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LifeQuest Community > Off-topic > Books > Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger
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Author Topic: Looking for God in Harry Potter by John Granger  (Read 293 times)
Amanda
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« on: May 09, 2008, 12:04:58 AM »
I bought this book the same time I bought the Narnia for Dummies book.  I like books about books... what can I say?  Anyway, I totally give this book 4.5/5 stars.  I would recommend it to Christians and non-Christians alike, if only to see the vast amount of symbolism carefully woven into the Harry Potter series. I definitely have a deeper respect for J.K. Rowling after reading this.

John Granger is a professor of literature and an extremely conservative Christian.  (How conservative?  He has seven children and does not even own a TV, and homeschools all of them!)  After making this confession, he sets out to explain how J.K. Rowling smuggled Christian theology into the Harry Potter books.

At first I thought he was just picking out coincidences or things that could be interpreted any number of ways.  Not so.  J.K. Rowling deliberately used names, characters, objects, and places to symbolically represent Christian teachings.  A few:
-- Dumbledore's sacrificial death = symbolic of Jesus' sacrificial death
-- The phoenix (known in ancient literature as "the resurrection bird") = symbolic of Jesus
-- The names of the Quidditch players on the Gryffindor team = symbolic of parts of a church
-- Snakes/Voldemort = symbolic of Satan
-- Hagrid = symbolic of a true Christian (unwavering faith in Dumbledore (who represents Christ), sacrificial love for his brother Grawp even though his own mother rejected him, love for unloveable creatures (similar to the way Jesus hung out with sinners instead of the "righteous")

Anyway, it was pretty awesome.  Definitely recommend it.
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Don't breathe too deep
Don't think all day
Dive in to work
Drive the other way
That drip of hurt
That pint of shame
Goes away, just play the game.
-- Rent
Bruce Blagg
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« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2008, 11:01:59 AM »
Here is a link to an interview where Rowlin's finally opened up and talked about the Christian symbols she used in her writing and why.  She also talks about her faith and some of her struggles.  The interview is with MTV and not with a Christian organization.  So I think she was being pretty straightforward.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1572107/20071017/index.jhtml
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Amanda
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« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2008, 06:35:41 PM »
Thanks for that article.  I definitely agree that the seventh book is much more transparent in its symbolism... it's too bad that Looking for God in Harry Potter was written just after the sixth!  I would have liked to know what Granger thought about it.
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Don't breathe too deep
Don't think all day
Dive in to work
Drive the other way
That drip of hurt
That pint of shame
Goes away, just play the game.
-- Rent
Anxiety
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« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2008, 08:04:23 PM »
I'm sure this will increase her sales.
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Michelle
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Smile!!!
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2008, 09:36:12 AM »
Probably - now all the Christians can finally have permission to read the books!   Shocked  Wink
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Anxiety
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A hallucination is a fact, not an error.
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2008, 01:22:55 PM »
2 cents:
That's unfortunate.  She is to literature as Pizza Hut is to Italian food.
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Amanda
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« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2008, 02:23:32 PM »
It's too bad you feel that way.
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Don't breathe too deep
Don't think all day
Dive in to work
Drive the other way
That drip of hurt
That pint of shame
Goes away, just play the game.
-- Rent
Michelle
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Smile!!!
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2008, 08:01:22 PM »
Well, I definitely agree that not all books are (or should be) classified as literature.  There are many books that I have read (and thoroughly enjoyed) that could compare to the Pizza Hut analogy, but there are also many books of literature that I HAVE read that I thought should not be.  "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"  Cheesy
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Bruce Blagg
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« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2008, 08:45:04 PM »
Quote
She is to literature as Pizza Hut is to Italian food.

But every once in a while, pizza just hits the spot.   Smiley  It's bad for you as a steady diet, but it's a great break from the more serious food.
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