Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

is reminiscent of “the hope of Christians in the dead of winter and the depth of darkness; in the coming of
their Savior as a child who will escape and eventually be victorious over the Prince of the World” (104).
Harry may not see it, but this chapter and his other associations with baby Jesus, gives hope to Rowling’s
Christian readers that his life will continue to parallel Christ’s.
After his defeat of Voldemort as a child, Harry is dubbed the Boy Who Lived and spends the rest of
the series living up to his nickname. In every one of the first six books, Harry faces death and accepts it,
only to be saved by a symbol of Christ in the nick of time (How Harry 24-5). In Sorcerer’s Stone Harry holds
onto Quirrell though the “effort involved nearly [kills him]” and is ultimately saved by his mother’s love
(297-9). Lily’s Christ-like sacrifice keeps Harry safe from Voldemort’s host, who could not bear to “touch
a person marked by something so good” (299). In this first adventure, Rowling gives an additional clue to
Harry’s association with Christ; Harry is comatose for three days following the confrontation in an “obvious
reference to the Resurrection” (How Harry 25). In Chamber of Secrets Harry almost dies when the basilisk
bites him, but Fawkes the Phoenix’s tears heal his deadly wound. Phoenixes have represented Christ’s
resurrection since the Middle Ages because of their unusual life cycle in which they are reborn from their
own ashes (Gibbons 88). Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban involves a new type of death when Harry’s
soul is almost sucked out by a Dementor. However, Harry is saved by his blindingly white stag Patronus.
St. Eustace saw a white stag with a radiant cross and an image of Christ between its horns. The image led to
his immediate conversion and the introduction of the stag as a Christian symbol (Waters 110). The
symbolism is also explained by the way the stag’s antlers regenerate, echoing Christ’s resurrection (How
Harry 103). In this example Rowling, like C.S. Lewis before her, uses a stag as the Christ symbol that saves
Harry.
The near deaths and well-timed Christ symbols continue in Goblet of Fire. In a duel against the
newly risen Voldemort, Harry bravely decides “he [is] going to die upright like his father…trying to defend
himself, even if no defense [is] possible” (662). Harry’s acceptance of death is in stark contrast to
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