Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

WARNING. HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS SPOILER BELOW. ONLY READ ON IF YOU DONT CARE.

Well people, I've just finished reading the final instalment of the Harry Potter series. =) I am so happy and so proud haha...in fact...when I closed the book some minutes ago, I thought, "Ahh what a great book. Nice touch to the ending =p though if I may be allowed to say so, I have guessed some of the endings and am well pleased to discover that I am right!

At the airport last saturday, on my way to the train station after fellowship with Rena, Mich, Su Ying and APPLE, I was holding on to the book, reading as I went (The other four already left by cab, leaving me to serene silence and peace so as to allow my eyes to tear through the book).

As I walked, I remembered how unexcited I was...how it was almost boring...how I had already stopped anticipating the arrival of the final book because my brain got fried getting too excited about it in the past. It was so normal...so mundane as I waited for the book to come...I actually forgot all about it, which is weird considering that I was once a hardcore harry potter fan and interestingly, a fan of Emma Watson...but that is another story for another day =P

As my eyes groped the book for words, for the story that my soul suddenly became hungry for, I knew that I could not read fast enough. The fire of Harry Potter rose in me again as I read about familiar characters, spells, locations, dark plans and of course, the scent of oncoming war. I have no idea why...but tales of war and battle always seemed to spark excitement in me.

As I read on, walking at the airport, feeling the chilly air grip me, I could only bow down and salute J.K. Rowling, by far one of the greatest authors I know. Why do I respect her? She is the ONLY author by far, who has been able to write books that keep me captivated, keep me going on...never a dull moment, always magical...and as I read...I felt as if I was Harry Potter himself, on the quest against the Dark Lord.

Even as I read it in the silence of the night, I could feel the chill from the evil wafting out of the sinister plot and could almost imagine the Dark Lord Voldemort looking at me through my bedroom window, flying, wand lifted for the killing curse and the fading sound of his cackle.

Even as I read on, I found it tightly linked to Christianity, having spotted many of the values that the book portrayed.

I loved the themes it played on, especially those of love, trust, hate, anger, bitterness, agony, boldness, power, betrayal, lust and the traditional light versus dark.

Voldemort was a representative of satan himself. And in the book...Voldemort was one who could not love, who felt no love or remorse. All he ever wanted was power and would sacrifice anyone and anything to have it.

Power blinds. In his quest for strength, he had lost purpose and the values of life. The saddest thing one can ever experience...is not being able to experience love. Which is why I remember pastor kong ever saying that the devil is jealous of our souls, for only those with souls can feel love and give love. I am of course not simply referring to boy-girl love, but all love...even love for animals, family, friends and even people that you don't know....

Voldemort had forgotten so many things...he had so much knowledge of dark magic, power was his and he could kill at will. He laughed at the deaths of others, at the love people had for one another.

But true love, friends, was a power so great in itself, so pure, so holy that even the dark taint cannot bear to touch it. Hatred does not overcome love but love overcomes hatred. True love endures forever. Voldemort saw all creatures beneath himself, choosing only the greatest wizards to remain by his side. Yet in his campaign, neglecting the magical creatures like centaurs and house elves was his biggest mistake as they had power beyond what he could see.

I would say...despise no one and despise nothing. Everything, everyone has a powerful quality, a special gift...and it may not be one that is visible. I do not speak as one who self claims himself saintly and noble...I too find it hard not to look down on others at times. Underestimation is always great folly as is overestimation.

In this book also, says alot about motives. What is your motive in doing something that you want to do? The book showed that covetousness for greed brings death while sacrificial covetousness for the safety of others brought life.

Harry and Dumbledore both sought the Ressurection Stone. But only Harry could muster it for Dumbledore secretly sought power...the power of undeath but Harry, he sought the stone to save the entire wizarding community.

There was a particular scene which disturbed me...Harry, Ron and Hermione were caught and imprisoned by the dark wizards and Hermione was taken up, tortured and questioned as Harry and Ron listened from the jail bars. They were thrashing the bars trying to get out and save her...I could feel their desperation...feel the pain that was shooting through them...

Haha...maybe I have grown to love Hermione after all this time. But probably, my heart ached more to know that a girl was being tortured. She was afterwards handed over to a werewolf who wanted to bite her, which I believe symbolises rape since he had been lusting for her flesh ever since they were captured. But no one would want to write about rape in a supposed children's story book would they? Fortunately she was saved.

But the incident caught my heart and wrung it...feeling the pain if you knew that...as the guy you had responsibility to protect the girl...yet she is being tortured while you are behind bars...and all you can hear are her screams...I think if I was Harry or Ron, probably would have fainted, or my heart exploded lols.

The feeling of helplessness...knowing that all you can do is sit and wait and cry while your beloved friend or family member is being terribly mistreated. Nightmare.

Incidentally...I think helplessness...and the inability to protect and guard the girl I love...is a great fear of mine. And I look around..and sometimes am very puzzled, wondering why girls are being mistreated, bullied and treated harshly by brothers, husbands, boyfriends, or other guys. I thought that girls were created for guys to cherish and adore =P and well...as a guy I would say that girls are very adorable hahaha and do not deserve to be treated that badly. Well...forgive my biaseness =P

P.S. To all guys out there, yes I know, not all girls are adorable =P but most of them are? haha

After such a long narration and hoping that no one reading this will fall asleep, I end here, at the close.

I open at the close ;)

I would like to end by saluting J.K. Rowling, for a well produced series of magical, reader-captivating books. The journey with Harry Potter has sadly come to an end at last. I will miss him and all the wonderful characters of the wizarding world that has helped to give colour and light into my life.

Praise the Lord for such a wondrous piece of masterful literature!

Oh and by the way...the Harry Potter Cinemas and Movies sux. I feel quite alot for the books...because the movies...especially the 4th and probably the 5th as well are an INSULT, I repeat, an INSULT to the books!!!!

The movies have failed to capture the magical essence of the plot and turned a masterpiece into a PRODUCT produced and sold for immense PROFIT.

I only watch the movies because I wish to see how it turns out...it can be interesting to see the director's point of view...but in the end they cut out too much of it for the movie to be successful. Many people go there only because its such a craze and they just follow the crowd. Others go to drool over Daniel and Emma.

There is no way, if I had watched the movie first, believe that the books are fantastic.

=) Peace to you all. HAHAHA

Posted by The Inflamed at 9:58 PM