The meanings of the titles

[davewitley]

No: HPFGUIDX 90621

Annemehr wrote:

> To go even deeper, though, I think the death of a phoenix by fire 
and its rebirth from the ashes relates very closely to what Harry 
has 
> just gone through beginning in the graveyard of GoF and right 
through his fifth year.  He lived through the "fire" all year, which 
was 
> miserable for him, and which culminated in the soul-crushing loss 
of Sirius and revelation of the prophecy.  In his meditation by the 
> lake we find he has been reduced to "ashes," and in his meeting 
with Luna and his reaction to the Kings Cross sendoff I believe we 
> see our first glimpse of the "tiny, wrinkled newborn" phoenix 
chick -- the beginning of the new Harry.  The descriptions of the 
> immediate pre- and post-burning Fawkes in CoS note that he was 
very ugly (as many people complain of Harry's attitude and temper 
> in OoP), yet the mature bird is very beautiful.

Intuitively, this feels right to me.  It's Harry-centric; we are 
explicitly reminded of this aspect of the Phoenix when Fawkes stops 
the AK; the previous book has 'fire' in the title; as the book 
proceeds Harry has to carry a progressively heavier load; the plot 
driver towards the end is Harry's loyalty to Sirius; and we hope the 
tears at the end will bring healing.

I like the idea that fannish discontent with OOP is foreshadowed by 

Alas - I'm not competent to judge the alchemy connections.

> Your post also reminds me of something Iris posted some time ago, 
which complements what you've said very well.  In her post 
> (message #46992) she writes how she found that the seven obstacles 
Harry faced on the way to the philosopher's stone in PS/SS 
> seem to parallel main ideas in each of the seven books.

Yes, indeed - and she has reiterated it at the Hogs Head group: 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hogs_Head/message/493 - since we're 
talking about harmony ;-)

In fact, Iris' posts were partly in my mind when writing about the 
titles.  I really like what Iris has to say, but I think there is a 
difficulty in drawing out the truly fundamental from the merely very 
significant, which is something I'd like to try.  I turned to the 
titles as a way of filtering the themes in the hope that they would 
provide a new clarity.

For example, I'm not sure that Fluffy's significance is *primarily* 
the suggestion of 'triplication' (interestingly, Iris didn't mention 
the HRH trio - I think that must be your own contribution); I think 
other interpretations are possible, for example that he signals 
entrance to the underworld (in Greek mythology Cerberus the three 
headed dog was Hades' guard dog: remember Hagrid got him 'from a 
Greek chappie'; also Cerberus was charmed by the music of Orpheus cf 
Dumbledore's hint about music at the sorting feast).  So you could 
interpret that trial as being about entrance and initiation: enter 
the living philosopher's stone with the power to charm (stopper?) 
death, who first has to proceed through a sequence of trials.  It 
could also be saying that the end of the trials is death, a 
possibility reinforced by Hagrid's role as ferryman in the first 
book (Hades is normally reached by a ferry across the river Styx, 
piloted by Charon; remember also Hagrid is introduced as 'Keeper of 
the Keys', a role we subsequently hear nothing of despite it being a 
chapter title, reminiscent of Jesus' statement 'I hold the keys to 
death and Hades' (Rev 1)).  But I'm not wedded to this 
interpretation any more than the 'triplication' one.  The problem 
with symbolic interpretation of HP (as with Revelation!) is too many 
meanings, not too few.  Hence my interest in the titles as possible 
statements: '*these* are the symbols by which to interpret all the 
other symbols'.  But I accept this may be forcing the books into a 
mould that they can't fit.

  For instance, first was Fluffy the three-headed dog, which seems 
to parallel 
> the formation of HRH's friendship, the three into one committed 
unit.  Second was Devil's Snare (a snakey plant) down the trapdoor, 
> which parallels Harry going *down* into the Chamber of Secrets and 
encountering the basilisk.  It goes on very convincingly -- I 
> recommend reading it all.  It's also interesting to try to predict 
books six and seven likewise.

Exactly - this approach complements the detective-story one where 
clues are analysed.

> Iris, if she's reading this, may have more to add, and those more 
knowledgeable about alchemy may have to correct me somewhat, 
> though I think I have the basic idea right.

Fire away, everyone!

> Does any of this point to anything?  I think studying the titles 
as you have can certainly help us perceive the main themes of the 
> books, for instance that (IMO) OoP was maybe more about 
the "remaking" of Harry than it was about what was hidden in the 
DoM.  I 
> think everything you, Iris, and I have said makes it obvious that 
this is a very well-thought-out story indeed, where JKR has 
> amalgamated much folklore and history, alchemy, and ideas from her 
own Christian religion into an extremely rich whole.  It is so rich, 
> in fact, that it makes it very difficult to pick out what are the 
central relationships and symbols from what may just be 
conicidental.  It 
> has us looking up the meanings of flowers and trees, astrology and 
star names, alchemical symbols, classical mythology and local 
> folklore, runes, numerology, second meanings of names, Christian 
symbolism, literary references (Shakespeare, Gouge, ), and more 
> I'm sure, as well as searching out parallels between different 
parts of the story itself (e.g. Grindelwald <--> Voldemort, 
Marauders <--> 
> HRH).  A very good children's story indeed!
> 
> I'm looking forward to seeing how JKR weaves everything together 
in the end.

I can only echo this.

David