While reading the
end of the Harry Potter Series a light went off in my head. I was suddenly reminded of another of my
childhood, fantasy, favorite series, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.
Lewis. Particularly I thought of the
second book in the series, The Lion, The
Witch and The Wardrobe.
It was in the part
of the book, when Harry knew that he had to die that the lights started flickering. Then we learned that Harry’s great sacrifice
actually allowed him to come back and it protected the others that he
sacrificed himself for. In this way he
is a true hero, much like Aslan, the lion, one of, the biggest in my opinion,
heroes in the series, The Chronicles of Narnia.
In The Lion, The
Witch and The Wardrobe Aslan, two sons of Adam, two daughters of eve, also know
as the four children that entered Narnia through the wardrobe and everyone else
are going into battle with the evil white witch and all of her followers. In the tale Aslan is the one whom is the one
person who can defeat the witch. There
comes a time in the tale when Edmund, one of the sons of Adam, and for lack of
a better word, one of the chosen ones becomes a traitor and is temporarily lured
to the witch’s side. When he comes to
his senses and returns to Aslan’s team by the laws of the land there is a price
on his head and he can be killed by the witch.
Aslan immediately steps up and secretly offers himself to the witch as a
sacrifice to protect Edmund. He sneaks
away to fulfill his promise to the witch and be killed, but tells no one. When he gets to the Stone table the witch and
her minions are waiting there to kill him.
They mock, torture and humiliate Aslan, to amuse themselves. Aslan could have easily fought back, and even
escaped, but he just took it and accepted that he had to die. Then they murder
him. Meanwhile, the battle breaks out,
people are being slaughtered, and all hope seems lost. That is until Aslan comes back from the dead,
joins the battle and takes out the witch.
I saw so many correlations between this and Harry Potter.
Harry knows that
in order for Voldemort to be killed and everyone to be saved that he must
die. So, he offers himself to Voldemort
to be killed. Like Aslan, he goes alone,
tells no one and does not show any resistance when Voldemort kills him. He too sacrifices himself for the greater
good. We later find that his self
sacrifice casts a sort of shield over everyone and protects them, much like Aslan
protects Edmund and everyone else. In
Harry Potter, Voldemort, like the witch in Narnia, wants to brag of his great
defeat over Harry. He shows everyone
that their precious hero, the great Harry is dead. The witch and Voldemort both brag and make a
spectacle when the think they have defeated these great heroes. All seems lost in both tales. Aslan is dead, the battle is going in the
witch’s favor and they are losing good people left and right. In Harry Potter so much blood was shed, it
looked as if Voldemort was taking over for good to the other characters and it
seemed doom. Just as hope was lost,
Harry and Aslan came back and were able to finish off their respective villains.
Harry could also
be compared to so many other aspects of the novel. He could be compared to the sons of Adam and
daughters of Eve, who are thrust into this magical land and told they, are the
ones that hold the power to defeat such great evils. The four, like Harry at times through out the
book express disbelief in this fact, disbelief in themselves, and have to work
to discover their place in this new magical world. Their lives change in an instant and they are
suddenly given great purpose. Though I saw so many similarities in the two
novels, the similarities between Aslan and Harry stood out the most. The theme of love, sacrifice and death we
reiterated through the tales of both great heroes. Everything is not what it seemed. The first time read both novels I felt
similar emotions when the two died. I
thought it was really over for the both of them. But, their selfless sacrifices protected them
and their friends and when all hope was lost they came back from the dead,
sprung back to action and saved the day.
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