OOP: Re: Why Harry will die AND Harry and LV bound AND possession

[ccampboyle]

No: HPFGUIDX 65780

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "joywitch_m_curmudgeon" 
<joym999 at a...> wrote:

> 
> I've always wondered if Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea books weren't 
an 
> influence on JKR.  Hogwarts has always reminded me a little of the 
> wizarding school on Roke, and the main character, Sparrowhawk, is 
a 
> little like Harry.  Sparrowhawk goes on a journey through the Land 
of 
> the Death in on of the books.
> 
> So, there's a lot of evidence for Ali's theory, but I still don't 
> like it.
> 
> --Joywitch

I'm glad someone has mentioned the Earthsea books. I keep coming 
back to this notion of Harry and V being bound to each other. A 
couple of people have mentioned the fact that Thomas means "twin", 
implying a twinship between V and someone else. Why not between 
Harry and V? At the end of the first Earthsea book, Sparrowhawk 
stops fleeing the thing which is pursuing him, and turns and chases 
it. When he catches it, he names it *with his own name*, since it 
turns out it is simply the dark side of himself. What if Tom Riddle 
has been resident inside Harry since he was a year old? What if 
Harry doesn't experience possession like Ginny, because he already 
has Tom within him? In CoS he feels the name Tom Riddle is familiar. 

I had originally thought Harry and Tom would be merged at the end of 
Book 7, and the *evil part* of Tom that is LV would die, thus 
redeeming Tom. This echoed E. Nesbitt's amulet book, where the good 
and evil characters merged, saving the soul of the evil one. (They 
accomplished this by walking through a gateway, by the way.) But 
then, I was so influenced by the thought of the veil and death as 
the next adventure, I felt Harry would die defeating V. 

Now, however, I am closer to my original position, for several  
reasons. First, since JKR has always known how it was going to turn 
out, I assume her publishers did too. I'm dubious they would have 
been so supportive of the whole project if they had known it would 
end in sacrificial death. Secondly, I noted in the Royal Albert Hall 
interview that JKR identified E. Nesbitt as one of her favorite 
authors when she was a child. Third, I think redemption is a theme 
of hers -- Harry's reputation is redeemed in OOP, Sirius's 
reputation is redeemed in PoA, Dumbledore's reputation is redeemed 
in OOP, Snape is redeemed, etc. I'm willing to bet JKR is familiar 
with(and possibly influenced by)the Nesbitt redemption, the 
Sparrowhawk redemption, and I'll also mention the redemption of 
Merlin in CS Lewis' That Hideous Strength. Fourthly, I really think 
the poster who mentioned Cerberus and Orpheus is onto something. 
Lastly, note that the prophecy says nothing about the death of Tom 
Riddle, but the death of the Dark Lord. That could be construed as 
separate from Tom. 

I find it interesting that V can't stand to be within Harry's mind 
when he has loving feelings. What if Harry were to turn (like 
Sparrowhawk)and try to go within V's mind? Someone mentioned A 
Wrinkle in Time and the notion that "It" would shrivel up if it were 
loved. Could the evil that is LV be driven out, leaving a body for 
Tom Riddle to inhabit? Note the prophecy spoke of the Dark Lord 
dying; it said nothing about Tom Riddle. 

Silmarien (who has so many ideas moving through her head so quickly 
she is having trouble deciding what she actually thinks -- didn't 
someone write a TBAY about schizo. theorists?)