Seeking the truth (Was: Disappointment )

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 177598

Carol earlier:
> > Obviously, JKR herself has a different view of what constitutes
"the good stuff," or should we say, the important elements. Clearly,
the center for her is Harry's story, his suffering and struggle and
ultimate victory. Harry's search for "the truth," a phrase he or the
narrator uses multiple times in the book, seems to me an important
motif that has barely been touched on in our HPfGU discussions.
Ironically, the Seeker asks if he's meant "to know but not to seek"
(quoted from memory). That idea seems to me to be worth exploring
<snip>).
> 
Jen responded: 

I'm particularly interested in the topic of 'the truth' in DH if 
anyone is up for a discussion.  
> 
Carol again:
Yes, so am I, which is why I tossed it into the "disappointment"
discussion, where, admittedly, it didn't belong. It seems to me an
important and intriguing topic that we've barely touched on and I'm
definitely up for a discussion on it once I get my thoughts together.
Harry, after all, is "the Seeker" in all the books, but that position
becomes symbolic rather than literal in DH. The question is what he's
seeking, aside from Horcruxes (a variation on the quest motif of
countless myths, legends, and stories). But it seems to me that his
real interest, expressed repeatedly, is in finding "the truth." 

SSS has compiled a number of quotations that refer to Harry's search
for truth, and I'm waiting for her to post before I present any
organized arguments on the subject, so I'll just toss out a few
thoughts on the subject in hopes that others will find them worth
responding to. It struck me that Harry not only expresses a desire for
the truth about Dumbledore, which he eventually finds, but he also
finds the truth about Snape, which he wasn't seeking, as well as the
truth about his confrontation with Voldemort, about the Hallows, and
perhaps about himself. And there's Godric's Hollow, too, where he has
not wished to go until this book. He finds the truth about his
parents' death (not quite the enlightening chat with old Bathilda he
envisioned), but not about death itself until "King's Cross." 

Forgive the incoherent thoughts; I'm just tossing out pieces of the
puzzle here, without any attempt to fit it together. I'm definitely
interested in others' ideas on the subject and in SSS's canon, from
which I suppose I'll have to work deductively to discover what I think.

Jen:
> Harry learning the truth about himself and Dumbledore, how their
lives were woven together and what that meant for Harry's final 
confrontation with Voldemort, was the central mystery in DH as I 
understood the story. <snip>  It turns out Harry and Dumbledore were
connected by much more than the prophecy: they were also connected by
their shared pasts in Godric's Hollow, the Hallows, and how each one
dealt with power when presented with the option to pursue powerful
magical objects in their respective lives.  

Carol responds:

That's interesting. Are you suggesting that the Horcrux hunt is just a
device to structure the plot around, but the central mystery (and, of
course, there's one in every book) is the DD/Harry connection?
Certainly, he's asking questions about DD that he never asked when DD
was alive (how painfully true that particular insight into human
nature is), but I'm not altogether sure that DD is the center. It
seems to me (and I'm not arguing, just feeling my way here) that the
central mystery is "the truth" about everything related to Harry as
the Chosen One (including Snape though Harry doesn't know it).
Voldemort, too, is woven into that central mystery, as are the Hallows
(he's the descendant of the second brother) and Godric's Hollow, where
he was ripped apart and created his own nemesis. And the nature of
death itself, which Hermione tries to explain (the soul is eternal,
very different from the earthly mortality LV desires and tries through
evil and unnatural magic to obrain).

I know this idea will be rejected vehemently by some readers, but for
me, "Seeker" combined with Harry's repeated demands for "the truth"
suggests the biblical "Seek, and ye shall find" and a line from the
Episcopal Holy Eucharist, "For all who proclaim the Gospel, and all
who seek the truth." Harry obviously isn't proclaiming the Gospel (and
I don't think JKR is, either, though certainly I see an emphasis on
redemption and the afterlife) but I do think that his depiction as a
Seeker in the previous books has been leading up to his role as Seeker
of the Truth in this one. (The Christian elements of the search for
truth are not necessary to the discussion; Harry himself makes the one
symbolic gesture of placing a cross above the "grave" of Moody's eye
but even on Christmas Eve as carols are being sung in the church, he
thinks of his parents' dust or bones lying in their graves and not of
their souls. Harry, in short, is not a Christian despite celebrating
Christmas and Easter as secularized holidays, so anyone who dislikes
that idea can simply ignore it.)

Another stray thought here: Regulus is also a Seeker, as Harry notices
when he sees his photograph with his Slytherin team (none of whom is
described as ugly or sneering, just boys waving from a photograph).
Maybe Regulus also found a truth he wasn't seeking? Why bring in that
detail at all except to create a symbolic bond between Harry and a
Slytherin he never knew who also happened to be, like Harry, seventeen? 

Jen: 
> As I said in another post, I read the Hallows fitting into this part
of the story, that the Hallows were important for Harry's past as the
 last descendent of Ignotus Peverell and owner of one of the Hallows 
(as well as how the Hallows connected to Dumbledore's story). <snip> 
Learning the truth about the Hallows and himself in the process is 
what stopped Harry from seeking the wand instead of the Horcruxes:
"And I am meant to know, but not to seek?  Did you know how hard I'd
find that? Is that why you made it this difficult? So I'd have time to
work that out?" (DH, chap. 24, p.483, Am. ed.)

Carol:

Yes, that's the quote I was remembering. ("Am I," not "I am," though,
right?). I interpret it as meaning,"meant to know [the truth about the
Elder Wand] but not to seek [it]," but it could refer to the Hallows
in general because he hasn't yet figured out how (or when) to open the
Snitch and "find" the Resurrection Stone. I think he's supposed to
seek *the truth* about the Hallows, just not seek the Hallows
themselves and the wand in particular. (Obviously, he can't seek the
IC, just discover the truth about it.)
> 
Jen:
> There's so much more, I can't do the topic justice at the moment! I
hope others will add how they saw this particular topic evolve in the
story and why it was important (if it seemed important to others). 

Carol:
Exactly. I think Harry's search for "the truth" (which he thinks he
finds after seeing Snape's memories, and certainly, once he figures
out how to open the Snitch, he knows everything he needs to know for
the *first* confrontation with LV) culminates with "King's Cross," in
which DD, as usual, provides the last pieces of the puzzle, but this
time, Harry puts them together himself, as we see in the final
confrontation when Harry rather than DD provides the exposition that
solves the central mystery for the reader.

As I said, I'm just tossing out thoughts on the subject that have
occurred to me and not attempting to present a coherent argument, only
to show why I think it's important to explore the topic and see what
we can find.

Carol, hoping she hasn't jumped the gun by not waiting for SSS's post,
which she's eagerly looking forward to