Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

Voldemort‟s mortal fear of it, but Fawkes‟s phoenix song provides Harry with the hope and guidance he
needs to escape Voldemort (How Harry 25). Harry literally begs for death in Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix when Voldemort possesses him, but he remembers his recently deceased godfather and “as Harry‟s
heart filled with emotion, the creature‟s coils loosened” (816). In this book, love is the Christ symbol that
saves Harry from Voldemort‟s clutches. Finally, in Half-Blood Prince, Harry is dragged into the underground
lake by the Inferi and saved by Dumbledore‟s conjured fire. Fire represents the Holy Spirit because it
appeared as “cloven tongues like as of fire” on Pentecost (Acts 2.3).
Rowling is a multidimensional writer, so these symbols of Christ – the sacrificial love, phoenix,
white stag, phoenix song, love, and fire – must have a purpose. One purpose is to illustrate Harry‟s
appropriate attitude toward death. Harry never gives in without a fight, but he also willingly accepts death
when all seems lost. In those moments of hopelessness he is saved by the grace of a Christ figure to fight
another day. While this is a very noble purpose, the end of the series reveals the true purpose behind
Harry‟s constant encounters with Christ symbols. Harry‟s near death experiences and timely saviors “were
just foreshadowing for Harry‟s sacrifice at the end of Deathly Hallows and his rising from the dead to defeat
Voldemort…as a symbol of Christ himself” (How Harry 26). The Christ symbols increase Harry‟s
association with Christ throughout the seven-part series until he grows into the role himself in Deathly
Hallows.
Harry deserves his title of the Boy Who Lived, as he shows resilience against and acceptance of
death time and time again in the series. However, the Boy Who Lived earns a new nickname in Half-Blood
Prince, the Chosen One. After Voldemort uses Harry to steal the prophecy, members of the Wizarding
World begin “to call Potter „the Chosen One,‟ correctly believing that the prophecy names him as the only
one who will be able to rid [them] of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” (HBP 39). Rowling makes the
connection between Harry and Christ more obvious as the series progresses and Harry‟s new name is one of
the ways she accomplishes this. Although Christ is not referred to as “the Chosen One” in the King James
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