Jul 23 2007
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I give a bunch of stuff away, so read no further if you haven’t read the book.
With this book, Rowling’s Harry Potter series comes to a thunderous, unambiguous and satisfying close. Good triumphs over evil, the Boy Who Lived dies, and lives again (Christian allegory, anyone?), and all is well at the end. But at what cost! Blood and bodies litter the pages in Shakesperean proportions. Death is always present, beginning with the unexpected death of Hedwig, Harry’s loyal owl, through the deaths of Dobbie, Remus, Tonks, Fred and so many others.
Despite the magic wands, flying broomsticks, talking hats, etc., the Potter books have always been about the characters, and the major characters develop and deepen in this book. Harry becomes fully a man, losing the teenage sulkiness and anger of book five and accepting his fate and responsibilities. In one of the most moving scenes of the book, he walks calmly to his death, unprotected and alone except for the ghosts of his parents and godfather. Hermione really comes into her own, taking quick action in tight situations and making tough decisions, even unhesitatingly disfiguring Harry’s face to prevent Death Eater’s from discovering his identity. Ron finally looks beyond his own needs to those of others, even house elves, and gets to play a crucial role in destroying one of the Horcruxes. Even Molly gets her licks in, finally dispatching Bellatrix.
Dumbledore, far and away the most interesting character in the series, becomes even more complex, more nuanced, less saintly than before. And Snape - Rowling manages to turn him into a heroic, tragic and even sympathetic character.
Rowling has become really good at writing escape and battle scenes. The mad dash to safety at the beginning of the book and the Battle for Hogwarts at the end are among the best she has done.
Most of my predictions came true, except for the two most important:
- Draco, while not exactly joining the good guys, obviously strongly regretted joining the bad guys.
- Aunt Petunia knew from a very young age what Lily was and what she was getting into.
- “R.A.B.” was Regulus Black.
- Harry was a Horcrux, contrary to my prediction.
- Dumbledore did not return in the flesh, but he did pop in for a couple of cameos.
- Snape, as noted, turned out to be a good guy. The first confirmation of this came when he “punished” Ginny, Luna and Neville by sending them to the Forbidden Forest - Hagrid’s cabin!
- Neville had the honor of killing Nagini with Gryffindor’s sword, confirming him as a true heir of Gryffindor.
- I said Harry would die, and he did, sort of. But he was alive and well at the end.
In the epilogue, Harry is 36, married to Ginny, and has three kids. So what does he do for a living? If you have accomplished your life’s goal at 17, what do you do after that?