Sunday, December 25, 2005

A Land where Death is So Cheap…

Gone are the days of Shakespeare when he ‘wasted’ one of his longest plays ‘Hamlet’ where the Prince of Denmark spent half his time soliloquizing ‘To Be or Not To Be’. Today is the era of J. K. Rowling, where the Hero called Harry Potter lives in a world where death comes now and then, in full consciousness or in a pure absence of the brain.

Another edition of The Daily Prophet and one won’t be much surprised on Ron asking Hermione “Is anybody we know dead?” As if it were asking “Is he asleep” or “Is he on a holiday”. Hats off to JKR for that…

It all started with James and Lily Potter. Cedric Diggory and Sirius Black followed suit, and now; of all the people in the Magical world, Dumbledore??? It’s agreed that James and Lily died much before the real adventures began and therefore their death is justified.
Say even Diggory was not as close to the reader’s brain so as his death would affect him to a great extent. But what did the authoress have for Sirius Black? A moment back, he was there, smiling and dueling with his own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. And just in the very next moment – Harry’s Godfather was no more. And did anybody seem to mind it? Of course, nobody did. It might have made just another one in The Daily Prophet – An item of much interest to Rita Skeeter and Luna Lovegood than Hermione Granger or Ron Weasley. Unfortunately, even JKR took this issue as lightly as that of Amelia Bones. But dear JKR, what of your readers? What of those who had been, by now, been so much attached to Sirius… of those who were anxiously waiting for a movie called ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’ just to see how their dear Sirius Black looked like? All, in vain!

And now here we have the man who stood by Harry all through the last six long years, Albus Dumbledore – the man who is no more. And what a paradox!!! Life for everybody still remains the same. Harry could still feel the trace of a flowery scent in the air, and recognize Ginny. Fleur still loves Bill even after he is bitten by a werewolf called Greyback under extraordinary conditions. Tonks declares her love for Lupin. Molly Weasley is much more concerned of her injured werewolf-bitten son rather than the dead Dumbledore… and Deputy Headmistress Prof. Minerva McGonagall taking Dumbledore’s seat as the new Headmistress. Everything remains the same, as if this murder was intended to be another one in The Daily Prophet.

What can be JKR’s aim in doing it? Clear enough, she wants her old Harry to be the one and only Supreme Hero. Any effort by any other character in defeating Lord Voldemort would only dilute Harry’s image as the Hero. What philosophy!!!

So who’s going to be the next? Oh my, JKR has a world of options. I won’t be much surprised if any of Lupin, Hermione, Ron Tonks, McGonagall, etc etc etc is the next. Of course any one of the Weasleys won’t mind to die. They are SO many, one less in number and it won’t matter would it? Arthur, Molly, Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny… Ay, there’s the rub. Not Ginny! Don’t we see she is our Hero’s latest girlfriends, what if Harry has already denied her for any more ‘snogging’…

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am also a big fan of Harry potter, but I have never felt as you think.
Remember it's a fantasy and fiction.

Death is a loss. All the deaths in the HP series is justified (in my opinion).. JKR just wants her readers as how evil is Lord Voldemort. All the deaths that you have mentioned, and abt the other things like werewolfs also relates to the dark lord. So here is when our Hero comes and saves the magical world. So when Voldemort is killed (prolly) then peace will reign in the Magical world!


What happens in Lord of Rings? So much people/creatures die..

And cousins fighting against each other? Even thats not new. We have our own Mahabaratha.


Neha:
Snape may not be a traitor as portrayed. just wait for the 7th book to hit the stands..

Anonymous said...

Hey I haven't read any harry potter but seen alll the movies but tell me whats this TM sign C all about??????

Padfoot said...

Ok Ok .. well curious very curious , the way everything in the novel is potrayed. We definitely can have a pincale of debate as to who is the Next Chosen One. The chosen one by Voldemort to be killed. Well now my thought on the novel and Harry Potter.
Coming to a word Horcruxes. Well , as defined in the book :
" The soul of the creator must be literally torn into two pieces to provide a portion of the soul to conceal within the object. To do this, the creator must commit murder, which "rips the soul apart" " .
Well the other Part of his life is in Harry Potter. Guess How did I came to this conclusion ?
All to give a hint 2 person died that night !!!

ASarkar

Padfoot said...

Possible locations
12 Grimmauld Place: If Salazar Slytherin's missing locket is the one that Harry and the Weasleys came across while cleaning, it might be in the possession of Kreacher, it may have been stolen and sold by Mundungus Fletcher, or it may still be at the Headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix.

Godric's Hollow, for two reasons:
If Voldemort created a Horcrux when he killed Harry's parents, it may still be in that house.
Godric's Hollow is the supposed home of Godric Gryffindor. If one of the Horcruxes is an item that once belonged to of Gryffindor ,chances are greater that it would be here.

In the possession of one or more Death Eaters.
During the Battle of the Ministry, Bellatrix Lestrange states "The Dark Lord has, in the past, entrusted me with his most precious. If Lucius hadn't - ".It is unknown whether this refers to Tom Riddle's diary, or to yet another Horcrux. In either case, this indicates that Lord Voldemort is willing to trust at least some of his Death Eaters with possesion of some of his precious items, if not his Horcruxes.