“The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” is a tale of dehumanization because of unwillingness to love, for fear of being hurt. Fear vs. Love the overriding theme of the Harry Potter stories.
I love it when I come across a comment written by someone decades or hundreds of years ago that perfectly describes a newer story I’ve recently read. In this case, C.S. Lewis provides insightful commentary on this dark Beedle tale:
Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. (The Four Loves)
This is not the first time Lewis has provided insight into our Potter stories.
“The Warlock’s Hairy Heart.” Now that’s one freaky story. The heart of a man who does not want to love is locked away, and over time, loses its humanity and because the heart of a beast.
The darker elements of fairy stories are the things that Mrs. Bloxam and the Nice People don’t think children should hear, because they might get scared. The monsters become pink fluffy bunny rabbits and apples filled with dark magic become nice old ladies’ apple pies.
An excellent article by Melanie McDonagh appeared in The Telegraph a couple days ago. The whole article well worth your full attention, but mine zeroed in on an interesting paragraph:
One ground-breaking book on the Brothers Grimm, The Owl, the Raven and the Dove, by a Jesuit scholar, G Ronald Murphy, makes clear the extent to which the brothers infused the old pagan tales with their own religious sensibility – they were humane Calvinists.
I’ve heard it said that Rowling must be a Calvinist for many reasons – her being a Presbyterian, though she’s not a Calvinistic one; the seemingly fated and even Deus ex machina moments in the series; Voldemort’s apparent predestined path of evil, etc. [click to continue…]
Steve Vander Ark’s Lexicon is finally going to be published, after some revisions to the book are made, putting it in compliance with the court’s ruling.
Warner Bros. is talking about a Beedle movie. As I was reading the book, I thought, “A movie of these five stories might be interesting, if put in the right hands.” But one thought has caused this idea to come crashing down on my head:
Michael Gambon as Dumbledore the narrator.
Flu-Bird on 
revgeorge on 
R. Ross on 
Lily Luna on 
Arabella Figg on 
Loading ...
A Published Lexicon, and a Beedle Movie
by Travis Prinzi on December 9, 2008
Steve Vander Ark’s Lexicon is finally going to be published, after some revisions to the book are made, putting it in compliance with the court’s ruling.
Warner Bros. is talking about a Beedle movie. As I was reading the book, I thought, “A movie of these five stories might be interesting, if put in the right hands.” But one thought has caused this idea to come crashing down on my head:
Michael Gambon as Dumbledore the narrator.
{ 15 comments }