When I started sending out book proposals over a year ago for God and Harry at Yale, part of me never believed that I was up to the task of writing a book. Books are long. They have chapters and indexes and titles. They take an awful lot of time and you have to fill up an awful lot of pages, and as I stared at the blank computer screen in front of me, I just didn’t think it would happen.
Until I was about three-quarters of the way through the draft, a part of me was sur that God and Harry at Yale would never be a reality. I had so much evidence to back my claim up: I’d never written a book before; I only had ten weeks to complete a draft; I didn’t really know what I was doing because I’d never written a book before (ooh, did I say that already?). Yet sentence by sentence and page by page, I created one, because despite everything that made me think writing a book was too lofty a goal, I trusted a gut instinct, a belief that I could complete it.
Though this is a story about writing and not about God, it’s still a story about faith. People who possess faith in God, or for that matter anything else, may or may not have compelling evidence to support that belief (see last week’s post), but they believe nonetheless. For some people, that faith feels solid or feels like a given while for others, it becomes a journey full of questioning and doubt.
Faith is also one of the central themes in the Harry Potter books. Certain characters seem to have no trouble trusting in the ideals of love while others find it a struggle or a journey. Consider Neville Longbottom. From our first encounters with him, Neville has undying loyalty to love and because of that, he remains loyal to Harry and Dumbledore’s Army even in the darkest days of the war.Luna Lovegood is another example of firm faith: she also remains loyal to the DA and to the ideals of love and friendship, as seen by the mural on her bedroom wall and the frequency with which she checks the DA coins. Of course, some may say that Luna’s faith has a kind of nutty dimension to it, too: she trusts in the existence of wildly-named beings no one else believes in, but that’s for another time!
There are also characters in the series for whom faith is more of a struggle, and Harry is perhaps the best example of this. Harry undergoes a crisis of faith in book seven which causes him to reevaluate everything Dumbledore was and everything he stood for. He questions whether to continue searching for Horcruxes and whether to trust in friendship or go it alone, among other things. It takes a lot of internal development for Harry to commit to these beliefs: he has to learn to negotiate evidence that contradicts them (i.e. Rita Skeeter’s book) and he must come to terms with the consequences of belief and loyalty to love (i.e. he must give his life). What is clear from Harry’s story is that faith is a journey for him, just as it is for many of us.
In this way, I’d like to suggest that the depictions of faith in the series mirror the way that many Christians live out their faith. For some, faith comes naturally, as it does to Neville and Luna, but for others, it feels more like a wandering, switchback-ridden path. This means that the Harry Potter books understand faith in a way that resonates with the way Christians understand it and experience it not at a dogmatic level, but at a gut one.
And so we conclude our last meeting together at the Hog’s Head. I hope that this discussion about faith will be meaningful to you, regardless of your beliefs. I also hope that these posts have been helpful in showing the way in which Christian thought is reflected in—and not contradicted by—Harry Potter. I look forward to reading all your thoughts, and keep in touch! I’ve really enjoyed being in class with you.
Grades will be posted on Monday at midnight following the completion of….ooh, sorry. Guess I got carried away there!
I believe that you’ll all be getting an A.
Get it? BELIEVE that you’ll be getting an A?
I have faith that you got it now. Oops…there’s another one.
All right, all right. Enough joking. Class dismissed.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Danielle, so glad you’ve been a guest-poster here at the Pub!
“This means that the Harry Potter books understand faith in a way that resonates with the way Christians understand it and experience it not at a dogmatic level, but at a gut one.”
That’s beautiful. As someone for whom Rowling’s work helped remake the world into a place where faith could exist, I resonated pretty strongly with this post. And with Harry–ah, Harry … one of the most sympathetic, wonderful protagonists in all of fiction.
Some of the thought–mostly political–that I’ve run into as a wizard rocker and otherwise Potter fan wears on me; has even made fandom difficult for me at times. Things like your post above remind me why, originally, I fell in love with the books, why I’m here.
Wish I could sit in on your classes! I guess I’ll have to settle for reading your book.
Altered quote: This means that the Harry Potter books understand faith in a way that resonates with the way Agnostics and Atheists understand it and experience it not at a dogmatic level, but at a gut one.
I see nothing wrong with this statement either.
908ssp, I would have to agree with your addition. I feel that the way in which faith is presented throughout the series resonates with more than just Christians; it is accessible to everyone, no matter your religion. I think that is one of the reasons why the books have appealed to such a wide audience.
Danielle, I’m sorry that I only just discovered the Hog’s Head and missed out on participating in the discussions on your previous posts, which I will be reading as soon as I post this comment! Above, you present an excellent summary of faith in the HP. Now I’m going to have to go and buy your book
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“. . .a wandering, switchback path.” Brilliantly put, Danielle. That’s my experience with my Christian faith in a nutshell. There have been times that I have been so convinced of God’s presence that I can’t understand how anyone can not see the world as a wonderful creation, but other times when I feel like I’ve just been fooling myself. I read recently that Mother Theresa had doubts about her faith, too. Imagine that! Here’s a woman that practically the whole world revered as Saint-like for her compassionate ministry to the unfortunates in India, yet she still experienced doubt!
I think doubt is a part of the walk of faith, actually. There are many scriptural examples of people who had set-backs in the course of their generally faith-based lives, like Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament, and Peter in the New. It’s not having doubts that’s bad–it’s letting them take over and control you that’s the problem, as I see it. In your own case, Danielle, I’m glad to read that you overcame your doubts about being able to produce a book, and that you forged on anyway in spite of them. I’ve enjoyed reading your essay in Hog’s Head Conversations, and look forward to buying your book when it’s published.
I relate to Harry’s wondering about his King’s Cross experience being only in his head. Sometimes I have an unreal feeling that my faith is a fantasy. But during the worst times, I know both my faith, and the One in whom I’ve placed it, are the most “real” reality. Even when cherished ideas about God are discarded, without new ones to take their place, I can say, quoting Paul Simon(!):
“And so you see, I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true;
I stand alone, without beliefs–
The only truth I know is you.”
Like Harry, I have no concrete proofs for dissection of my experience of God. But I know that on my inner journey, I’m moving “further up and further in” on a continuum to a greater reality I have yet to understand.
As a writer who’s also stepped on risky, squashy ground, I congratulate you for writing The Book You Never Expected to Write. Awesome!
It’s been fantastic reading your guest-blog entries here! I really can’t wait for your book to become available. I believe that it’ll be the first of many great ones! Keep the faith, baby!