That Whole Christian Thing (plus assorted others)

[jmgarciaiii]

No: HPFGUIDX 173256

I'm of the opinion that JKR included some parallels/allusions to 
Christianty. This is different than saying these books are allegories 
for the Crucifixion of Christ, etc.

And yet!

She also included some elements that are clearly non-Christian.

Something that has always struck me interesting is that JKR enjoys 
glittering ambiguities, and derives an enormous amount of authorial 
satisfaction from leaving things as open for interpretation as can be.

Me? I don't think it's wrong to note the Christian or non-Christian 
elements, but it's somewhat flawed to leap from noticing these 
elements to a tidy little summary judgment of the series. "Fliwick 
levitated a menorah during the Battle of Hogwarts, therefore the 
septology is nothing but Hebrew apocalyptic literature." I'm fairly 
confident this is not a viable option left us.

What seems logical to me is that having a broad array of 
these "traces" sprinkled generously throughout the book gives the 
readership that much more to resonate within them. In that sense, 
there is much genius at work. The Christian reader can "click" with 
some things, the Classics* reader with others, etc. To squeeze almost 
4000 pages into one facile explanation strikes me as a disservice and 
also something of a worrisome mark of refusing to see the world 
through a prism alien to one's own. (That said, it's OK if, after 
seeing things through a different perspective you still manage to see 
good reason for keeping your own.)

Just one man's opinion,

-Joe

* I mean, c'mon, that whole COS ending was pretty much Orpheus going 
down to Hades to get Euridyce back.