Theme of HP (was Notes on Literary uses of magic)

[puduhepa98 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 168054

>Betsy Hp:
<snip> 
>They all (and I'm including both  Order members and Harry's group of 
friends here) have an intrinsic loyalty  to Dumbledore that they use 
to define themselves. That loyalty does get  transferred to Harry, 
but even Harry defines himself as Dumbledore's man.  The two stand as 
one but with Harry as subservient (Dumbledore doesn't use  Harry to 
define himself).
<snip>


.>Betsy Hp:
>I agree. Really, Harry and friends weren't  going up against the MoM 
*because* it was the MoM. They opposed it because  it first opposed 
Dumbledore. They follow Dumbledore's "rules", and they  understand 
that Dumbledore's authority trumps the authority of the MoM. If  the 
two powers come into conflict, they go with Dumbledore. They're not  
about the individual, they're about absolute and unquestioning 
loyalty  to their Man. 

Nikkalmati
 
This post touches on what appear IMHO to be the main theme of the series -  
loyalty and of course its opposite - treachery.  
We hear a lot about love, but we don't see a great deal of it.  We  assume 
Lily and James loved each other and we do see the actions of mothers who  love 
their children, but not many characters are inspired by love.  DD may  love 
Harry, but we don't see that on the page either.  The romantic love of  the 
teenagers is not very deep.
 
What we do see over and over is the importance of loyalty.  In the  past, the 
Marauders  are loyal to each other but Peter betrays them in a  supreme act 
of treachery, which is central to the books.  The Trio are  loyal to each 
other, to the school, to their House and to DD.  The other  students are loyal to 
their houses and the school.  Draco is loyal to his  family and to some extent 
so is Bella.  Dobby is loyal to Harry but not to  the Malfoys, Kreacher is 
supposed to be loyal to Harry, but he betrays  Harry and Sirius.  Harry is deeply 
loyal to DD and expresses himself in COS  to Tom, and later to Fudge and to 
Scrimgeour.  The OOP is run on personal  loyalty - to the Order and to DD.  
Snape, of course, is either the supreme  loyalist or the great betrayer.  Sirius' 
feelings for Harry, even if they  become love, start out as loyalty to James. 
These are not all of the  possible examples.  The ties that bind the 
characters and motivate them are  much better understood as loyalty than love.
 
If this is the case, I am not sure how Love in the abstract can help Harry  
defeat LV.  As human beings we love individuals, just as Harry's  love for 
Sirius drove out LV.  It is much more difficult to love in  the abstract so, it is 
very hard to visualize what is behind the Love  door  in the MOM.  Therefore, 
I expect in some way it will be a more  personal form of love, and one based 
on loyalty, that is used to destroy LV in  DH. That means to me that the bonds 
between the Trio (and perhaps Ginny)  will play a bigger role than, say, 
Lily's love for Harry.
 
Nikkalmati




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