Wands and other things

[Miles]

No: HPFGUIDX 147736

Geoff Bannister wrote:
> I believe that there is a Christian underpinning of the books if you
> wish to look for it; I realise that not everyone will want to do that
> but many folk have pointed out - on this group, in books and in
> articles - that, in the behaviour of characters such as Dumbledore
> and Harry himself, many parallels can be drawn with real faith.

Miles:
I agree and I think it is important to underline. Yes, Rowling's faith is
important for her literary work, it will shine through, sometimes obviously,
sometimes you will have to search for it. If we want to predict what will
happen in book 7, it is promising to think about how Christian belief could
influence the plot and had influenced it within the books we know. But I
have the impression that we have to be careful about this. I never had the
feeling that Rowling wants to evangelise her readers, not even in the way
the Inklings did (actually, speaking of Tolkien I do not see much
Christianity in LoTR, much too much revenge and violence, but this is OT).
So, I have problems with exaggerated 'Christian' interpretations of Harry
Potter, and worst of all the "Harry Potter as the Messias of the WW" (which,
again only my personal opinion, would be blasphemic).
I am sure that people can understand Harry Potter without being Christian
and without knowing very much about Christian faith. And I think that this
is part of the global success of this series - it's universal.

> Renee:
> And that is precisely what Granger says repeatedly in the articles on
> his website. (Personally, I even think he's overdoing it and turning
> JKR into more of an Inkling like Lewis and Tolkien than she really
> is.)

Miles:
I as well think he is overdoing it, and that's the reason I do not like his
articles very much. But the reason for this may be, that his target
readership is not me, but fundamentalistic Christians especially in the US,
who think that Harry Potter is "evil" or "satanic" or something like that,
because there is "magic" in it (sorry for shortening a point of view I think
is ridiculous). To convince readers who are influenced by not very
intelligently designed reviews like that, he *has* to exaggerate his PoV.
And he really does (and not only him).

Miles