Psychoanalysis of CoS revisted (with Occlumency)

[ivogun]

No: HPFGUIDX 101297

Following up on another post, I ran across a series of earlier posts (83402=
, 83372, and  
83512) about Psychoanalysis of CoS.  I was a literature major, and it seems=
 very clear to  
me that some of the images in CoS (and other books) are sexual in nature. <=
Blush> I am  
somewhat old fashioned, but I have been taught to make connections! After s=
eeing the  
above posts, I reread parts of CoS. I think the sexual image is even strong=
er than the  
earlier posts indicate—the "pregnant pause" between Ron and Harry at the en=
trance to the  
chamber, the rape imagery with Basilisk voice "
tear
 rip
 kill
 from diffe=
rent places in  
the book
 (and, think, what the shape a Basilisk --snake--reminds one of. )=
<Really, 
blush> 

Of course, one of the previous posts notes the chamber scene where Tom Ridd=
le gloats 
like a rapist over his victim. And Ginny, well she is almost a stereotypica=
l victim whose 
trust has been betrayed.  Also, for me anyway, there is something about the=
 whole 
chamber of scene that  is reminiscent of Dracula movies, another story that=
 has a lot of
sexual undertones.  Not  too far fetched either ...for in SS/PS LV, does dr=
ink unicorn blood
and in OotP, and Bellatrix does  behave like one of Dracula's female servan=
ts (slaves). 
<Ugh>

Since Harry is adolescent, sex and love are major issues. How can they not =
be? I think JKR 
has included sexual feeling symbolically, so that the books remain suitable=
 for children,  
yet pictures adolescence in a way that is meaningful to adults. Quite an ac=
complishment!  
And Harry
well
he is still somewhat a kid still, for he seems quite innocen=
t. 

Anyway, this snake imagery is appears in other places.  And yes, sometimes =
the snakes are 
just reptiles, and at other times they relate to  Slytherins, but there are=
 times where 
snakes allude in some way to sex. In PS/SS, we find that the rather  Victor=
ian Dursley's 
send Harry to his "closet" for "the longest time ever" after Harry lets the=
 snake loose in the 
zoo. (And Harry is clueless to why they are so upset.)  After all Harry has=
 done some other 
bits of noticeable bits of magic, such as when he turned his teacher's  wig=
 blue and when 
he managed to jump up on the school roof, but it is the incident with the s=
nake that  
angers the Dursleys the most at this point in the story. 

Later, in OotP, Harry has dreams, but not his normal ones; these "dreams" c=
enter on a  
closed door, and eventually the snake. These dreams make Harry him feel gui=
lty/dirty.  
Allusions to sexual fantasies on some level? And in the occlumency lessons =
that Harry has 
from Snape, where Harry is told to empty his mind of strong feelings, etc. =
before bed,  
doesn't that seem a lot like advice given to teens? Anyway I do think adds =
another  
dimension to that occlumency lesson disaster that Harry had with Snape. It'=
s hard to 
imagine anyone who would be a worse candidate than Snape for giving Harry f=
atherly  
advise on sex (and on one level that is what it is involved.) <Shudder> Fro=
m what we glean  
from Snape's pensieve, we learn how bad an idea that this is. Poor Harry.

Barbara (Ivogun), who can't believe she wrote this post