2010: The Year of Harry Potter...closing thoughts? Or just the beginnings?...

Although its not true that this is the end, for I have yet to divulge and ingest the addendum books: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Ages, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard (along with a "Prequel" which is online and from what I understand not too long)...yes seems like so long ago (and compared to those whom stuck with the series, this is laughable) that in January of 2010 I started my/the first Harry Potter book, and ended the last in November 2010 (reread the ending several chapters or so again in early January for I read them aloud to share with Jamie before the grand release of the film: Deathly Hallows Part One) there were spacings in-between, especially between Order of Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince for I needed to gather a copy of Prince) so what was Potter all about to me? What overall themes did I notice, witness, were moved by? what were the significances? Will return to this in more depth, reading more analysis but for now, my own imaginings will do...

The Harry Potter series has at its core the theme of death and all that surrounds it, the living with, the experiencing of, the conquering of, the fear of (embodied in the character of Voldemort, Harry as the main to experience it, in different forms and ways, ultimately overcoming his fear, ie: Voldemort) it is significant to say that the series starts out with a double murder (Potter's parents, or at least is told of/mentioned) and the orphaned child is left to live in a world alone in life, not ever knowing, living out of a broom closet being almost handmaiden to his "family" his mother's sister's family the Dursleys, in remote allusion to Cinderella there, in that he is poorly mistreated in favor of some stepsisters, in Potter, his cousin Dudley Dursley...it is a great tale, epic in size and proportion, intricately detailed world, set in our own, but with a genius stroke of a hidden world within it, of magic and wizards and witches and monsters and spells and wands...yet within this world are characters that could be found in our "regular" world and culture, seemingly the same...

Ron and Hermione, Harry and Albus, Hagrid and McGonagall, all are familiar to us in their personalities and traits, albeit some are great wizards and witches, some of them happen to be giants, or half-breeds, or centaurs...we love them because they are familiar and so close, yes J.K. Rowling uses tropes and stereotypes and cliches and typicals, yet, it is in the way she uses them, and frames them to make them her own, in her own universe, which makes it unique...which brings in the idea of trope usage as a way to further the genre, of whatever it is one is discussing, using cliches in cliches form, in a generic standard, gets one nowhere but where one has been before, but to meld these tropes into something new and improved, that seems to be the way of progress? "Progress"? the furthering of the "Line"? the line so many want to cross, to push, but fail? Rowling made her own universe, not easy to do, and it seemed to natural to her I am sure, so natural to us as readers and viewers, it only made sense that Hogwarts was a boarding school in the traditional UK sense, but it was so fantastic to us, almost real, Rowling made it a place of comfort and joy, a place of growth and pain, and the center of much of the action in this series, we returned to it every year, every book (except the last), just as Harry did...Hagrid was a half-bred giant with a Scottish accent and a personality to boot, a little dim-witted but lovable and a loyal friend all the same, Albus (meaning white in Latin btw, as in the white wizard, homage to Gandalf I am sure) was the wizard who bestowed upon the hero gifts and training all the way to almost the end, when he must set himself aside, in death or otherwise, as prescribed in Campbell's hero's journey, or monomyth, and was a wise and deepend soul, to lead Harry, to advise him, so that he may move on to finish his quest, a la Obi Wan, Gandalf, and Virgil(?)...

And her world is so original yet familiar, the traditional families as represented by the Weasleys, Mr. and Mrs. and the newlyweds Bill and LeFleur, where the man works and the woman is a homemaker, takes care of kids, cleans, cooks, etc. and this could be critiqued, yet there is no absence of strong female characters in these stories, ie: McGonagall, Hermione, (although twisted) Bellatrix, Luna, Ginny and even Molly Weasley herself stepped up to face Bellatrix, and it is only then we witness Molly's true power as a witch, something she had hid from the reader due to the lack of urgency for her strengths to be shown...the school itself as mentioned above with Hogwarts, the fight between (as Rowling has put it) what is right, and what is easy, which is, as far as my understanding goes, a unique and profound take on notions of what is "good" and "evil", what I've always liked about the four houses in Hogwarts, was the representation of Slytherin (seen superficially as the House where from so many go on to become "evil") yet as characterized in the book early on, they are the ones who are ambitious, and have a taste for power, which could be seen in a more positive light, yet, at the same time, is so tantalizing to choose those paths that would lead to "evil" deeds and wrong, Rowling I think successfully blurs the line between good/evil in a constructive way, as in life, it is never quite so simple as black and white, that life is met and experienced in more of gray tones than anything...that Draco, after all his musings and characterizations, was never truly evil, although seemingly predisposed to be such, that even Severus Snape, who we had ambiguous feelings about after he killed Albus, and was not sure where his loyalties lay, (even though I could not believe that he had betrayed Albus, given their fights on Hogwarts grounds in Half-Blood, it just didn't seem to add up that he would be back loyal to Voldemort, I just didn't know how it could have played out, and must admit that I did give up on him towards middle of Deathly Hallows, come to find out, OH!) that after all he had shown, that he could have been loyal all along, the most two dimensional it seems, would be Voldemort, who was a caricature anyways, much like Sauron and Darth Vader, (yet Lucas tried to further his story with the god forsaken prequels, but to no avail, sometimes the two-dimensionality works better for a character and works to make them more profound) yet, Voldemort was not without his history and development, and is miles away in comparison to Lucas' treatment of Anakin's development...but Slytherin seems, in the end, not all lost to the whims of "Easy" and "Power-hungry" for example, Slughorn was on the side of "right" to the end, although he was one who helped (albeit unknowingly) Voldemort (at time Tom Riddle) to pursue further the ideas of Horcrux creation, he did feel remorse for his actions, although no one could blame him, twas all in the name of academic curiosity at the time it seemed to him...he felt so much guilt in fact, he was a hindrance instead of help until Harry, under the guise and direction of Felix Felicis, could draw it out of him, with the help of his mother's memory of course...all is not what it seems...see below...

I have seen analysts describe within the Potter books the element of "not everything is as it seems" and while this seemed perfunctory and cliche at the time, now seems legitimate now, after having read the books, mystery is a large part of the Potter series, and very much drives the plot along in most books, if not all of them, and the characters and plot-lines are both at the mercy of the whims of mystery...

Perhaps the art of creation is the taking of tropes and cliches and making them unique, for there seems to be, at least we are preached to as artists today, that nothing is original ever, and ever amen...and while this may seem a daunting task, tis not originality that an artist should strive, it should be the movement of an artist's audience which should drive him more, for the pursuit of originality in its own sense is only selfish in the end, and a troubadour's song lost to the ears of a supposed audience, never to be heard yet perhaps appreciated in scholarly lore (???) And Rowling does just this, with monomyth as her guide he builds an elaborate world around a growing boy, through his teenage years, so profound, so turbulent, so chaotic and painful, and what a great time to center this story of death? around the age when we all feel a sense of immortality, of selfishness, whereas Harry feels this pride, he is hardly ever arrogant, humble to the last, which is probably indebted to Albus' plan of leaving him with the Dursleys in his formative years, to instill in him a sense of humility based on such nominal but in either case mental/emotional abuse...was not enough to scar him for life, yet enough to wish and hope for more, never in a state of complacence, he was a strong soul who went with what was dealt, until that fateful day that he received his first piece of mail ever, delivered to him by owl nonetheless...

That that little boy went on to face death, and in him, and for everyone else in symbol, the face of it, is so perfectly laced within this tale of a growing teenage boy, fraught with lessons, and scowling professors, and female interludes, and friendship squabbles, all the things that a normal, everyday teenager faces, yet wrapped up within this story of old, this larger, more transcendent story of life and death, love and the battles we face...Shakespearean in league, in scope, with the idea of the everyday wrought within the timeless, that there are scopes of teenie angst followed by tales of kidnappings and torture and the threat that all is lost, (which come to think of it, reflects the teenage sense of drama, so overwhelming, everything is so life or death!...)

In terms of technique, very interesting to note that she scaled her work to reflect the age of the characters, ie Harry, for example her use of vocabulary, her grammar and sentence structure, all became more advanced as Harry got older, along with the plotlines and scope of the overarching story, simpler at first, very intricate and convoluted by the end, wrapped up very nicely by the last chapters of Deathly Hallows...tidy it seems, too tidy in a way, all or most characters being revisited by the end, them all being there for the last fight, losing some of the most integral characters by the end, but just prices to pay in such times...Fred was lost, but at the cost of losing a twin, not a severe lost, for we have a carbon copy of him named George, its only their dynamic betwixt them that we lose, the twins, the Gemini of the Potter universe...anyways I cannot discern whether Rowling intended for this advancement to happen with her writing style, that she had planned this form the first, or if it just happened as she became herself a professional writer and had more time, and more of a niche, to be able to write in a vein, in a voice that she had found uniquely hers, this I cannot tell, perhaps she has commented on this, have not read up on it, I mean she has been writing stories since she was six (?), so writing has become second nature to her, the telling of a story in prose, maybe her skills (of course they had to have) improved over the course of these 7 books, I mean, how could they not? to write 7-800 page books, and then being well-received, your technique would definitely flourish a bit, would it not?

The character's relationships feel real, feel warm and inviting, and how she interconnected them all is a testament to her creative genius, her ability to connect (period) is a testament and a hallmark of her creative genius as well, the way her sinewy plotlines shape and twist and converge and diverge all leading to a grand climax is superb, her flawless pacing helps to move the story along as well, rushing or slowing, giving time to breathe, to run, to lose sight of, to laugh, to cry, every emotion seems to be represented here in these books, in this series, Harry feeling the brunt of them for he is growing up, growing through not only in physicals, but in emotionals and mentals as well, spirituals in a sense for he deals with the deaths of so many dear to him, and ultimately faces it alone, himself, to be redeemed as a Christ figure in a way, his cross beared for so long against his forehead, that mark of that meant so much to so many, a symbol of life over death, tis truly a cross symbol, just as the resurrection is symbolized with the cross for it is where he died, born again yes in the cave, and yes the death cult of Christianity uses the cross instead, focusing on where he died, as his sacrifice is paramount to the meaning behind it all, yet it is ultimately his resurrection, his life over death which has been instilled as miraculous, and Harry's is no lesser...Harry came back from the dead, in novel form, came back to destroy symbolic death forever amongst his people, those who in a way worshiped him, his deeds, his scar, his deeds in which he could never take full credit for, not that he felt he deserved it (and maybe if grown in the magical world he migh'tve been different) yet his humility kept him from such tantalizingly selfish thoughts and attitudes, his betrayal of the Slytherin House as his true home, but come to find out, twas only the death within him that lurked, the piece of Voldemort that was still attached from that fateful day, that day that he overcame death with the help of his sacrificial mother, and her love, Voldemort spat on love, something he didn't understand, which came in the end to finish him, his ignorance of its power, and Harry's unusual luck or fate or whatever have you...he defeated death twice in his life, something rare and magical about that, miraculours if you will, Jesus didn't even do that (hehe) yet the point was that he faced it as Jesus did on the cross, yet Harry did have those he cared about in spirit with him at he walk, who was with Jesus to his walk to Calvary? (is this correct?) Harry accepted it and walked up to the face of it, to sacrifice himself for those he loved, to die for those he loved, ot does seem to me, that sacrifice is one of the most profound of human emotions (yes felt in emotions) and acts that can be experienced, and resonates deeply within the human psyche, as does death as does love...as with life and death, there is sacrifice

And so it seems there is another Christ story amongst us, did not recognize it before until now, but it no less aggravates me as would a lesser story, the use of such cliche, for there is no doubting the resonating power of Jesus' time on the cross, his teachings and what he died for, in so many permutations before and after the phenomenon of Christianity hit the world, this is but the latest and most profound, and so readable and accessible to all age groups, for the "growing up"/ bildungsroman story saga of Harry Potter relates to us all, as does the primordial themes that Rowling uses as her central focus throughout the series, tied ever so tightly and integrally within her made up universe of Expelliarmus and Nox, Every Flavor Beans and games of Exploding Snap, Holly wands and Phoenix songs, friendships that last a lifetime, memories that last forever, this is the world of Harry Potter, a world that thankfully does not end, and can start whenever one picks up any one of the books, for a ride is set to take you into this most cherished world, as Harry Potter and Hermione and Ron all set themselves up on high beside the greatest characters and heroes of literary legend, Harry stands amongst them all in myth and in lore, as the Boy Who Lived...

And there is more! Harry's notions of family, and what family means and stands for, he has had many models of "family" from the Dursleys, to his godfather Sirius (who was closer to being an uncle than anything he had as one), to the Weasleys, who, for their part, gave him the most traditional family setup, Molly being his "second mother" in senses, cooking for him, making him sweaters, treating him as one of her own, much like many mothers do whose sons have best friends...but Harry has had many models, more than most, and never could for an instant, take what family meant for granted, it was always in shift, for if they were alive, they were then dead, and the model again shifted, the Weasleys were great, he loved them all, and although never mentioned, they were not really his blood family, and in his own private way, yearned for, for this would treat him closer to his parents who he missed so much...