dementors Re: unicorns and religious references in HP

[pippin_999]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "annemehr" <annemehr at y...>
wrote:
>  
> Anne:
> Yes...  but C.S.Lewis is very clear that the characters involved in
his books chose it (in chosing to reject God).  In Perelandra,
Weston gave Ransom a very explicit speech in that vein.


Pippin:
I remember. But I thought Lewis was just dramatizing what it meant to
be in a state of  mortal sin. 

> Anne:
> I don't know.  When Lupin explained the dementor's kiss to Harry,
> there was no intimation that it mattered who the person was or what
> they'd been doing lately.  As far as I can tell from the text, Harry
> was in as much danger as anybody else would have been when the
> dementors attacked him.

Pippin:

Well, that is (ESE!)Lupin talking, after all. <g> *His* soul is in a
parlous state, I don't doubt. But it's clear from NHN's speech that
the wizards don't know what happens to those who have 'gone on', 
so when Lupin says your soul is lost forever, how can he know? 
It could be he just knows there's no way of coming back as a ghost 
or reuniting the soul with its body. 

Anne:
> Now I do wonder, though -- do wizard parents threaten their children
> with them?  "Now, be good, Kevin, or the dementors will get you!" 
Andwizard children, in their turn, make their parents check under the
bed for lethifolds every night, and the closet for boggarts.

Pippin:
Cute! But the dementors were, so the Ministry thought, on the side of
the angels.

I have thought this is what pushed Marietta over the edge.  When
Harry started teaching anti-dementor tactics, it clearly had nothing
to do with OWLs, and everything to do, from the point of view of a 
ministry loyalist, with subverting the duly authorized agents of law
enforcement.

Anne:
> It may be that I personally see depression as one of the mental
> illnesses which attack your mind, not your soul per se, that is
> leaving me dissatisfied with all the explanations.  I wouldn't be
> surprised if there is more to come about dementors, though.

Pippin:
For the purpose of fantasy, JKR may be taking a more old-fashioned
view of psychiatric problems, psyche being the Greek world for soul.

Pippin