Is Harry a Christ figure? (Was: Looking Back Question...)

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 182052

Geoff wrote:
> Although I agree with you in much of what you say, I would not 
> compare Harry with Aslan. C.S.Lewis intended Aslan represent Christ 
>  in a children's tale designed to introduce them to the truth of 
> Christianity, so he is a Christ figure.
> 
> Harry is not.
> 
> He could, like many of us, be described as a Christ-like figure in that 
> he seeks the good of others and goes out of his way to try to achieve 
> this. No real Christian is a flat goody two-shoes; we all struggle
to do 
> the best thing. Harry epitomises that in the books which is why I 
> identify so much with him.
<snip>

Carol responds:
"Christ figure" is a term from literary criticism that *does not*
indicate a one-one-one allegorical equivalence between the Christ
figure and the character. Aslan is not a Christ figure as an
allegorical representation of Christ. There is really no other way to
read him.

A Christ figure, in contrast, is a (human) character who resembles
Christ in some respect. Very often, the character sacrifices himself
for the greater good. Sometimes, he dies and is in some way
resurrected. Those are not the only possible characteristics of a
Christ figure, but they're the primary ones.

LOTR spoilers follow. If you haven't read the book, seen the films, or
otherwise learned the major plot points of LOTR, be warned. The
following paragraph gives them away.

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LOTR *can be read* as having either one or two Christ figures. It
isn't necessary to interpret the books in this way, but it's possible.
Frodo, who, admittedly, doesn't die but certainly sacrifices his
health and happiness for the greater good and ends up going to the
Uttermost West is one, and Gandalf, who falls into the abyss and
returns in glorified form, having in effect died and been resurrected
(even though he's an angelic figure who can't die in the normal human
sense) is the other.

Here are some definitions of "Christ figure" from around the web:

"It is a character that conveys some aspect of Christ - redeeming,
sacrificial, avenging (apocalyptic), etc. No Christ figure will ever
be a perfect representation, so we ought not to get hung up on how
they miss the mark, only on how they hit the mark."

http://artsandfaith.com/index.php?showtopic=5814

"A Christ figure is a literary technique that authors use to draw
allusions between their characters and the bibilical Jesus Christ.
More loosely, the Christ Figure is a spiritual or prophetic character
who parallels Jesus, or other spiritual or prophetic figures.

"In general, a character should display more than one correspondence
with the story of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible. For instance,
the character might display one or more of the following traits:
performance of miracles, manifestation of divine qualities, healing
others, display loving kindness and forgiveness, fight for justice,
die and rise again. Christ figures are often martyrs, sacrificing
themselves for causes larger than themselves. In postmodern
literature, the resurrection theme is often abandoned, leaving us with
the image of a martyr sacrificing himself for a greater good. It is
common to see Christ figures displayed in a manner suggestive of
crucifixion as well; this technique is more noticeable in films than
in literature."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_figure

"Today's Christ-like hero [the term "Christ figure" is used earlier in
the article] suffers for the sins of the world and prepares himself
(often struggling with this considerably) to deliver salvation,
usually through fighting or violent confrontation and often with an
incredible arsenal of weapons."

http://sfgirl-thealiennextdoor.blogspot.com/2007/10/christ-figure-in-moviesbooks-grace-or.html

(That Harry sacrifices himself rather than fighting, and even on the
second go-round uses Expelliarmus rather than killin LV--*and* offers
him a chance for redemption, makes him, IMO, more of a Christ figure
than the more militant heroes this writier is talking about.)

Here's an article on Harry in CoS as Christ figure (using Wikipedia's
definition of the term):

http://www.cosforums.com/showpost.php?p=4703159&postcount=545

"For the purposes of this essay, a Christ figure will be defined by:
metaphorical or literal death and resurrection done for the purposes
of self-sacrifice in order to further a higher cause and save or
inspire people, being marked as the chosen one or as special . . . . "

http://community.livejournal.com/hp_essays/62816.html

At any rate, "Christ figure" is to "Christ" as "father figure" is to
"father." (We can view a number of characters, from Mr. Weasley to
Dumbledore, along with Sirius black and Remus Lupin, and, arguably,
Severus Snape, as father figures to Harry, yet none of them is
literally his father.)

The concept of Christ figure in literature is related to, and possibly
derived from, the concept of biblical typology. (A "type" of Christ is
a person in the Old Testament who is identified in the New Testament
as behaving in a way "typical" of Christ, or prefiguring Christ.
"Type" in this sense means a pattern or model (rather than "kind" or
"variety," as modern speakers use the word, similar to the sense of
"type" in "stereotype."

http://www.gotquestions.org/typology-Biblical.html

To return to HP itself before the List Elves suggest that we take the
discussion to OT chatter, a number of writers, for example Alan Jacobs
in "The Youngest Brother's Tale," have argued that Harry, even in DH,
is *not* a Christ figure: 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/005/1.47.html

(IMO, those who hold that view are thinking of Aslan and allegory
rather than understanding the term as meaning a character who
*resembles* Christ in important respects.)

Here's a link to a discussion on belief.net giving John Killinger's
reasons for believing that Harry is a Christ figure, including
suffering, saving, mark of wounding, and even spending three days in a
coma after battling Voldemort (the Satan figure) in SS/PS. Killinger
is not, of course, arguing that Harry *is* Christ, only that he
parallels Christ in significant ways (more so, perhaps, than he
realized when he wrote the article pre-DH). *However, Killinger seems
to be under the delusion that JKR loves Tolkien's works and may be
overestimating his influence on her writing).

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/116/story_11681_1.html

It's worth noting, too, that such motifs as the descent into the
Underworld, which we see in almost every book in the HP series, are
common to heroes in all mythologies, and involve everyone from
Odysseus to Bilbo Baggins, so that parallel in itself doesn't make
Harry a Christ figure.

It can also be argued, as I think Geoff prefers, that Harry is a kind
of Everyman or Pilgrim, the "type" of a Christian rather than of
Christ himself (cf. Everyman in John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress"
if you can endure straight-out allegory.

At any rate, the parallels are there for those who wish to see them
and can be argued away (for example, Harry is called "the Chosen One,"
but he's chosen by Voldemort, not by God, who plays no apparent role
in the books despite Christian imagery in DH) by those who don't.
Harry as christ figure is an interpretation--IMO, a legitimate
interpretation supportable by canon--but it's not the only possible
interpretation, nor is it in any way a definitive one.

Carol, who was interested to see as she skimmed through the excerpts
from Googled articles, references to both Snape and Voldemort as
possible Christ figures!