Hey everyone! In honor of Wordbender's first birthday, I've installed an easy-to-use comment system called IntenseDebate. While you are free to sign up for an account with them, I chose to enlist their services in the first place because logging in to leave comments is not required. I love hearing from people who read this blog, and now you can do it simpler than ever before! You don't even have to leave an email address. Please give it a try!
In other news, I'm still mulling over Deathly Hallows in my mind, and this morning I came to a realization. This isn't a movie spoiler because it applies primarily to the book. Four years ago when we all read it for the first time, I heard a lot of criticism to the effect of, "Harry and Voldemort's final showdown is anticlimactic! All they do is talk." Which is fair, and something I thought at first as well. But then it hit me: Harry and Voldemort's confrontation is anticlimactic because it's not the climax.
Stay with me here. In past Rowling interviews, I've heard her refer to the scene in the Great Hall as the denouement. This struck me as odd, but I figured she meant to say climax and had just misspoken. Now, though, I'd like to instead posit that everything after "The Forest Again" really does constitute the denouement, or the falling action. The climax is when Harry gives himself up, intends to die, and doesn't.
I think we've been trained to expect that a final showdown is automatically the climax of any piece of fiction. Certainly I think that's the route the film went with, hence all the gratuitous spell-casting and flying around Hogwarts. Take a look, though, at how Rowling builds tension throughout "The Prince's Tale" and especially "The Forest Again." Harry believes he is heading to his death, and I firmly believe that his walk through the Forest is some of Rowling's best and most emotional writing of the series. He thinks of his friends and of Ginny. He longs to have just a few more minutes to live, to experience. There's a note of finality to everything he says or does. I remember reading this chapter the first time, and feeling surprisingly angry. I was upset with Rowling for killing Harry off, when there was so much more I wanted for him. But I believed her. As much as my entire brain was protesting, once Harry accepted that he would have to die, so did I. So the chapter builds to the moment where Voldemort strikes Harry down, and it really does feel like a climax ought to. Examples:
"At that moment he felt that nobody mattered but Voldemort. It was just the two of them."
"Harry looked back into the red eyes, and wanted it to happen now, quickly, while he could still stand, before he lost control, before he betrayed fear."
Then, of course, Harry is hit with the AK. I remember feeling completely and utterly shocked. It really is one of the most important moments in the series, and rife with Christian symbolism. Indeed, if one looks at the Bible as literature (as I do, while also seeing it as its own Truth), what can the climax of the Gospels be other than Jesus's death on the Cross?
After this point in the novel, while there are exciting, tension-building moments (Molly and Bellatrix, Neville and Nagini), Harry has cleared the most significant hurdle. Sure, he does need to confront Voldemort, and explain. And there is something of a secondary climax, in that moment in the Great Hall where Voldemort is undone by his own killing curse just as the sun rises, and Harry catches the Elder Wand. But from "King's Cross" onward, we know Harry will come through this okay. "The Flaw in the Plan" resolves plotlines and finally puts an end to Voldemort, but this is characteristic of denouements. Much like in Goblet of Fire, where the climax lies firmly in the graveyard, but there are still exciting moments to come, like the revelation of Moody's true identity. Harry has faced down death with love, and won, and by the time he and Voldemort come face to face again, he knows it. Hence all the talking. This doesn't need to be action-heavy (although we do get some of that). We just need to understand as Harry does.
A lot of people hated the epilogue. Even I remember being a bit put-off by it on my first read. I think this is partially because, particularly if you're looking at the final showdown as a climax, you haven't really had time to catch your breath before a drastic time jump forward and a sudden change in tone. There's still probably some improvement that could be done there. But if you're looking at "The Forest Again" as the climax, I would argue that the epilogue's placement and setting are more natural. The themes of parental love, forgiveness, and family are all present in that chapter, and they're certainly present in the epilogue. In "The Forest Again," Harry is just starting to grasp the impact of Snape's actions; by the time the epilogue rolls around, his feelings have come full circle, and he's come to respect Snape's sacrifices so much he names his son after him. Lily and James stood beside Harry until the very end; now another Lily and James bring Harry comfort and happiness. Ginny, the last subject of Harry's thoughts before death, is now his loving wife. The epilogue also represents what Harry was willing to give his life for: a better future for a new generation. Teddy Lupin, whose story intentionally mirrors Harry's, has not had the same childhood full of pain and angst. He's now a young man in a loving relationship, who comes by his godfather's house for dinner several times a week and is adored by Harry's children. The Potter and Weasley children have their whole lives ahead of them, full of possibility and promise. Thanks to Harry's bravery, the worst anxiety Al and Rose have to face is what House they will be put into. Perhaps it is a bit cheesy, but it's also really powerful. Harry's journey and drive to do the right thing has given him exactly what he always wanted: a family.
Well, this started out as one realization and turned into a defense of the epilogue, but I think both points are valid. I might do another post tonight on my mental picture of the characters, since I'm on such an HP kick, but in the meantime, let me know what you think in the comments!
