OOP: Re: Why Harry will die

[Ali]

No: HPFGUIDX 65623

Goingoutsleepwalking wrote:

 Actually, the way I took it, this is what the prophecy meant 
by "neither can live while the other survives." In other words, 
*after* one destroys the other, then *that* one will get to 
*really* "live" and not just exist in relation to their quest to 
kill the other.

ceathena:
> Self sacrifice will not be difficult for Harry. He was ready
> to die at the end of Order of the Pheonix. I think, when the
> time comes, he will gladly end his life to save those he
> loves. It is in his nature. If he recognizes that it needs to
> be done, he will do it. Harry is not one to hesitate.

Carol:
> Boy, I sure agree with you here.  Fortunately, Harry hasn't had to
> die, and I really don't think it's necessary for him to die for the
> series to have a suitable ending. >>>>>

 ceathena:
> Also, we have now seen this veil.  Dumbledore has already told
> Harry that death is just 'the next great adventure'.  It would
> make perfect sense for Harry - after he has slain Voldemort - to
> simply step onto the dais and through the veil.  The final
> chapter could possibly be entitled "The Next Great
> Adventure".  And everyone can simply wave goodbye as he
> steps through to be with Sirius and his Mum and Dad, and whoever 
JKR will kill off that Harry loves.  You know she will...

Carol:
"What's the point?"  And unlike the ending in Cocoon, the ending
> suggested here is way too much like suicide for my taste.  It
> also, to me, would show a weakness, an inability at last of Harry 
to come to terms with life and its difficulties and struggles.  Even
> if it comes at the end of a struggle against Voldemort, where is 
the honor in this kind of death?  I would really hate that message. 
>>>


Goingoutsleepwalking

That ending *is* suicide, and I have already posted on why Harry 
*will not* commit suicide (but once again, suicide is *NOT* noble or 
romantic or anything like that. If you think it is you are sick. 
Actually, you're probably just ignorant, as in you wouldn't have any 
first hand idea at all and thus shouldn't talk about it. If that is 
offensive, that's too bad, because I feel that I have suffered 
enough to have the right to say that).

Ali:

I can not imagine that JKR will end the series with Harry stepping 
through the arch after he has killed Voldemort. That is not self-
sacrifice or martyrdom. Both of which have strong precedents in our 
Western culture and beyond. What ceathena seems to be describing is 
mission accomplished; now it's Harry's turn for rest. I can not 
think of a literary parallel for a Harry-type hero, saying now my 
life is run, it's time to move on, and simply stepping out like 
that. 

I can see Harry knowingly embarking on an action which will result 
in his death. This action would be either for the benefit of 
mankind, or simply to save some of the people he loves best. The 
more I look at it, the more I can see Harry allowing himself to die 
at the hand of Voldemort as a kind of subterfuge. A subterfuge so 
that Voldemort's real nemesis, Neville Longbottom can finish him 
off. 

Harry's life has been dominated by suffering and loss. He is 
entitled to more. If JKR cannot allow him any better in his current 
life, then perhaps we should be relieved that for Harry at least 
there will be peace in his afterlife. It is perhaps poignant that in 
PS Harry's greatest desire was to meet those he had never had a 
chance to know; Ron's desire on the other hand was based very much 
more on earthly, physical attainment.

I think that we are yet to see the true importance of the veil and 
the role of death in the Potterverse. I do wonder whether Harry will 
have to go on a journey beyond the veil in a quest to discover a way 
to defeat Voldemort, or simply Orpheus-like to meet those he cannot 
bear to have lost. Harry already knows how to get past Cerberus-
Fluffy, the Ancient Greek Guardian of the Underworld. Perhaps a 
draft of the potion of Sleeping Death will allow him to walk where 
no other mortal has been before.

Ali