Unlocking the Hidden Pattern (was Part 2)

[cubfanbudwoman]

No: HPFGUIDX 93337

Sienna wrote:
> > In both books Harry heads down into a hidden area.  In CoS it's
> > the 
> > Chamber of Secrets. In OoTP, this is mirrored when he and his 
> > friends head into the Department of Mysteries.  The relationship 
> > between `secrets' and `mysteries' is obvious.  Both
> > are underground 
> > areas.

David replied:
> In the case I have quoted above, you touch on something that has 
> long intrigued me: that in *all* five books, there is a 
> subterraneous element to the climax.  I agree, in COS it is 
> clearest, the chamber is deep underground.  In PS, they drop 
through 
> the trapdoor, and it is hard to be sure how far they go down, but 
> the symbolism is there, to my mind.  In POA, they get to the Shack 
> via an underground passage.  In GOF, the least clear case, Harry is 
> transported from a maze to a graveyard (a place of burial), and 
> there is a symbolic burial element to the story when Harry's blood 
> is tossed beneath the surface of the cauldron.  And, as you say, in 
> OOP, the Department of Mysteries is at the very bottom of the 
> Ministry, which is itself mostly underground, as Arthur is at pains 
> to point out.  All five episodes take place at night.
> 
> I'm not sure whether this is just JKR adopting a common narrative 
> device, where the hero undergoes symbolic death before emerging 
> victorious, or if there is more to it.  Her critics attribute this 
> sort of thing to a lack of imagination, of course.
 
Susan:
And to give credit where credit is due, John Granger discusses this 
very "descent" theme extensively in his book The Hidden Key to Harry 
Potter.  For anyone intrigued by this, check it out.

Siriusly Snapey Susan