[HPforGrownups] Re: The Role of Religion in the Potterverse

[k12listmomma]

No: HPFGUIDX 186239

> No.Limberger responds:
> A Jewish reader won't associate Harry Potter with the
> Christian Christ.


Shelley:
But how do you know that they won't? Do you presume that all Jews know of 
only their own religion? Are you presuming that there are NO studied and 
learned Jews who have enough knowledge of common themes and literature, and 
of other religions who would be able to recognize the pattern of the Savior 
of that other religion? That seems to me to be a wild, unsustainable 
postion. I know who Mohommad is, and I consider myself to be Christian. I 
would recognize verses from the Kohan to be different from my Bible, and 
with the right clues, would be able to pick out a "Mahommad figure" if one 
was written into literature. I think any Jew who has been raised with the 
English language who has read many a work which references New Testament 
events of Christ and the fullfillment of the Messiah promised to them, so 
that even if they don't agree that Christ is that Messiah, would know the 
basic structure of what separates them from the Christians enough to 
recognize Christian themes in literature. So, I strongly disagree with you 
that one's faith alone would be a definining element that would make one 
associate Harry Potter with Christ. I have several friends who are Jewish- 
and for them, it's a heritage and not necessarily a religion (similiar to 
the pattern we talked about with nominal Christians in this modern era), but 
that doesn't limit their education and understanding of other religions and 
common themes expressed within.

> No.Limberger responds:
> IMO, the most accurate description of what Harry as
> a literary figure is that of the "hero" archetype.

Shelley:
I'm snipping all this argument for the sake of space. So, you want to call 
Harry a "hero archetype". That is fine, if that's your position. Mine is 
that the "Christ figure" is much more specific, a subset, if you will, of 
the generic "hero", and it's that definition that I am using to describe 
Harry. You can keep your hero archetype definition, but just recognize that 
you aren't changing a whole lot of minds away from the Christ-figure 
definition that we've been using.