Epilogue/ Horcruxes and Hallows

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 183403

> Jen: That's what I think too, that the Hallows especially were meant
to  be more symbolic & tied to the theme of death than a plot to get 
> Voldemort killed.  They were that too of course, a vehicle to make
it  possible for the younger & less powerful Harry to destroy
Voldemort,  but the reason why Voldemort died & Harry lived was
primarily about  human emotions and how each approached death rather
than the objects  involved.  

Pippin:
There is at least one gaping plot hole that would appear if the
Hallows simply vanished from DH:  the twin core problem would be
unresolved.  

We did know that the wand chooses the wizard, that  wizards can
replace their wands, and that you never get as good results with
another wizard's wand. We also knew  that Harry was hard to suit in
the first place, so we could anticipate some difficulty in finding a
replacement wand for him.

It's clear there's a mystery about the cloak. Why did Dumbledore have
it? Why did he want Harry to have it in PS/SS if, as he says in OOP,
he wasn't expecting Harry to go after the stone so soon? Why was he so
insistent that Harry keep the cloak with him at all times in HBP? 

As for the stone, Harry's desire to connect with the dead is a
constant theme from PS/SS onward and begs for resolution. 

The Hallows also provide an interior conflict for Harry. Many people
feared exactly what others seem to have wanted: that with so much of
the necessary action laid out in advance, DH would be a
straightforward rush to a breathtaking conclusion. Fun, but perhaps 
more suited to a video game than to a series of interrelated novels
that took years to plan and write: collect all horcruxes, beat the
boss and win. Whatever we got, it wasn't that.


But I agree that the main purpose of the Hallows is to symbolize the
moral  of the story, and that's really important because the moral of
the story doesn't seem to be what you'd  expect, if your
expectations were formed by other modern heroic fantasy epics. The
usual moral is that evil can always be defeated if someone
sufficiently noble is willing to pay the price. The Chosen One will
bring balance to the Force.  Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in
sight. 

I think this is why some people can't figure out where JKR was going
morally; they're trying to fit the action  to this moral, and it won't
go. Each of the books in the series moves a little further away from
it. Each of Harry's victories leaves the reader a little more aware
that there is still evil in the world, and wondering, especially from
OOP onward, why Harry or Dumbledore or somebody didn't do more.
Or at least try. 

The horcruxes show  that evil can *sometimes* be defeated if someone
is willing to pay the price. But not always. Paying the price is not
enough, you have to know what you're doing.  It's folly and arrogance
to  try to fix what you don't understand.  Lockhart may have meant
well for once in his life, but he still should have left Harry's arm
alone. 
 
Some evils cannot be cured, some wounds are too deep for the healing.
Maybe there's a beyond where we'll be united with our loved ones and
evil will be left behind, maybe we can only imagine that in our own
heads, if we can manage to ignore the evil that's within us.

 But we needn't succumb to angry destruction (the wand) or useless
mourning for what might have been (the stone). We cannot rid the world
of evil. But even the weak and cowardly and selfish can do something
to protect others with the power of love (the cloak.)

Jen Reese:
> I found the storyline clunky at times though, particularly the whole 
> wand order thing at the end that took away from a powerful moment in 
> HBP with Draco/Dumbledore on the tower.  If only that moment could
have  remained symbolic as well, not simply a way for Harry to take 
> possession of the Elder wand!  

Pippin:
I'm not sure why you felt the symbolism was less. It's moving to me to
know that Dumbledore was improvising, his precious plans in a muddle,
and yet he was still capable of rallying himself to save Draco from
becoming a murderer. 


Pippin