For years, believers in Christ have been captivated and inspired by the resurrection of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Aslan explained that it was the result of the deeper magic from before time. Lewis, of course, was not trying to portray what we might call “pagan” or “occulting” magic. He was using magic as a literary tool, communicating the power and reality of resurrection in the midst of the natural world.
J.K. Rowling has also used resurrection imagery in every one of the Harry Potter books thus far. Here is a brief summary of what we have seen:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – In the book’s climax, Harry travels down into a secret place in Hogwarts where he meets Professor Quirrell, who just happens to have Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. After Quirrell wastes away by contact with the sacrificial love of Harry’s mother, the brief battle with the remains of Voldemort sends Harry into darkness for three days, after which he wakes up. (Notice, of course, the “three days.”)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Harry travels underground and defeats a giant snake, but in the process is poisoned by its bite and is near death. Fawkes the Phoenix, who had been called to Harry’s aid and helped in the defeat of the basilisk, drops tears into Harry’s wound and heals him.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – After another underground battle, Harry saves himself, Hermione, and Sirius Black from the Dementor’s kiss by conjuring a Patronus Charm that takes the form of a stag.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – The final battle takes place in a graveyard, where Harry is saved by the song of the phoenix and temporarily wins his battle with Voldemort.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – In Dumbledore’s battle with Voldemort (I love that Dumbledore calls him, “Tom”), Voldemort releases the death curse, but Fawkes the Phoenix once again comes to the rescue, swooping down and swallowing the death curse, dying, and then being reborn from the ashes.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Resurrection in this book is more complicated and less obvious than the others. I have written about it at length here.
Every book’s climax so far has contained a figurative/symbolic death (3 days in darkness; underground battles; graveyard; death curse) followed by a resurrection (being saved from death, as Granger says, “in the presence of a Christ symbol”). I don’t know if it’s proper to say that Harry is intended as the Christ figure, nor Dumbledore. But the symbolism is clear enough. The phoenix, being the “resurrection bird,” has been used as a Christ symbol since the second century. The Philosopher’s Stone is a Christ symbol, as is the stag (remember that in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensies find their way back to England by hunting a white stag, which Lewis well knew was a medieval Christ symbol). The resurrection theme marks one of the most powerful parallels between Narnia and Hogwarts.
For further reading on this, see John Granger’s Looking for God in Harry Potter.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
The Phionix symbol is an Egyptian symbol, pointing towards more Egyptian symbols in the books. Also ‘I will only be gone when no one here is faithful to me’ Prof. Dumbledore says something like that. An old egyptian saying is that a book is better than a tomb, as it causes the man to be remembered. And to think of the dead is to make them living once more. (Duncan Sprott’s The Ptolemaios Quartet – The House of the Eagle)
She’s definitely playing with Egyptian mythology quite a bit. She’s also playing with lots of other mythologies as well (lots of Greek, for example). I agree that the phoenix was a mythological symbol long before it was a Christian one, but that does not negate that it was used as a Christian one.
There are certainly Christian undertones in every book. I know that many prefer to write them off as “a stretch” or “not really there, just twisted into that interpretation”, but I think they’re genuinely there. The few interview clips in which J.K. Rowling mentions her faith hint that the series has a spiritual base to it. She’s hinted that she’s afraid to ellaborate on her faith yet because it would allow anyone (from the age of 10 to 60) to guess at the series’s finale. What could be a better clue? I don’t think it was blatant, though. Such statements are easily overlooked by those who aren’t interested in that interpretation.
I agree there is a lot of Egyptian mythology woven in the series. Rowling has refered to European mythology as being very much a “bastard” mythology in that it contains bits and pieces of everything.
Whatever the case may be, the series is spectacular and endlessly fascinating. (Now if only critics would drop the “it’s just a children’s book” attitude.)
I’m not so convinced – after all, one of the most ancient symbols of resurrection is the snake. Does that mean that Voldemort is a Christ figure? Or that Harry is attacking the Resurrection when he kills the basilisk? There are so many ancient or medieval symbols of Christ that any book is likely to have a few if you look hard enough.
Jonathan, that would be a legitimate argument if Rowling herself had not said that there is deliberate Christian undertones to the series.
Symbols make sense in their own contexts – so Voldemort can’t possibly be a Christ figure, even if snakes have been used as resurrection symbols.