Final Post 2 - Harry Potter and Good vs. Evil

        Throughout the Harry Potter series, the idea of good versus evil is a main theme throughout.  Right from the beginning with the killing of Harry's parents, James and Lily Potter by the evil Lord Voldemort, the cloud of evil following Harry Potter is apparent.  In fact, some characters in Harry Potter could be viewed as representations of the characters in the Christian Bible.  Harry, for example, could be viewed as the "Jesus" of the series.  He is the "savior", or the "boy who lived" for all of the people in the wizard community.  He brings them hope, because even though Voldemort was able to kill many skilled wizards and witches, he was unable to kill an innocent baby boy.  Although Harry could breeze by just being "the boy who lived" he didn't.  Throughout the books Harry proves time and time again that he is not comfortable with being so famous and he does things to help people and fight Voldemort to protect the ones he loves, and not for the glory and fame.  Also, in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry is resurrected in a way when Voldemort "kills" him and he is given the choice by Dumbledore whether to live or die. 

          The reason, we find out, that Voldemort could not kill Harry during their second to last encounter is because long ago when Voldemort killed James and Lily Potter and tried to kill Harry, he could not and a horcrux was placed in Harry accidentally.  When Harry comes back, he kills Voldemort with a simple spell, proving that good will always prevail over evil.  Voldemort, would obviously be the "devil" figure in the series.  Once a good student, like the devil was once a good angel, Voldemort, or Tom Riddle as he was known back then grew power hungry and unsatisfied by normal spells.  He wanted to live forever and in order to do so he created horcruxes, which contained broken pieces of his soul so that if one part of him died, another would be living elsewhere.  Throughout the series, he tempts Harry, just as the devil tempted Jesus time and time again.


          Aristotle used a term known as perfectionism, which is the belief that virtue consists of realization of potentials unique to humanity such as the use of reason.  This is relevant because Harry is constantly realizing his potential and performing virtuous acts to help "humanity" or more specifically the wizarding community.  He puts himself into dangerous situations, not to get the glory of prevailing, but for the good of the wizarding world.  Plato's view is that goodness is part of an eternal realm of ideas or forms and that it is the greatest one of all.  I think that everyone can find something good in Harry Potter, and that Harry can give you hope, too.  For me, personally, he will always be "the boy who lived."