The Boy Who Lived

[finwitch]

No: HPFGUIDX 54341

> bboy_mn:
> I take almost the opposite approach. You can survive a plane crash,
> you can survive a serious illness, but not many people survive 
death.
> That's what Harry did; he did the impossible, he survived the
> unsurvivable, the unblockable, the unstoppable Death Curse. 
> 
> Harry isn't the boy who lived, he is 'The Boy Who Lived'. Yes, he
> survived, but his survival goes way beyond beating the odds, to 
doing
> the impossible. In that context, I think I think the word 'Lived' is
> intended to contrast absolute death, and not just a statistical
> likelihood of surbviving something tramatic.
> 
> Just a thought.

Just my thoughts: 
What I think of is that someone could ask: "How can anyone live like 
that?" and gain the response "It's not living, it's surviving". Also, 
living is more than surviving. I'm not so sure if Harry's being at 
Dursleys can be considered "living" in this sense - except most 
wizards don't know how he is surviving more than living - pretending 
he doesn't exist when Dursleys have guests...

Another, that "you only live twice: Once when you're born and second 
when you face death" would also apply. Harry did face death - and he 
lives still...

Also, the past tense is there to remind us that Harry can die! We've 
seen the ghosts and nothing to say Harry won't be one; there's 
Trelawney telling Harry that he'll die... well, we ALL die someday so 
that's one prediction that can't go wrong. Harry *might* die in Book 
#7 or earlier, if he becomes a ghost...

-- Finwitch