Blogpost 6: The Inevitable Death

In the fictional book of Harry Potter, Rowling set forth different themes. Most obvious among them is love and friendship, as shown by the Golden Trio. Harry, Ron and Hermione stick together no matter what. Sure, their friendship had been tested a couple of times but they always got through in the end. Despite their obvious differences, they are closely bound by their friendship based on trust. If there's someone he would entrust his life with, that would be his two best friends. Although at one point, he hated the idea of them risking their lives for him but that just shows how much he truly cares for them. The story might be basically about love and friendship, but it is also rife with literary deaths.

Lord Voldemort's death in the Deathly Hallows

Rachel Blum Spencer identified in her article Harry Potter and Running from Death how our instinct for survival is similar to the book's darkest wizard, Lord Voldemort's journey in conquering death. Spencer stated Lord Voldemort's actions were driven by his fear of death. He wanted so much to beat Death itself that he willingly split his soul into seven horcruxes, dark objects that require killing another person. The author of the article suggested that our struggle to fight death actually mirrored that of the Dark Lord's bidding. She explained that we spend millions of money in order to cure our diseases. Yes, we wanted to preserve our health, but this action was subconsciously instigated of our fear of dying. The author further cited the difference between Harry Potter, whose life is circling with death and yet, chose to live the path his mother took; and Lord Voldemort, who has unquenchable thirst for immortality. Despite there being a piece of Voldemort living inside him, Harry still managed to see the light and fight on the right side.

"In the deepest recesses of our hearts we know that we can’t really conquer death, and that we wouldn’t be happy even if we could. Harry Potter reminds us of a truth we always know but often forget—that a life of sacrificial love lets go of death, and thus has nothing to fear from it. In embracing the kind of love that does not attempt to overcome our curse, we are freed to live," said Spencer.

We must admit that, just like Lord Voldemort, we fear death itself. We are like quivering children with blankets thrown over our heads because we're afraid of the dark. The thing we fear the most is fear of death, not death itself. Everyday, people grew anxious on whether they would die today or not. And the story of Harry Potter shows that we should conquer this fear in order for us to live our life to the fullest.

This fear was exhaustively discussed in the article The Wisdom of Fearing Only Fear. The author Phyllis Morris explained the role of fear in the fictional story of Harry Potter series. He emphasizes that fear of the unknown encompasses our fear of death. He said that not knowing what was in store for us after dying made people anxious of death. There's uncertainty on whether there is really life after death. In the book, it is apparent how the Dark Lord wanted to master death because of his fear of dying. He consequently, Morris said, had used that same fear as his weapon in order to conquer death.

"Fearing only fear is wise because fear is in your control – it is your reaction to the danger, evil or pain that induces fear rather than the fear-inducing entity or event itself. It is much harder to control the source of your fear if the source is out of your control (e.g., death or, in Ron’s case, spiders). Therefore, if all you fear is fear, the source of fear – i.e., your reaction to fear – can be controlled and conquered," said Morris.

I cannot help but see an analogy between this quote and the one Hermione Granger said in the second book. In the Wizarding world, it is almost taboo to mention Voldemort's name for it makes people shudder with fear. He was even called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Hermione said that fear of a name only increases the fear of the thing itself. This is one of the many reasons why Harry came out victorious in his fight of evil. Harry had conquered his fear whereas Voldemort still remained a cowering, little child, afraid of the dark.