Mahir pari's assignment on grain of wheat

Historical, biographical and Post colonial approach in "A Grain of Wheat" by Ngugi wa Thiongo.

Mahir pari's assignment grain of wheat

Name : Goswami mahir pari c.
Sem : 4
Roll no. : 21
Paper:- African literature
Submitted to : Department of English MKBU
Topic : Historical, biographical and Post colonial approach in "A Grain of Wheat" 

Enrollment no :  20691084201180021

Email Id :goswamimahirpari786@gmail.com


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*Introduction*

One of the most important characteristcs of literature is that it is Imaginative.Although we've to remember that it is not Fanciful ideas away from Reality.It has touch of realism. No writer can write anything unless that experiences is lived by himself, feel by himself.

So, lets discuss that how Ngugi wa Thiongo's personal experiences are poured into A Grain of Wheat. At the same time we will also keep in mind that Ngugi is very important figure in Post colonial world. So, we will also try to evaluate novel from post colonial angle.

 Colonial period was a time of turmoil, supression/repression of colonies. So this was experienced by the writers himself as a child. and when they grew up they have written their experiences of this time.

Lets have a brief look on What is Post colonialism?

Post Colonialism is an approach, a lens to see, understand and subvert notion of Western superiority.

~ It is an approach, in which colony writes back.

~We have to relook, rethink, revisit whatever written or spoken by the white people.

~Europeans have developed pre conceived notion about the East.

~Doubt whatever comes from West, every step taken by them is under doubt& question.

.  Postcolonialism  includes  terms  such  as  “resistance, hybridity, desire, difference”  in  addition  to “the  facts of slavery, migration,and political  independence”

# Hybridity:-

Concept of hybridity is very essential in post colonial era. Writer himself was born in colonial Kenya, given a christian name James and later on he also studied English authors. so the impact of European as well as native values, tradition and culture always remains at clash.

 Ngugi  wa  Thiong’o  is  one  the  most  important  postcolonial  writers  who  shows  his  protest against  the  colonizers  in  his  works.  In  Decolonizing  the  Mind,  he  stresses  how  the colonizers  exploited Africa,  and its people. He  asserts that, In  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  Europe  stole  art  treasures  from  Africa  to decorate  their  houses  and  museums;  in  the  twentieth  century  Europe  is  stealing  the treasures  of  the  mind  to  enrich  their  languages  and  cultures.  Africa  needs  back  its economy,  its  politics,  its  culture,  its  languages  and  all  its  patriotic  writers  (eds. Parker and Starkey, 125).  

Ngugi was born in 1938, and grew up in rural areas of heaviest European occupatipn , where memories of expulsion and displacement were within the life time of the people.

His elder brother joined the Mau Mau, and another brother, who was deaf and dumb, was shot by security forces in exaclt the way Gitogo dies in the opening pages of A Grain of Wheat, unable to hear an order to stop runing.- This point indicates that how biographical elements also shape the literature. He makes a character who stands for his own brother. The kind of description is given about character is very powerful and it touches to heart. we feel sympathy for the character as well as writer. we can imagine the pain that what may happen to him as well as his mother when their family members were killed by White people. After such terrible experiences what can we expect from him?? Definitely, it will be full of angst, anger and hatred.

*Hisgorical approach: 

The novel captures the period of independance of Kenya and Emergency. Mau Mau Emergency in A Grain of Wheat presented for the first time an African perspective on the Kenyan armed revolt against the colonial rule. novel is a reading of  past- present & - future of Nation (Kenya).

novel is  interesting historical document to read the contemporary time. we find many parallel of that time narrated in the novel-Mau Mau rebellion is one of them, so lets discuss about it.

The Mau Mau Uprising , also known as the MauMau Revolt , Mau Mau Rebellion , or Kenya Emergency , was a military conflict that took place in British Kenyabetween 1952 and 1960. The Mau Mau failed to capture widespread public support, partly due to the British policy of divide and rule and the movement remained internally divided, despite attempts to unify its various strands.(Wikipedia)

So, the resistance, the struggle for independence ( Mau Mau revolt) which is the spirit of the time is very much present in the novel. In  A  Grain  of  Wheat,  we  again  see  the  awakening  and  resistance  of  native  people,  who  go to  the  forest  to  fight  against  the  colonizers

The  novel  includes  four  main  characters,  who  are  all  from  the  Gikuyu  village  of Thabai.  These  characters  are  Mugo,  Gikonyo,  Mumbi  and  Karanja.  Mugo  is  a  heroic person,  who  started  hunger  strike  in  detention  camp  and  also  he  resisted  against  a  village guard  to  protect  a  pregnant  woman  from  beating.  Although  he  is  considered  to  be  a  hero throughout  the  whole  novel,  at  the  end  of  the  story  it  is  understood  that  Mugo  is  the  traitor of  Kihika,  who  was  a  freedom  fighter  hanged  after  being  betrayed  by  Mugo.  That  is,  Mugo is  the  symbol  of  betrayal  in  the  novel.  Apart  from  Mugo,  Karanja  is  also  betrayer  who collaborated  with  the  British  and  considered  to  be  the  traitor  of  Kihika.  Karanja  opts  for joining  the  government  guards  instead  of  fighting  for  his  own  people.  He  also  betrays  his close friend, Gikonyo, by sleeping with Gikonyo’s wife, Mumbi. A Grain of Wheat gives voice to this

underlying sense of loss. while also reaffirming the value of Africa’s past (pre-colonization), it offers an intimacy and strong clarity to the painful process of redefining and recreating a broken society.Gikonyo is driven to deny an oath he holds sacred because of a longing to return home where, “He only wanted to see his Mumbi and take up the thread of life where he had left it” (125). On a larger scale, the reality of Gikonyo’s wanting and its outcome illustrates this haunting consequence of colonization. Obviously, there can be no return from colonization; decolonization simply shifts.the forced relationship from exploitation to the painful struggle for independence and liberation.

All  of  the  characters  look  forward  to freedom.  Warui’s  expressions  show  their  love  for  freedom:  “Our  people,  is  there  a  song sweeter  than  that  of  freedom?  Of  a  truth,  we  have  waited  for  it  many  a  sleepless  night. Those  who  have  gone  before  us,  those  of  us  spared  to  see  the  sun  today,  and  even  those  to be  born  tomorrow,  must  join  the  feast”  (Thiong’o,  19).  Gikonyo  also  thinks  that  his country  is  ready  for  freedom.  “For  a  time  Gikonyo  forgot  his  mission  to  the  city  as  his heart  fluttered  with  the  flags.  He  got  out  of  the  bus  and  walked  down  Kenyatta  Avenue feeling  for  the  moments  as  if  the  city  really  belonged  to  him…  to  Gikonyo  Nairobi  seemed ready for Independence” (Thiong’o, 59-60). Ngugi,  by  means  of  Kihika,  expresses  his  thoughts  about  freedom.  In  every  case, Kihika  tries  to  motivate  his  people  for  the  independence.  Kihika  says  “Choose  between freedom  and  slavery  and  it  is  fitting  that  a  man  should  grab  at  freedom  and  die  for  it” (Thiong’o,  186).  Kihika  also  believes  that  black  people  are  the  owners  of  Kenya.  It  does not  belong  to  the  whiteman.  This  soil  belongs  to  Kenyan  people.  Thus,  nobody  has  right  to sell  or  buy  it.  He  sees  Kenya  as  their  mother  and  also  thinks  that  all  her  children  are  equal before  her.  She  is  their  common  inheritance  (Thiong’o,  96).  He  continues  his  speech  by giving  the  example  of  India  and  Gandhi  to  encourage  his  people.  Because,  he  believes  that if  they  never  stop  fighting  against  the  colonizers,  freedom  will  come  so  soon.  With  the story  of  Gandhi, he  also stresses the importance  of  togetherness. It  is  a  question  of  unity,  the  example  of  India  is  there  before  our  noses.  The  British were  there  for  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  years.  They  ate  India’s  wealth.  They  drank India’s  blood.  They  never  listened  to  the  political  talk-talk  of  a  few  men.  What happened?  There  came  this  man  Gandhi…  they  say  with  one  voice:  we  want  back our  freedom.  The  British  laughed,  they  are  good  at  laughing.  But  they  had  to swallow back their  laughter  when things turned out serious (Thiong’o, 86).  

We also  see  why  native  people  went  to  the  forest.  The  only  reason  of  this  is  the  increasing oppression  of  the  colonizers.  They  went  into  the  forest  because  whiteman  never  behaved them  in  a  good  way  as  he  declared.  “He  ruled  with  the  gun,  the  lives  of  the  all  black  people of  Kenya”  (Thiong’o,  95).  General  R.  talks  to  the  public  to  make  them  aware  about  the colonizers and  why  they  chose  to live in the forest: The  whiteman  went  in  cars.  He  lived  in  a  big  house.  His  children  went  to  school. But  who  tilled  the  soil  on  which  grew  coffee,  tea,  pyrethrum,  and  sisal?  Who  dug the  roads  and  paid  the  taxes?  The  whiteman  lived  on  our  land.  He  ate  what  we  grew and  cooked.  And  even  the  crumbs  from  the  table,  he  threw  to  his  dogs.  That  is  why we went into forest.

*POST COLONIAL FEMINISM

Gayatri  Spivak  also  mentions  the  inferior  position  of  third  world  women,  and  she uses  the  term  “subaltern”  to  describe  them.  She  focuses  on  mainly  colonized  females  who are  double-colonized  economy  and  gender.  And,  she  makes  it  clear  that  there  are  not  two basic  categorizations  of  people  and  nations  as  colonizer  and  colonized,  but  there  is  another group  except  for  this,  and  it  is  colonial  women  oppressed  by  both  the  colonizer  and colonized.  In her most famous  work,  Can the Subaltern Speak, she  points out  that: Within  the  effaced  itinerary  of  the  subaltern  subject,  the  track  of  sexual  difference is  doubly  affected.  The  question  is  not  of  female  participation  in  insurgency,  or  the ground  rules  of  the  sexual  division  of  labor,  for  both  of  which  there  is  evidence.  It is,  rather,  that,  both  as  object  of  colonialist  histography  and  as  subject  of insurgency,  the  ideological  construction  of  gender  keeps  the  male  dominant.  If,  in the  context  colonial  production,  the  subaltern  has  no  history  and  cannot  speak,  the subaltern female  is even  more  deeply  in shadow  (Spivak, 28). That  is,  the  oppression  of  colonialism  and  patriarchy  makes  it  unbearable  for  the  females, for  this  reason  non-white  women  were  silenced  and  nobody  can  hear  them. 

Woman  offered  their  naked  bodies  to  him,  even  some  of  the  most  respectable  came to  him  by  night.  But  Mumbi,  his  Mumbi,  would  not  yield,  and  he  could  never  bring himself to force  her (Thiong’o, 205). That  shows  the  bitter  lives  of  colonized  women  in  a  wretched  society.  Even  they  were enjoying  with  themselves,  women  have  the  fear  of  humiliation.  Ngugi  says  in  the  novel “Mothers  warned  their  daughters  to  take  care  not  to  be  raped  in  the  dark”  in  the  festival  of celebration (Thiong’o, 199) 

COLONIALISM- POST COLONIALISM:-

Oxford English Dictionary  defines the term as: A  settlement  in  a  new  country…  a  body  of  people  who  settle  in  a  new  locality, forming  a  community  subject  to  or  connected  with  their  parent  state;  the community  so  formed,  consisting  of  the  original  settlers  and  their  descendants  and successors,  as  long  as  the  connection  with  the  parent  state  is  kept  up. 

This definition of Colonialism is also problematic. Because it says Settlement in new locality..., But what about those people who were  already living there. What did they do with them??? What about the conflict between settlers and Natives?? The definition is silent over this matter. so we can understand that how under a good language even Oxford dictionary has totally changed the meaning of Colonialism. Whenever next generation will read this definition, they will think Colonialism means this only.Meaning is constructed by language.

So, the tale which OXford definition tries to hide, is made public by Ngugi wa Thiongo in the novel. There is always another side of coin, the darker shade which White people's definition was trying to hide is shown to the world- that what colonialism actually was. Supression, torture, slavery, killing of mass, rape were faced by Natives.

In  spite  of  these  deaths,  nobody  stepped  back.  “The  movement  remained  alive  and  grew,  as people  put  it,  on  the  wounds  of  those  Waiyaki  and  Kihika  left  behind”  (Thiong’o,  17). 

 And the  deaths  of  these  people  were  the  grains  of  wheat,  which  led  to  freedom.  Especially, Ngugi  stresses  the  death  of  Waiyaki:  “Then  nobody  noticed  it,  but  looking  back  we  can  see that  Waiyaki’s  blood  contained  within  it  a  seed,  a  grain,  which  gave  birth  to  a  movement whose  main strength thereafter sprang  from a  bond with the  soil”  (Thiong’o, 12). The  colonizers  showed  no  mercy  to  the  native  people  during  the  emergency.  But  in the  beginning,  the  colonizers  were  not  as  hard  as  during  the  emergency.  “…  whiteman came  to  the  country,  clutching  the  book  of  God  in  both  hands,  a  magic  witness  that  the whiteman  was  a  messenger  from  the  lord.  His  tongue  was  coated  with  sugar;  his  humility was  touching”  (Thiong’o,  10).  By  using  the  Bible  and  mild  language,  they  attracted  several people. But their  attitudes changed day  by  day, they  threw  the  Bible  and used sword: 

Kihika  also  deals  with  the  colonizers’  use  of  the  Bible.  He  is  aware  of  the  fact  that  the colonizers  benefited  from  the  Bible  just  to  get  the  lands  of  the  native  people.  He  makes  it clear that: 

We  went  to  their  church.  Mubia,  in  white  robes,  opened  the  Bible.  He  said:  let  us kneel  down  to  pray.  We  knelt  down.  Mubia  said:  let  us  shut  our  eyes.  We  did.  You know, his remained open  so that he could read the  word. When we  opened  our eyes, our land was  gone  and the  sword of flames stood on guard  (Thiong’o, 14)

The  most  grief  oppressions  were  generally  experienced  by  the  women.  They  were  seen  as sex  tools  for  the  colonizers.  Ngugi  mentions  an  event  in  which  Mugo  also  takes  place, “Mugo  had  been  arrested  during  the  Emergency  for  intervening  to  stop  a  policeman  from beating up a woman who, it was said, had refused him sex” (Thiong’o, ix).  Emergency  is  the  other  name  of  Mau-Mau  rebellion,  and  during  this  movement  a lot  of  people  suffered  so  much.  Githua  is  one  of  these  sufferers,  who  lost  one  of  his  hands. He  says  “I  tell  you  before  the  Emergency,  I  was  like  you;  before  the  whiteman  did  this  to me  with  bullets,  I  could  work  with  both  hands,  man”  (Thiong’o,  3).  Kihika,  one  of  the main  characters  of  the  novel  who  died  for  his  own  country,  was  also  excruciated  by  the colonizers.  “Kihika  was  tortured.  Some  say  that  the  neck  of  a  bottle  was  wedged  into  his body  through  the  anus  as  white  people  in  the  Special  Branch  tried  to  wrest  the  secrets  of the  forest  from  him”  (Thiong’o,  17).  His  sufferings  ended  with  death.  He  “was  hanged  in public,  one  Sunday,  at  Rungei  Market,  not  far  from  where  he  had  once  stood  calling  for blood  to  rain  on  and  water  the  tree  of  freedom”  (Thiong’o,  17).  Waiyaki  is  also  one  of  the sufferers, who was killed brutally  by  the  colonizers.  Conclusion:- Thus, we can examine A Grain of Wheat from Historical, biographical and post colonial approach.

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9 Christianity and Harry Potter

9 Christianity and Harry Potter.

Most of the criticism of Harry Potter is from fundamentalist evangelical Christian groups, who believe the series' depiction of witchcraft is dangerous to children. Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, an American Evangelical Christian group based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, outlined the reasons for his opposition to them: "[They contain] some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil; however, the positive messages are packaged in a medium – witchcraft – that is directly denounced in Scripture." Harry Potter has been the subject of at least six book burnings in the U.S.In 2002, Chick Publications produced a comic book tract titled "The Nervous Witch" that declared "the Potter books open a doorway that will put untold millions of kids into hell." In 2007 Jacqui Komschlies wrote an article in Christianity Today comparing Harry Potter to "rat poison mixed with orange soda," and said, "We're taking something deadly from our world and turning it into what some are calling 'merely a literary device.'"

A common belief among fundamentalist Christians is that Harry Potter promotes the religion of Wicca, and so keeping the books in public schools violates the separation of church and state in the United States.In her response to Laura Mallory's court case, education attorney Victoria Sweeny said that if schools were to remove all books containing reference to witches, they would have to ban Macbeth and Cinderella.Jeremiah Films, a Christian video company largely known for its Clinton Chroniclesrelease, also released a DVD entitled Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged, which stated that "Harry's world says that drinking dead animal blood gives power, a satanic human sacrifice and Harry's powerful blood brings new life, demon possession is not spiritually dangerous, and that passing through fire, contacting the dead, and conversing with ghosts, others in the spirit world, and more, is normal and acceptable."

In 2001, Evangelical journalist Richard Abanes, who has written several books arguing against new religions and Mormonism, published a polemical text that made similar allegations to the video: Harry Potter and the Bible: The Menace Behind the Magick. Later editions incorporated comparisons and contrasts between Harry Potter and the more overtly Christian works of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. In an interview with CBN.com, Abanes remarked that, "One of the easiest ways to know whether a fantasy book or film has real world magick in it is to just ask a simple question, 'Can my child find information in a library or bookstore that will enable them to replicate what they are seeing in the film or the book?' If you go to The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings what you see in, story magic and imagination, it is not real. You can't replicate it. But if you go to something like Harry Potter, you can find references to astrology, clairvoyance, and numerology. It takes seconds to go into a bookstore or library and get books on that and start investigating it, researching it, and doing it."

Abanes writes: "The classic passage dealing with divination, along with several other forms of occultism, is Deuteronomy 

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these thing are an abomination unto the LORD.

8 Mythical and Magical creatures in Harry Potter

 8 Mythical and Magical creatures in Harry Potter.

There are quite a few mythical creatures featured within the Harry Potter series. From Hippogriffs to a Phoenix, the series has it all. 

For an in-depth list, author JK Rowling wrote the book Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them. This book is usually sold paired with Quidditch Through the Ages, and is well worth buying.

7 Moral and Philosophical reading of Harry Potter

7 Moral and Philosophical reading of Harry Potter

What is the meaning of life? It’s an age-old question theorized in a place one may not expect: within the pages of Harry Potter. A perspective on love and death are major themes in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books. The popular book series urges us to accept our mortality so we can fully experience human virtues, particularly the virtue of love.

Every individual has a choice to accept or deny their mortality. This choice is exhibited through the actions of the main protagonists, Harry and Voldemort. The two had a very similar upbringings, both were brought up as orphans cut off from the wizarding world; both were poorly treated by their guardians and made out to be outcast by societal standards; both went to Hogwarts hoping to find a new and real place to call home; both find happiness at Hogwarts; both are intelligent and gifted wizards.

They were so similar that Harry feared he would become too much like Voldemort, who is portrayed as the evil villain within the world of wizardry.

The two had such similar upbringings yet are vastly different moral characters. They are ultimately in perfect moral contrast.

Understanding Choice

But let’s look at the conception of choice. More specifically how choices and actions define our moral character. Not social roles, wealth, ancestry — those don’t add anything to our moral character. They don’t make us more morally worthy. No, a choice is how we demonstrate who we really are. Choice and action are how we express our moral worth.

Take the choices made by Tom Riddle, aka Voldemort. During his youth, he makes decisions that ultimately leads him to become a dark wizard that the wizarding world comes to fear. Tom chooses to vent his anger and frustration at the world with vexation. He points this anger towards others.

Like Harry, Dumbledore plays the role of mentor to Tom. He tries to lead him in the right direction. Having him go to Hogwarts — pushing him towards a life of virtue instead of violence and hate. At first, Tom seemed to be going down the right path. He was a successful student, winning awards, and leadership positions — on the road to becoming a successful wizard. Yet, he finds himself down the path of dark magic, destroying anyone in his way to power. Why?

What ultimately marks the tipping point, the difference that draws one to a virtuous life and the other to wickedness?

Accepting Death

The contrast between Harry and Voldemort boils down to the different response both have in the face of the inevitable destiny for all of us: death. The choice to accept or deny death.

See, Voldemort doesn’t trust anyone, he doesn’t love anyone, his only real desire seems to be finding immortality. Once we understand his refusal to accept is inevitable death, we can then follow his path towards evil.

He’s obsessed with death. He sees death as a human weakness — something to be overcome by a mighty wizard. Something that nobody has been able to overcome — even powerful wizards. We see his obsession when he wants the Sorcerer’s stone for bringing him back to life and learning about the splitting of his soul in the Horcruxes.

Voldemort sees magic as a mere means to avoid death.

We learn that to succeed at becoming immortal, the splitting of the soul in the Horcruxes, you must commit a cruel act: murder. This symbolizes that to become immortal, you must lose your humanity, by doing the most inhumane thing: killing your fellow human.

The tragedy is in what Voldemort’s choice ultimately does to him. He sacrifices his humanity. In that sacrifice is his ability to love. For what? A chance at eternal existence. Empty everlasting life. Only to be feared, and never to be loved.

See, the entire serious is demonstrating the importance of accepting our ultimate death. Embrace it. Its part of life and leads to the ability to find the joys of life. Once we embrace our inevitable death — accept the finite time we have — we can then begin to experience life, recognize the importance of our choices and actions.

Without recognizing death, you can’t comprehend the meaning of life. Considering the most fundamental truth of our human condition is we are alive, and death is inevitable. This is a fundamental truth. This basic truth sets up the foundational understanding of morality. How our actions and choices relate to our knowledge of the finite time we live here.

Once we understand this truth, we can begin to understand the importance of our choices and their relation to life’s meaning. We recognize that we don’t have eternity, this gives meaning and urgency to our choices. We begin to realize that our decisions have consequences for ourselves and others — and the ability to understand how those choices affect those we love.

You see, we recognize that Voldemort does not love. He cares for himself and only himself. His denial of mortality leads him to deny any reason for love. Our mortality gives us a reason to love.

Love acts as a spark that provides that connection between two individuals. The understanding of our impending demise motivates us to seek out relationships with other individuals to share in the time we have here in the universe. Us mortal beings see relationships as essential to forming those life experiences while we still can.

Voldemort lacks the motivation to pursue those relationships and understand love because he doesn’t understand the concept of death itself.

History and Symbolism

Aristotle helps make this connection with his idea of friendship. Where a perfect friend is like a second self for Aristotle. For him, friendship is only possible between two virtuous people. Where you understand your own good, and you see that goodness in others — like a reflection. That’s how you experience goodness and virtue: with your fellow human being.

As Aristotle said: “in order to love, one must accept who one is” by rejecting death you are denying the reality of the existence of life and love. Voldemort looks at love and understands that by accepting the love he’s accepting death — a fundamental truth he’s unwilling to accept.

You see, with friendship — a good loving friendship — that reflection of virtue can help provide moral guidance and improvement.

We see this symbolized in the bible when Jesus experiences the death of his friend Lazarus, as a regular mortal being Jesus weeps his death. He experiences grief, sadness, the feeling of a lost loved one like you or I would — like a mere mortal.

But Jesus then raises his friend from the dead. You might be thinking doesn’t this contradict, in that Jesus himself is denying death. Well, I’m using a story example for its symbolism here. That symbolism is that love is more powerful than death. Love is the crucial point. You see, what do we need more than anything in life? To be loved. Without it, we feel empty.

We even see this in ancient mythology. The Gods, the immortal beings, were often childish and petty. They were often jealous of humans. You see humans have the conscious ability to know their own morality — comprehend that mortality — something immortal gods could never understand. With this knowledge came an understanding of love and kindness. Something the ancient Gods failed to follow because they could not understand death.

6 The theme of Love and Death Harry Potter

6 The theme of Love and Death Harry Potter.

This article focusses on the key theme’s of love, death and friendship in Harry Potter, mainly focussing on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows however it can be used as an overview for the whole series of books. In introducing the article Killinger states:

“After thousands of pages of harry Potter’s story, it is clear now that this has been J. K. Rowling’s theme from the beginning: love, friendship, sacrifice, and eventually life. For it is life that springs out of harry’s gift of him- self: the life of self-sacrifice, the life that defeats death, the life of ongoing friendship.”

Showing that the main aim of this article by John Killinger is the sacrifice of Harry himself and how this reflects on life and defeating death.  Killinger looks at these themes in the Harry Potter series from a Christian perspective as he is an Executive Minister as well as a Theologian at the Marble Collegiate Church in New York. However the article itself is rather informal as Killinger opens the article by saying “Friends. Amigos. Chums. Companions. Mates. Buddies.” If this article was written for educational purposes and for the use of scholars at the Marble Collegiate Church, terms such as “chums” and “buddies” wouldn’t be used to address the readership. The use of these informal terms would suggest that the article was written with a more informal purpose, possibly to inform those attending the Church of the connections between Christianity and Harry Potter, therefore making Christianity more accessible to those of a younger generation.

Killinger then reinforces his belief that the Harry Potter books relate greatly to the sacrifice of Christ by comparing quotes and scenes from the children’s books to those of events in the Bible. For example the article displays how Harry Potter is ‘the chosen one’, Killinger states:

“If there was any doubt about Harry’s being created in the image of Christ, it is surely dispelled in The DeaThly hallows volume, where he is repeatedly called ‘the Chosen one’.”

The article also uses references to Jesus’ disciples via Ron Weasley, Hermione Grainger and Neville Longbottom. Killinger also likens Dumbledore and Professor McCongial to God and Sophia, God’s female counterpart. However for my research the most relevant part of the article occurs when Killinger suggests:

“Harry would eventually die like Christ. And indeed, in the final novel, he does. He dies voluntarily, as Christ did, literally presenting himself to Voldemort for execution. And then, as Christ did, he returns from death, this time to deal a mortal blow to the prince of darkness himself.”

Here is where Killinger makes his article relevant to the theme which I am researching, the theme of death. It is stated that Harry’s death at the end of the series is based upon the sacrifice Jesus made in order to save his friends, and the rest of humanity from sin. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Harry presents himself to Voldemort as a sacrifice in order to save his friends, students and teachers of Hogwarts and once again the rest of humanity from the dark ways of Voldemort. Death becomes the ultimate sacrifice.

The audience of this article is clearly Christians and those interested in how Christianity is relatable to contemporary art such as literature. However the easy access to the writing makes it accessible to anyone interested in the links between Harry Potter and the sacrifice, as I found this piece of writing by searching “Harry Potter and the theme of death”. No academic login or identification is required, therefore making the audience to be anyone who is interested, however, as said earlier, I do believe the main readership would be those who are interested in Christianity.

I believe this article to be useful during my research into how the theme of death is represented in the Potter books, as said before many links are made between scripture and the series of books. However in comparison to a literary criticism it is not as useful, no theories or theorists are explored in relation to Harry Potter and Christianity/the theme of death. Although outside of literary criticism this article could help the Christian readership deal with the idea that death is inevitable and that the main focusses in life, and the main focusses in the Harry Potter series, are those of love, life and friendship.

5 The theme of Choice and Chance Harry Potter

5 The theme of Choice and Chance Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter series is esteemed and loved for many reasons: the rich fantasy world, the beloved characters, the humor, the suspense-driven plots, the meaningful choices... and the way the plot fits together like a tightly constructed jigsaw puzzle. The endings of the Harry Potter novels are filled with "oh, yeah!" moments in which everything suddenly fits together in new and unexpected ways: the revelation of Tom Riddle as Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the unmasking of Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,and the true identity of the Prince in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. At the end of each Potter novel a final resolution is reached and the loose ends are neatly tied up.

Except in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Deathly Hallows includes a full resolution for many issues, and Rowling's post-publication interviews provided closure for more details, for example with the very welcome (to me) news that Dolores Umbridge was finally made to pay for her crimes.However, the climax of the Deathly Hallows ’ the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort ’ seems to leave several loose ends and ambiguities.

The climax of Deathly Hallows occurs when Harry sets off to sacrifice himself and allows Voldemort to hit him with the Killing Curse. The Horcrux within Harry is destroyed, Harry survives through his blood connection with Voldemort, and Voldemort's power is broken as a result.

This is the way I read it, but it leaves many unanswered questions. What exactly is the role of Harry's final sacrifice, and how did it defeat Voldemort in the end? Is the outcome the result of Harry's choice, or is it due to the chance acquisition of the Elder Wand? Harry's self-sacrifice seems to be the critical point at which Voldemort's power is broken, but the story of the Elder Wand points towards a resolution in which the outcome is determined mainly by chance. The following is an attempt to identify the loose ends in this, the most important final piece of the Harry Potter puzzle, and give my view that choice, not chance determines the outcome. Perhaps Rowling will provide help at some future date!

The question of choice versus chance runs throughout the Harry Potter series. The question appears first at the end of Chamber of Secrets, when Riddle/Voldemort tells Harry that "it was merely a lucky chance that saved you" after he is told that Lily's sacrifice was the reason he had not been able to kill baby Harry. Dumbledore subsequently tells Harry that "it is our choices [¦] that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."  Throughout the series, Voldemort continues to insist on chance as the cause of his downfall, right up to the bitter end. Dumbledore, by contrast, insists on the importance of personal choice in determining outcomes, rather than either chance or fate. Rowling has said that Dumbledore often speaks for her (and Voldemort certainly does not), so it seems that she would also believe in choice rather than chance. Although Harry Potter is a magical world in which fate (such as the house assignments made by a magical hat) at first appears to be dominant, Rowling is clear that hers is not a fate-dominated world. Professor Trelawney, the bumbling Divination teacher, almost always gets it wrong, and even though the world of Harry Potter contains magical prophecies, the prophecies come true only because people choose to act on them. Even the magical hat takes people's choices into account, as Harry reminds his son in the epilogue. Rowling herself has written that she does not believe in fate, but in "hard work and luck, and that the first often leads to the second."  Not fate, then ’ but is the outcome due to choice or chance in the end?

In piecing together the puzzle that is the conclusion of the series, it is first necessary to consider the history of the Elder Wand. The story of the Elder Wand (which is critical to Voldemort's downfall) provides the type of tightly-fitting resolution in which everything is explained. The Elder Wand is a uniquely powerful wand, but its special powers are only available to its true owner. For all others it is just a wand like any other. The Wand recognizes as its true owner only the one who has conquered its previous owner. Many Dark wizards have thought that it is necessary to kill the previous owner to gain the Elder Wand, but this is apparently not correct: Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy and Harryall gained true possession of the Wand without killing the previous owner. According to legend, the past owners of the invincible Elder Wand met their downfall because they boasted about the Wand and thus attracted attention to it.Gregorovich made this mistake, leading Grindelwald to steal the Wand and defeat Gregorovich in the process. Dumbledore then gained the Wand by defeating Grindelwald.

Dumbledore was clever enough to keep his ownership of the Elder Wand secret and planned to die undefeated, so that the Wand would have no master and would no longer confer such deadly power upon an owner. Unfortunately, that "did not work as [he] intended."  Voldemort eventually found out that Dumbledore had the Elder Wand, and naturally thought that Snape, Dumbledore's killer, had become its master. However, Snape's murder of Dumbledore was arranged by Dumbledore and represented no defeat. In fact, it was Draco Malfoy ’ who had earlier disarmed Dumbledore ’ who had become the Wand's owner, though he never knew it and never actually possessed the Wand. Then, because Harry accidentally defeated Draco, Harry became the Wand's master. This lead to Voldemort's final downfall: Voldemort used the Elder Wand against Harry and was killed by the backfire of the spell as "Harry [¦] saw the Elder Wand fly high [¦] spinning through the air towards the master it would not kill." 

Voldemort's mistake in thinking that Snape rather than Draco was the master of the Wand may have been a mental lapse (overlooking Draco's disarming of Dumbledore), or it may have followed from Voldemort's Dark thinking that the Wand only recognizes the one who killed its previous owner. Even if he had known about Draco, it would not have mattered: Harry had already disarmed Draco when Voldemort found the Wand. Thus, in the end, the ownership of the Elder Wand was determined when Harry accidentally snatched Draco's wand out of his hands.

4 The discourse of Power and Politics in Harry Potter

4 The discourse of Power and Politics in Harry Potter

We take it for granted that if the State does something to harm our interests that we can often appeal against that decision somehow, whether to the department involved or to the courts.

State censorship & freedom of speechWe assume that we can vote for our representative in the national Parliament, that any time we are accused of a crime that the State will give us a fair hearing and that if we are found guilty the punishment will be reasonable. This is the norm across most of the world now, but it is not unfortunately the position for someone we all know very well. In JK Rowling’s famous books, the Ministry of Magic has an incredible amount of power with very few ways of ensuring it is used properly. This lack of control on the Ministry is arguably what makes it so easy to infiltrate and take over without the wizarding community realising or having an opportunity to protest, but is also a problem much earlier in the Harry Potter series. It is a good study in how not to organise a state, and it’s through using examples from the series that we can really begin to understand how important it is that executive and legislative power is controlled by and accountable to the people, and that there are limits on what power it can have over us.

““All right, Fudge is leaning on the Prophet…””

Rita Skeeter’s means of getting information would surely have been condemned by the Leveson Report.

The First Amendment of the USA, the Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, Article 10 of the UK’s Human Rights Act, Article 5 of the German Basic Law… there’s hardly a constitution, human rights Act or international agreement on human rights that doesn’t fiercely protect freedom of expression. The ability to contribute to debate in society is the foundation of democracy, and protecting everybody’s right to publish their views is the surest way to make sure that the voices of minorities are heard. Obviously most states put some limits on this freedom for reasons of state security or to prevent the encouragement of crimes, but these limits are strictly monitored by constitutional or international courts – and of course the people. And political expression is the most heavily protected of all, since it is so incredibly important for democracy and for being able to criticise the government. It is actually impossible to bring any type of claim in the UK against somebody for something they said in Parliament, because the courts refuse to question anything said there.

The Quibbler appears to be the Daily Prophet’s only real competition.

Contrast the Daily Prophet. For one, it seems to be the only newspaper anybody takes seriously, at least to begin with. This is a real problem for different political views being represented in the wizarding world and for ensuring there is proper scrutiny of government. Secondly, it seems to be under significant control from the Ministry of Magic throughout much of the books, especially when many wizards – including Fudge – doubt the truth of Harry and Dumbledore’s story that Voldemort has returned and are determined to ignore the signs that he is back. It makes publicly contradicting the Ministry very difficult if the one well-known paper is being censored – Harry is in fact only left with the Quibbler, which is then immediately banned from Hogwarts. There aren’t any of the protections of free speech we would expect from our own governments.

We see undue interference with Hogwarts too, during Umbridge’s time as High Inquisitor at Hogwarts. Of course the State has to ensure that the education of its young people is up to scratch, but it doesn’t justify many of the Educational Decrees passed that year- or the refusal to teach Harry and his fellow students how to combat Dark Magic. The UK might be worried about the government giving too much autonomy to free schools, but too much control is just as much of a problem.

Democracy & Accountability

Almost everyone in the wizarding world, and most of JK Rowling’s readers, agree that Dumbledore would have made an infinitely better Minister for Magic than Cornelius Fudge. After the mistake of appointing Fudge, you would hope that choosing the new Minister would be done carefully and by at least consulting the wizarding community – after all, Voldemort is back. And yet we are simply introduced to Scrimgeour, and equally to Thicknesse when Voldemort manages to infiltrate the Ministry. As there had never been an open election or even discussion about a new Minister it’s easy enough for Thicknesse simply to be presented as the new Minister without anyone daring to speak out.

Even Arthur Weasley, presented as a thoroughly moral character, uses his position in government to further his own ends. Film still from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (C. Columbus, 2002).

It’s this way in which the Ministry simply decides what it is going to do in near secrecy and then presents it to the people which makes it so easy for things to go wrong very quickly. There seem to be enough Muggle-born wizards and witches that the Muggle-Born Registration Committee would not have come into place so very easily if there had been a way to oppose or block the initiative publicly (remember, Voldemort is trying not to draw attention to the fact that he is running the Ministry so he does everything within the Ministry’s usual powers). Without a Parliament, which must approve legislation and can ask the Minister how his policies are working, it’s much harder to stop abhorrent policies being introduced. And without political parties, which can argue about new policies, even the simplest decision is out of the hands of the people – who’s to say that the wizarding population wouldn’t like Ali Bashir to be able to sell flying carpets in the UK? Instead legislation is left to the Ministry, and even individual members of specific Departments. We know Arthur Weasley wrote the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Act, because he put in a loophole specifically designed to allow him to perform magic on his Ford Anglia.

Just as worrying is the complete secrecy surrounding the Department of Mysteries. Whatever we might think our governments wrongly keep secret in the name of national security, it doesn’t involve prophecies about us that we don’t have the right to see, instruments which can turn back time and brains in jars (hopefully!).

And of course, any discussion of accountability in the wizarding world has to take note of Lucius Malfoy’s influence over the Ministry – from Buckbeak’s trial to being given prime Quidditch World Cup tickets as a thank you for a charitable donation.  We have so many worries about lobbyists, political donations and those with a direct line to the President’s/ Prime Minister’s office in the real world that it shouldn’t be surprising that a Ministry with much less accountability has the same problems, but it is concerning all the same.

Due process

“‘Oh, so that’s why he wasn’t prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets! What an interesting insight into our justice system!’”

The Wizengamot is deeply corrupt. Film still from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (D. Yates, 2007).

When the government makes a mistake or acts illegally, the first point of call is the courts. And we also depend upon the courts to dispense criminal justice fairly and consistently. In a significant part of the world at least, we know we can depend upon the impartiality of the courts in enforcing the law against both us and the government. And yet in Harry Potter’s world we see that even if there is a judiciary – the Wizengamot – the proceedings are presided over by the Minister for Magic. This violates the hallowed principle of the separation of powers – that the three branches of the State (judiciary, legislature, executive) should have separate roles and be able to hold one another to account.

We also see instances where ‘justice’ isn’t exactly consistent. Harry receives a warning letter for a spell being performed by Dobby in the Dursleys’ house, is not even told off for blowing up his aunt and is temporarily expelled for performing defensive magic. We also see inconsistent law enforcement when Willy Widdershins escapes prosecution for turning in the DA. Whilst we might allow plea bargains with gang members in the real world, and so Karkaroff’s release makes some sense, turning spy for the Ministry on a completely different issue is somewhat different and much less justified because it’s irrelevant to his crime.