[HPforGrownups] Re: Chances of Being Alive at the End of Book Seven

[Taryn Kimel]

No: HPFGUIDX 82561

urghiggi:
BUT I also subscribe to the "Harry lives" theory -- that JKR's long saga of 
character development would be pretty pointless if all that effort and anguish 
just led to Harry's physical death, even if it were a triumphant/sacrificial death. 
OTOH, I think she is very into the message that victory is hard, requiring 
teamwork and sacrifice, and that in the end even victory may be bittersweet 
(the Frodo phenomenon -- "I won, but I can't be happy..."). Ron's death, esp if 
he deliberately sacrifices himself, would be consistent with a "Harry wins but 
the price is huge" scenario. 

Taryn:
Ah, but there's a huge difference with Frodo--he fails. In essence. Yes, the Ring was destroyed. Because Gollum grabbed it an fell into Mount Doom. Frodo failed and was consumed by the Ring. Tolkien himself says that Frodo failed his quest in his letters. Good reason not to be happy.

No one seems to think there's a similar fate in store for Harry. Besides, what is so "pointless" about sacrificing yourself to save the rest of the world? There's not a lack of a lesson. That's a lesson all in itself. All victories of such magnitude come at a price. (Can't help but let my mind wander to the theological parallels. Or at least the same kind of act if not quite a parallel.)

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Taryn : http://taryn.shirataki.net

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