End of Voldemort = End of Evil

[Bruce Alan Wilson]

No: HPFGUIDX 152945


Randy:
"I have read a lot of discussions about Harry destroying Voldemort to
bring an end to evil in the Wizard World.  This follows a Western
philosophy of Beginning, Middle, and End.  Followed of course by
Good lived happily ever after.


BAW:
JKR is seen by somenot entirely accurately, IMHO, but not entirely
inaccurately eitheras the literary heiress of the Inklings (CSL, JRRT,
and to a lesser extent CW).

While the NARNIA books do indeed end with Narnia destroyed and Aslan
leading his people into a glorious new paradise, CSL does make it clear
that this is not the WHOLE story.  Queen Susan was excludednot for all
time, but for now.  Back in the shadow England she is a young woman who
has just lost her parents and siblings in an horrific railway accident. 
We do not know if she will ultimately find her way back to Narniashe may,
or she may not.  (I am told that an Anglican nun in Canada has written a
sequel in which Queen Susan DOES return to Narnia; the Lewis Estate will
not let her publish it, however.)

LOTR, indeed does end with Sauron defeated and the Numenorian Monarchy
restored, but at a pricethe Elves are leaving Middle Earth, taking with
them much of great beauty, power, and wisdom.  And Gandalf gives a strong
warning that the downfall of Sauron is NOT the end of evil in Middle
Earth.  He says, "After a defeat, and a respite, the Dark Power arises
again in a new shape." (This is from memory, so I may have the wording
quite right.)

Thus, your analysis of the Western literary heritage, and the particular
strand of it from which JKR comes, is overly simplistic.  That being said,
I agree with your conclusion that the defeat of Voldemort will not mean
the end of evil in the WW.

Voldemort himself was preceded by Grindelwald (sp.?) and the Knights of
St. Walpurgis; we have met at least one nasty piece of work who is no
Death Eater (Professor Umbridge). Any fan who thinks that the end of
Voldemort will mean the end of evil is totally naive.



BAW