Very interesting article today on MSNBC.com. The writer discusses the looming possibility of young Potters death. I will for a moment drop my head and admit to you that I am Harry Potter fan. Big fan in fact, so no, I'll raise my head up high when I say that. I know there are a lot of folks who think the books and films are a complete waste of time, but I find them to be a great way to escape for two hours.
In fact, I think the Harry Potter series is about the only thing kids have going for them now when it comes to the big screen. Like Star Wars for me, I can imagine what it must feel like to be a kid in the movie theatre watching what happens at Hogwarts. And funny enough, as a full fledged adult with all the crap that comes along with it, I get a bit of that feeling back when watching Harry Potter movies.
But the series will be coming to an end soon and many are speculating on wether Rowling will kill our hero off or not. My best guess would be no. Harry is the vehicle to teach kids how to overcome obstacles. To reach in and find that inner strength to carry you through and overcome adversity. Because of the dark nature of Rowlings handling of characters and death, it's easy to think such a progressive children's writer would be bold enough to finalize with Harry's demise. I could wrong here but I just don't see it. For me that would also work to kill the dream for millions of children who are learning valuable lessons from young Mr. Potter.
---MSNBC) Brace yourselves, Harry Potter fans. No matter how desperate you are for Harry to live, some experts in classic literature and mythology say that finishing off the young wizard would make sense — in a literary kind of way.
J.K. Rowling has never shied from darkness in her phenomenally successful series — it started with the murder of Harry’s parents, continued through his discovery that an evil wizard was trying to destroy him, and has included pain and torture and the deaths of major characters.
She’s already promised two deaths in the seventh and final book, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” coming out July 21, and has refused to commit to Harry surviving. But she couldn’t kill Harry off, could she? She wouldn’t do that, would she?
“If you look at the tradition of the epic hero ... there is this sort of pattern that the hero delivers people to the promised land but does not see it himself,” said Lana Whited, professor of English at Ferrum College in Ferrum , Va., pointing out examples from King Arthur to Moses to Frodo.
Greek mythology has plenty of examples, like Hercules, who was killed at the height of his strength, said Mary Lefkowitz, a retired classics professor who taught at Wellesley College in Massachusetts.
“There’s no long promise of happiness,” she said. “You may have brief moments of glory and then the darkness comes.”
And don’t be fooled into thinking a happy ending is automatic just because the main characters are young, said Anne Collins Smith, assistant professor of philosophy and classical studies at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Continue
“Just because it’s children’s literature doesn’t mean it can’t have very dark events in it,” she said.
The story that will not die has moved on to another chapter. A literary agent for the Goldman family has announced that they will repackage and release O.J Simpsons memiors, I mean non fiction, I mean fictional....O.J. book “If I Did It”.
