said that anyone who knows Christian Theology knows what's 
> going to happen to Harry.
> 
> <snip>
> 
> That doesn't mean she's intending Book 7 to be a `The Last Battle' 
> [C.S. Lewis]. 
> 
> A christian [small c] fate for Harry could involve his dying and 
> rising again, his plain old dying for the sake of saving others 
> and *not* rising again <Snip> or some other sacrifice in an   
> effort to save his world. For example, since he and Voldemort are 
> connected, Harry might realise that he must lose his magical 
> powers in order to make Voldemort lose *his* magical powers.
> 
<Snip>
> 
> 
> Me: He could also choose to spare Lord Voldemort.
> 
> That would be an original ending, if we consider that most of the 
time, the solution of this kind of stories is "the hero kills the 
bad guy".
> 
> I don't mean there won't be a final confrontation between Harry 
and Voldemort, and they won't have to fight. However, it would be 
terrible if Harry had to kill the Dark Lord. It would turn him into 
what he fought against. And I'm not sure JKR wants to give the kids 
such an example.
> 
> Sparing Lord Voldemort, giving up the idea of revenge (an eye for 
an eye, a tooth for a tooth) would also be a great achievement for 
Harry. It also would put an end to the infinite spiral of hatred and 
vendetta that seems to be one of the motors of the story.
> 
<Snip>
> 
> I don't know if JKR will make Harry forgive Voldemort, but it 
would certainly give him greatness and a definitely positive status.
> 
> He already shown he had aptitudes for mercy and magnanimity when 
he decided to spare Wormtail. Okay, he didn't want Remus and Sirius 
to become murderers, and he didn't say they had to forgive the 
traitor. But the fact is that even after all he had suffered, he 
knew that killing Peter was not a solution.
> 
<Snip>
> Iris

Yes, forgiveness and second chances are a very big theme in the 
books so far.

As well as the climatic 'Harry refusing to kill his parent's 
betrayer' sequence in PoA [Chapter 19 UK hardback]there is also 
Dumbledore's famous emphasis on second chances, notably with Hagrid, 
Snape and possibly Lupin. More interestingly, there's also Snape's 
not-so-famous emphasis on second chances, with Quirrel in Ch.13 
PS/SS, Lockhart in Ch.16 CoS, possibly Lupin in PoA ( though it's at 
Dumbledore's persuasion and he's HORRIBLY reluctant about it in 
Ch.9), and Karkaroff in GoF Ch.23.

Actually, the only time Snape appears to flat out refuse a second 
chance is in the Shrieking Shack [PoA Ch. 19]. Otherwise, in a nasty 
sort of way, he's quite merciful. I'm not sure I could have told 
someone like Karkaroff, who tried to turn Snape in just to get 
*himself* out of jail: 'Flee, I will make your excuses'.[GoF UK 
hardback, Ch.23 p.370].

Hagrid is also forgiving by nature (especially if you happen to have 
poisonous fangs:-) ). So Harry has examples of mercy, of giving 
someone a second chance or forgiving them entirely from the people 
surrounding him at Hogwarts. 

Would Harry try to kill an apparently repentant Voldemort? A 
Voldemort who is defeated and powerless? The Harry we have seen to 
date is unlikely to do such a thing.

So, yeah, that Harry might forgive Voldemort and/or his surviving 
supporters is a real possibility for the end of the series. I think 
dramatic completion means that Voldemort either has to die, or has 
to end up somewhere that is effectively the end of him - but there's 
no need for *Harry* to do this to him. Harry could fight him, defeat 
him, forgive him - and then an unrepentant Voldemort might do 
something that results in his own destruction.

Pip!Squeak