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deathtocapslockI just had to get this essay out there- sorry if it’s a bit disorganized (ironically enough, I’m writing this right before I go to be a zombie in a haunted house put on by my school’s Circle K).
So, we all know that Dumbledore, in order to show off what a special snowflake he is, has a pet phoenix. Now, phoenixes are known for their ability to burn to ash and then rise again from the ashes, so they never actually die and stay dead. This is true across all myths dealing with a phoenix that I have ever read or heard, and is demonstrated several times in the course of the Harry Potter books. In the books, their tears also have healing powers, strong enough to save someone from mortal injury or death. With all this in mind, I feel as though the representation of phoenixes in the Harry Potter book takes on a strange new meaning given the overarching way in which death or near-death experiences is portrayed.
Now, when Harry first sees Fawkes the phoenix he looks off-color, and before Harry can do anything sensible, he bursts into flames. Dumbledore, of course, barely seems fazed, and convinces Harry that this is no big deal, because the bird will just be reborn if you give it a minute. Now, naturally this makes Dumbledore come across as incredibly cold-hearted, not to spare at least some concern for his pet, but it also parallels the utterly blasé way death is treated in the book as a whole, which has already come up in several previous posts and essays.
Notice that in the above scene, so far as we’re aware, Dumbledore doesn’t make any attempts to save the bird from bursting into flames. We don’t actually know how painful it is for a phoenix to catch fire and burn to ash, but even if it doesn’t hurt any, the fact that Dumbledore is able to shrug the death of his bird off (without even trying to make him more comfortable, it looks like) with “oh, he’s been looking off-color for ages” (I’m quoting from memory here) parallels the way in which, at the end of the series, Dumbledore reveals to Snape that he has apparently done nothing worth speaking of to find a way of getting Harry to save the day™ that doesn’t involve his committing ritual suicide (and after all, death by AK is supposed to be “quicker and easier than falling asleep,” as well).
The fact that the phoenix can regenerate itself time and time again also speaks to the sheer amount of attention dead people get in the series- for all the talk of how death tears families apart and leaves broken lives behind, dead people show up so frequently in the series (either in conversation or scenes) that it seems like they hardly disappeared at all! Harry’s parents get so much attention, and appear in so many different, independent scenes (the mirror in Book 1, the Dementors in Book 3, the graveyard scene in Book 4, the Pensieve throughout, and of course the forest in Book 7) that you wonder just when Harry is going to tell them to shove off and leave him alone! And who can forget the scene at the end where Harry names his kids after his dead relatives, as if to immortalize them still further. Death in the Harry Potter books is utterly cheap- it’s impossible to say if any given dead character is really gone, because there’s so many unanswered questions about the characters who do die (we all know how big a following resurrecting Snape has in fanfiction!).
Then there’s the healing powers in the phoenix’s tears. Healing powers so strong that they can save Harry from one of the deadliest poisons in the WW (I’d like to see them cure a case of botulism, myself). But that just reflects the way in which injuries in this series are treated. It’s like, unless you get touched by Dark magic, chances are you’ll be just fine in a few chapters. No wonder Wizards are so childish- everybody who is anybody will have all their injuries put in order as soon as the plot demands, and so nobody has to face any consequences for their actions- after all, the only people with permanent injuries or disfigurements either “deserve it” (Marietta, Lockhart) or else end up in a bad way because the author’s trying to make a point (I’m thinking of Neville’s parents here, but George with his ear may also qualify).
The fact that magic can save just about anybody from mortal injury or death, barring certain special circumstances where Dark magic is involved, also contributes to the childishness of the series by putting it out there that real-world accidents, injuries, or even acts of violence “just don’t matter very much.” The only thing that leaves permanent marks is evil magic, right? Therefore nonmagical (or not-fully-magical) injuries or crimes can be shrugged off. It’s also pointless to fuss over nonmagical acts of violence that leave psychological damage (even non-magical torture and rape), because anyone who is truly Good™ and Worthy™ will recover in an instant- or at least whenever it’s most convenient for the plot.
Now think of what this says about non-magic folks. See, not only can we not damage someone as effectively as them magical folks can (not even our torture and murder methods are as effective) but we’re still vulnerable to their magic. Excuse me while I go punch a puppy in the nose….
But, I digress. Another key point to consider about Fawkes is that he’s always rushing in to save Harry at exactly the right moment. In fact, once he heroically “dies” for Dumbledore by swallowing an AK! He’s perfectly fine, of course, because phoenixes never die, and suicide is totally heroic and not at all a permanent solution to a temporary problem or anything like that! In Harry Potter-land it isn’t.
As a final word, take note of the fact that the Phoenix is in some respects a uniquely Gryffindor-ish animal: red and gold feathers, and it springs from flames. Many people have commented on how it seems as though Gryffindors remain untouched by death and the like, while the other students (who technically don’t even matter since they get no screen time at all) suffer the way real people do: Cedric the Hufflepuff, who dies just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and over whose death Harry insults Cho; Draco the Slytherin, who gets injured several times over the course of the series but whom none of the heroes will be good to even though he is genuinely scarred by such abuse; Marietta the Ravenclaw (and to a lesser extent, Cho, who genuinely grieves for Cedric in a way Harry never does for anyone, not even Sirius); and the list goes on.
Now, a Basilisk is, to all intents and purposes, held as the magical mascot for Slytherin, as per CoS. And the Phoenix appears to be a mascot for Gryffindor in the same mold. Now, unlike the Phoenix, when that Basilisk was dead, she stayed dead (though her venom was apparently persistent enough that Ron and Hermione could still access it years later; this may be read as a rather-uncomfortable To Kill a Mockingbird parallel, where the Slytherins are the rabid dogs, or rather, snakes). We don’t actually get corresponding magical mascots for the other two houses, mostly because they’re just window dressing anyway, but you could pick from the collection of magical creatures Rowling has compiled, if you so chose (really sorry I haven’t been updating those, btw, but I’ve been busy- I’ll pick them up again as soon as I have more time). However, only the Phoenix lives forever and has the power to regenerate indefinitely.
Think about that.
So, we all know that Dumbledore, in order to show off what a special snowflake he is, has a pet phoenix. Now, phoenixes are known for their ability to burn to ash and then rise again from the ashes, so they never actually die and stay dead. This is true across all myths dealing with a phoenix that I have ever read or heard, and is demonstrated several times in the course of the Harry Potter books. In the books, their tears also have healing powers, strong enough to save someone from mortal injury or death. With all this in mind, I feel as though the representation of phoenixes in the Harry Potter book takes on a strange new meaning given the overarching way in which death or near-death experiences is portrayed.
Now, when Harry first sees Fawkes the phoenix he looks off-color, and before Harry can do anything sensible, he bursts into flames. Dumbledore, of course, barely seems fazed, and convinces Harry that this is no big deal, because the bird will just be reborn if you give it a minute. Now, naturally this makes Dumbledore come across as incredibly cold-hearted, not to spare at least some concern for his pet, but it also parallels the utterly blasé way death is treated in the book as a whole, which has already come up in several previous posts and essays.
Notice that in the above scene, so far as we’re aware, Dumbledore doesn’t make any attempts to save the bird from bursting into flames. We don’t actually know how painful it is for a phoenix to catch fire and burn to ash, but even if it doesn’t hurt any, the fact that Dumbledore is able to shrug the death of his bird off (without even trying to make him more comfortable, it looks like) with “oh, he’s been looking off-color for ages” (I’m quoting from memory here) parallels the way in which, at the end of the series, Dumbledore reveals to Snape that he has apparently done nothing worth speaking of to find a way of getting Harry to save the day™ that doesn’t involve his committing ritual suicide (and after all, death by AK is supposed to be “quicker and easier than falling asleep,” as well).
The fact that the phoenix can regenerate itself time and time again also speaks to the sheer amount of attention dead people get in the series- for all the talk of how death tears families apart and leaves broken lives behind, dead people show up so frequently in the series (either in conversation or scenes) that it seems like they hardly disappeared at all! Harry’s parents get so much attention, and appear in so many different, independent scenes (the mirror in Book 1, the Dementors in Book 3, the graveyard scene in Book 4, the Pensieve throughout, and of course the forest in Book 7) that you wonder just when Harry is going to tell them to shove off and leave him alone! And who can forget the scene at the end where Harry names his kids after his dead relatives, as if to immortalize them still further. Death in the Harry Potter books is utterly cheap- it’s impossible to say if any given dead character is really gone, because there’s so many unanswered questions about the characters who do die (we all know how big a following resurrecting Snape has in fanfiction!).
Then there’s the healing powers in the phoenix’s tears. Healing powers so strong that they can save Harry from one of the deadliest poisons in the WW (I’d like to see them cure a case of botulism, myself). But that just reflects the way in which injuries in this series are treated. It’s like, unless you get touched by Dark magic, chances are you’ll be just fine in a few chapters. No wonder Wizards are so childish- everybody who is anybody will have all their injuries put in order as soon as the plot demands, and so nobody has to face any consequences for their actions- after all, the only people with permanent injuries or disfigurements either “deserve it” (Marietta, Lockhart) or else end up in a bad way because the author’s trying to make a point (I’m thinking of Neville’s parents here, but George with his ear may also qualify).
The fact that magic can save just about anybody from mortal injury or death, barring certain special circumstances where Dark magic is involved, also contributes to the childishness of the series by putting it out there that real-world accidents, injuries, or even acts of violence “just don’t matter very much.” The only thing that leaves permanent marks is evil magic, right? Therefore nonmagical (or not-fully-magical) injuries or crimes can be shrugged off. It’s also pointless to fuss over nonmagical acts of violence that leave psychological damage (even non-magical torture and rape), because anyone who is truly Good™ and Worthy™ will recover in an instant- or at least whenever it’s most convenient for the plot.
Now think of what this says about non-magic folks. See, not only can we not damage someone as effectively as them magical folks can (not even our torture and murder methods are as effective) but we’re still vulnerable to their magic. Excuse me while I go punch a puppy in the nose….
But, I digress. Another key point to consider about Fawkes is that he’s always rushing in to save Harry at exactly the right moment. In fact, once he heroically “dies” for Dumbledore by swallowing an AK! He’s perfectly fine, of course, because phoenixes never die, and suicide is totally heroic and not at all a permanent solution to a temporary problem or anything like that! In Harry Potter-land it isn’t.
As a final word, take note of the fact that the Phoenix is in some respects a uniquely Gryffindor-ish animal: red and gold feathers, and it springs from flames. Many people have commented on how it seems as though Gryffindors remain untouched by death and the like, while the other students (who technically don’t even matter since they get no screen time at all) suffer the way real people do: Cedric the Hufflepuff, who dies just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and over whose death Harry insults Cho; Draco the Slytherin, who gets injured several times over the course of the series but whom none of the heroes will be good to even though he is genuinely scarred by such abuse; Marietta the Ravenclaw (and to a lesser extent, Cho, who genuinely grieves for Cedric in a way Harry never does for anyone, not even Sirius); and the list goes on.
Now, a Basilisk is, to all intents and purposes, held as the magical mascot for Slytherin, as per CoS. And the Phoenix appears to be a mascot for Gryffindor in the same mold. Now, unlike the Phoenix, when that Basilisk was dead, she stayed dead (though her venom was apparently persistent enough that Ron and Hermione could still access it years later; this may be read as a rather-uncomfortable To Kill a Mockingbird parallel, where the Slytherins are the rabid dogs, or rather, snakes). We don’t actually get corresponding magical mascots for the other two houses, mostly because they’re just window dressing anyway, but you could pick from the collection of magical creatures Rowling has compiled, if you so chose (really sorry I haven’t been updating those, btw, but I’ve been busy- I’ll pick them up again as soon as I have more time). However, only the Phoenix lives forever and has the power to regenerate indefinitely.
Think about that.
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no subject
Date: 2011-10-28 11:16 pm (UTC)Have you read terri_testing's article on what a phoenix familiar and a phoenix-feather wand show about Albus and Tom? http://terri-testing.livejournal.com/22978.html
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Date: 2011-10-29 01:20 am (UTC)To be fair, we don't really know what effect rebirth has on phoenixes. If a reborn phoenix keeps its old personality and memories and is pretty much exactly the same except that it's now in a younger body, I can imagine this being the sort of thing you'd shrug off quite easily, because it wouldn't really be death as we normally think about it.
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Date: 2011-10-29 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-10-29 02:57 am (UTC)