Deathly Hallows' Ending
JK Rowling's Dramatic Conclusion to Final Harry Potter Novel
J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" provides a crowd-pleasing but unconvincing conclusion to her innovative series.
J. K. Rowling has enthralled kids and adults for ten years with her 7-part Harry Potter series, leading to the final battle with Voldemort. The escalating drama took on a life of its own outside her books as people worldwide speculated how the story would end. Would Harry Potter die? Would Ron and Hermione marry? These questions and more were answered last month, with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
The book lived up to the adventure of previous installments but the end was disappointingly predictable. Rowling played it safe by imagining a conclusion that would make almost everyone happy. If you had a hunch, it probably came true. (Stop here to avoid a spoiler) Do Ron and Hermione marry? Yes. Do we still have to guess about the true allegiance of Snape? Yes. Does Harry die? Yes. Does Harry survive? Yes. Do the heroes tritely live happily ever after? Yes.
Rowling crams Harry's death, survival and happily-ever-after into the last seventy pages by means of a loophole. Harry learns that he is the seventh and final horcrux, that a bit of Voldemort's soul exists within him and that Voldemort cannot be killed while he is still alive. Readers follow Harry as he marches up to Voldemort and sacrifices his life to save the world. This dramatic death is quite appropriate after ten years of suspense. What follows is not.
Of course, Rowling couldn't let her hero really die - too many fans would be angry. So she brings in Dumbledore, who always had a knack for explaining the bigger picture, to explain the loophole that brings Harry back to life. In the afterlife, Dumbledore clarifies that Harry has not been killed, just the part of Voldemort's soul that resided within Harry. How convenient. Harry returns to life to defeat Voldemort, celebrate victory, marry Ginny and one day send his own children off to Hogwarts.
It is the author's decision to let the protagonist live or die, but Rowling's decision to have both put her in a tight spot. By neatly tying everything up with a loophole, readers are denied the satisfaction of seeing their hero win through his own merit. In the final moment of triumph, Harry is still being led by his elders when he should come into his own. Many of Harry's final actions are admirable but when it comes down to it, the author (through Dumbledore) intervened to get him off on a technicality.
It is disappointing that J. K. Rowling, an incredibly innovative writer, could not come up with a better solution. With her first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Rowling invented a unique world that nobody before had dreamed of but a massive audience identified with. This high standard must have been very challenging to maintain. While the final installment may not measure up to her first creative achievement, it is a conclusion that most readers will be satisfied with.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books, Scholastic, 2007. ISBN 978-0-545-01022-1. US $34.99.
You can read a lot more about Harry Potter on Suite101. For a start, try Harry Potter Books & Life Lessons and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
