The Harry Potter book series is one of the most famous fantasy novels in the world. The fictional book series explores a magical and fantasy story that addresses many themes related to human life. Such themes are critical as they send an important message about the way people should treat others and how the events happening around them should be used as life lessons. The wide storyline makes it wise to break it down into several sequels, which gave J.K. Rawlings adequate time and space to explore the relationships that characters maintained and how they impacted their lives. Due to the nature of the story and the various issues that arise, Harry potter examines the importance of human interactions and the diverse ways in which they shape individuals’ quality of life. Such aspects are evident as different characters have varied ambitions, which make them follow a certain path in life. Acceptance of death is one of the strong messages the author sends to the readers, as it plays the most critical role in the development and end of the story.
An analysis of the entire story covered in the book shows that death is one of the aspects that keeps the narrative in the story moving as it influences all its events. The books cover aspects of death from the beginning to the end, making it a subject that cannot be avoided when addressing the major issues outlined in the books. The author addresses the issue of death from different perspectives, showing the impact human imagination has on life (Alderete-Diez 148). The event of death takes various forms and leads to the development of inevitable situations that make people undergo different challenges in life and shape their behavior concerning how they perceive life. The readers encounter the theme of death at the story’s beginning when they learn that Harry Potter is an orphan, which is why he is made to stay with his uncle and aunt (Cheng 4). The death of Harry’s parents makes him live with relatives who hate him. Death sets the story’s tone and pushes most characters to their limits as they learn how to live with it.
The theme of death creates the foundation through which the characters develop and maintain other significant themes. In book one, Harry is unhappy with his life in his relatives’ home, which makes him accept being enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The lack of parents makes Harry undergo a challenging life. According to the text, Harry does not know more about his parents until he learns they have powers when he joins the wizard school (Alderete-Diez 149). The search for information about his parents makes the story interesting as Harry uncovers different mysteries about their death that make him want to avenge them. The death of Lily and James, Harry’s parents, which happens before the development of the book series, is elaborated in the book “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” which enables the reader to learn about the prophecy of a baby that was to be born to defeat Voldemort (Rowling c). Such an event makes the audience curious about life before the story’s development and helps them understand the impacts death can have on the lives of children whose parents die when they are young.
After learning about his parents’ magical powers, Harry accepts the situation but vows to use his to fight the person responsible for their deaths. His reaction portrays humans’ reaction toward death and how its related information creates rivalry between individuals, which can lead to the development of varied perceptions of life, influencing their reaction toward death (Nguyen 203). After gaining the information about his parents, Harry accepts their fate, and he believes that learning about the things that happened in the past will make the situation easier to manage and accept (Mackenzie 92). The event cleared Harry’s mind about his origin, and he decided to learn magic and gain wizard powers to make the person responsible for his parents’ deaths pay for his actions. Through the incident, the audience learns that death is painful, especially if it involves a close person, as it makes individuals make decisions that may significantly impact their lives (Cheng 9). In the case of Harry, the death of his parents made him commit his life to attain justice, despite the costs he had to pay.
The issue of death is perceived differently by various characters in the story. The fear of death is among the most common issues portrayed in the narrative (Mackenzie 88). This aspect made the characters devise mechanisms that would enable them to avoid death, prolonging their lives. Lord Voldemort tries to gain immortality due to his fear of death; he uses magic to devise methods that would make it impossible to die (Nguyen 204). Through magic, Voldemort diversified his life into seven different crystals containing parts where; he hides six of them and remains with one. The development of such events shows how death is feared and makes people undertake crazy activities to enjoy the various aspects of life before death catches up with them. If individuals had a mechanism for preventing death in this case, it would lead to the development of the internal conflict, making it difficult for people with varying emotional states.
Acceptance of death makes people live a simple life as they worry less about it and the things that happen around them. The author argues that people should make death their companion to live a simple and fulfilling life. By accepting death as a companion, individuals can easily transition from grieving the dead to normalcy since they do not have any control over the cause of death (Alderete-Diez 152). The strong connection that the readers develop towards some of the characters makes it painful when they meet an untimely death. For example, the death of Cedric is one of the most painful deaths experienced in the book. Cedric is talented and innocent, and he can win the high prize with Harry during the Triwizard Tournament, where the Hufflepuff was selected to represent Hogwarts. His death in the graveyard was uncertain as it was so random, leaving the audience stranded, especially with the imagery created when Harry returned carrying the lifeless body to the competition.
In addition, the high number of deaths in the books shows that death can occur anytime in human life, and nothing can prevent it if an individual’s time to die has come. The lack of such criteria makes it challenging for the readers to empathize with the readings in the book, which makes the readers experience the deaths of random people at different periods (Mackenzie 94). The deaths significantly impact the story as they emotionally impact the loved ones of the diseased. The deaths of Lily, James, Sirius Black, and Dobby are considered highly emotional as they played critical and positive roles in Harry’s life. Most of the deaths were cruel and involved people close to the main character, forcing him to accept the outcomes of death. The deaths of close friends and family made Harry get used to losing people he loved (Rowling a). Some individuals are innocent and did not live long enough to see justice prevail as their time was limited. This aspect makes it challenging to live with grief whenever someone so close dies.
The book’s conclusion demonstrates that no matter what individuals do or how powerful they are, they cannot avoid death. According to the book, no matter how Voldemort tried to escape death, it was inevitable, as it ended up catching up with those destined to die. This aspect is evident as Voldemort’s struggle to attain immortality was cut short at the end of the series when his secret was identified, and the seven fragments of his soul were discovered and destroyed. Throughout the book series, he attempts to kill Harry Potter to avoid a prophecy that predicts his demise. Voldemort also led a large group of death eaters who were responsible for the deaths of many of the main characters. The struggle to attain immortality was cut short when the prophecy was fulfilled at the hands of Harry. The deaths of individuals such as Sirius were inevitable despite the ability to disguise themselves as a black dog and escape from his enemies.
Another issue about death, as presented in the book series, is that it does not choose where to take place. Death is considered unpredictable; it can happen anywhere, anytime, and to anyone. According to the book series, the number of deaths is great and occurs to both good and bad people. In most cases, death is caused by circumstances, which makes it universal as long as the conditions are met, or the situation is inevitable. Some people are killed by creatures such as the snake, others by antagonists, and others die in accidents (Rowling b). These aspects mean that death can happen anywhere and can be caused by anything or anyone, highlighting the need for individuals to be careful whenever they engage other people, as death is inevitable.
In conclusion, the theme of death in the Harry Potter books is one of the major aspects that sends a strong message to the readers. A large number of deaths can be linked to the characters’ relationships and their life goals. The conflict of interests forms the main cause of conflict experienced in the play as the individuals try to live up to a prophecy made years ago. The book series is a fantasy and magic series where the antagonist is worse than death, making it challenging even to mention his name. Lord Voldemort is a wizard seeking to become a god to control the world. His bad character and evil regime were to end when a child destined to destroy him was born. The book emphasizes death in a special manner, as the author strongly conveys that people should take death as a companion as everyone is bound to die someday.
Works Cited
Alderete-Diez, Pilar. “Death and How to Deal with It in the Harry Potter Series.” Cultural Politics in Harry Potter, 2019, pp. 147–162.
Cheng, Muqi. “Significance of the Theme of Death in Crossover Literature: A Case Study of Harry Potter and the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.” Arts Studies and Criticism, vol. 2, no. 2, 2021.
Mackenzie, Anna. “‘A Story about How Humans Are Frightened of Death.’” Cultural Politics in Harry Potter, 2019, pp. 87–97.
Nguyen, Maryann. “Flirting with Posthuman Technologies in Harry Potter.” Cultural Politics in Harry Potter, 2019, pp. 207–219.
Rowling, J. K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2008.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban . Scholastic, 2004.
Rowling, Joanne K., and Grandpré Mary. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Scholastic, 2018.