The Meaning of the Phoenix: Love's Victory over Death in Harry Potter
I posted this at my blog looking for critical response, and my critical readers didn't show up! I'm looking to expand and improve on this essay. I'd love to hear your responses.
From The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the question of death has been explored in the pages of literature, not least in mythological works. There is hardly a more universal human experience than death, and its chilling finality has caused fear in not a few hearts and minds. J.K. Rowling has said that death is “possibly the most important theme” in the books (Rowling, “Harry Potter and Me”). So what does she want us to learn about death?
That this theme is central to the books can be seen in the multitude of plot twists, words of wisdom, and symbols, not the least of which is the phoenix, that speak directly to the issue of death. Ultimately, Rowling wants to teach us that a life lived out of sacrificial love makes death not something to be feared, but “the next great adventure” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297).
Working primarily in mythological categories, I intend to investigate how Rowling teaches this theme. We will begin by exploring the symbol of the phoenix and how it relates to the theme of death. All of the subsequent content will be linked to this central symbol. We will then hear various “perspectives on death” from the series’ three most prominent archetypes: the wise old man (Dumbledore), the shadow (Voldemort) and the hero (Harry Potter). I will then argue that Harry progresses through a figurative death and resurrection cycle in each book, teaching him, in effect, to live and die well. After exploring the first five books along the lines of this figurative death/resurrection motif, I will conclude with Half-Blood Prince, since it serves to springboard us into the final book and is so incredibly significant, being the real rising point of Harry’s status as hero.
The phoenix has been a powerful literary and religious symbol for thousands of years. Originally a crimson and gold bird of ancient mythologies of Egypt and Greece, the phoenix lived for 500 (or 1461) years, and as its death approached, it built itself a “nest of aromatic wood,” set a fire, and “was consumed by the flames” (Lindermans). Out of the ashes, a new phoenix would rise, becoming a potent symbol of “immortality, resurrection, and life after death” (Linderman).
As such, it achieved some prominence as a religious symbol. “Judaic lore mentions that the phoenix achieved its unique status as an immortal bird because it refrained from bothering the overburdened Noah during the Flood voyage” (Linderman). As early as 96 A.D., the Christian bishop Clement employed the phoenix as a Christ symbol, calling it a “remarkable token” of Jesus’ resurrection as well as a future resurrection day (Clement 55). Subsequent Christian leaders followed this example, and by the Middle Ages the phoenix was referred to as a “resurrection bird” and “was used in heraldic devices and shields to represent the bearer’s hope of eternal life in Christ” (Granger 94).
Alice Mills, who notices the Christ symbolism, explains for us the mythical significance of the phoenix as it relates to other symbols utilized by Rowling, such as unicorn blood (also a Christ symbol) and the three-headed dog:
All of these mythic figures…are linked to the human longing to transcend time and death, whether by descending to the underworld and returning unscathed, or by magically gaining eternal life through the use of a talisman, or by being resurrected from the dead (Mills 4).
Since the symbol of the phoenix does relate quite powerfully to the theme of death, we see its frequent use in the Harry Potter novels. As we continue through the rest of the argument, we shall see how the phoenix illustrates and reinforces Rowling’s theme of love’s victory over death.
Dumbledore clearly fits the “wise old man” archetype for the Harry Potter series, and his guidance on the question of death is perhaps his most significant contribution to Harry’s development. His conversation with Harry at the end of Sorcerer’s Stone about death being “the next great adventure” to “the well-organized mind” is a set up for his words of wisdom throughout the rest of the series (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297).
Before progressing to these words, however, we do well to consider his connection to the phoenix. Fawkes the phoenix is Dumbledore’s pet, whose home is in his office and whom Harry unfortunately first met on a burning day (Rowling, Chamber 207). In this scene, Dumbledore describes the phoenix to Harry, and Rowling puts specific emphasis on the phoenix’s nature as a “faithful pet” (207, emphasis in original). This is an extremely important word, as we will see when considering Harry’s relationship to Dumbledore and Fawkes later on.
The denouement of Goblet of Fire provides us with an intriguing scene that illustrates the connection between Dumbledore, Fawkes, and the theme of death. Rowling has explained that it was at Cedric’s death that Harry “really [felt] what death means” for the first time (Rowling, “F.A.Q.”). Upon entering Dumbledore’s office after the tragedy of the third task, it seems as though Fawkes recognizes the pain of death that Harry feels, because Fawkes immediately “left his perch, [flew] across the room, and landed on Harry’s knee” (Rowling, Goblet 694). Harry absolutely does not want to talk about it, but Dumbledore presses him:
If I thought I could help you…by putting you into an enchanted sleep for a while…I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it (695).
As Harry realizes that he would have to tell the whole story of Cedric’s death right then and there, the interplay between Dumbledore and Fawkes continues: Fawkes “let out one soft, quavering note” that warms and strengthens Harry for the story he is about to tell (695). With the combination of Dumbledore’s wise words and Fawkes’s song, Harry learns how to begin to grieve Cedric’s death not by pushing it down, but by speaking and letting it all out. Though it is painful, it is simultaneously a “relief” for Harry to relive the night’s awful events (695).
In Half-Blood Prince, we learn that the connection between Dumbledore and Fawkes is so strong that when Dumbledore dies, Fawkes sings a very long lament and then “[leaves] Hogwarts for good,” just as his master had (Rowling, Half-Blood 632). When Dumbledore’s white tomb had burst into flames, Harry “thought…he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue” (645). It seems quite obvious that the Dumbledore/Fawkes connection is a primary vehicle for what Rowling wants to teach about death; we will see below how Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore connects him to the phoenix.
The Dumbledore/phoenix connection symbolizes resurrection and victory over death, but it is Dumbledore’s teaching that explains it. There is much that Dumbledore teaches Harry about death. Harry learns that death is not the worst thing that can befall a person (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297). He learns that if faced with the choice to do what is right or what is easy, to “Remember Cedric Diggory,” who died at the hands of Voldemort (Rowling, Goblet 724). He learns much about how to grieve (Rowling, Goblet 695; Order 823-34).
Ultimately, the lesson that Dumbledore wants to teach Harry over and over is that it is only love that holds the power to conquer death. We find this taught significantly in three places: the final Dumbledore/Harry conversations in Books 1 and 5 and at the end of Dumbledore’s teaching about horcruxes in book 6.
At the end of Book 1, we begin to learn something of the mystery of how Harry survived Voldemort’s killing curse. Dumbledore explains that it was Harry’s mother’s sacrificial love that “left a mark” that saved him from death (Rowling, Stone 299). Somehow, though it is in no way explained, Lily’s willingness to stand in Voldemort’s way to protect her son and be killed in the process protected Harry from death.
After another four years has passed and just after Sirius’s death, Dumbledore, regretting that he had not told Harry more of his story earlier, continues to explain this phenomenon. Calling it “ancient magic,” we almost hear echoes of Calvary in his explanation that it was her “shed blood,” which runs still through the veins of Harry and Aunt Petunia, which continues to protect Harry, especially when he lived at the Dursleys (Rowling, Order 836). After explaining the prophecy made by Trelawney so many years ago, Harry is quite convinced that, as an average wizard, he does not have “power the dark lord knows not” (843). Dumbledore disagrees, of course, and says:
There is a room in the Department of Mysteries…that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all…It was your heart that saved you (843-44).
This mysterious power, one that is so fascinating, wonderful, and terrible that it must be perpetually locked, resides in Harry’s own heart. The power, of course, is love, and Dumbledore presses the point even further in discussing the prophecy with Harry in Book 6. By this conversation, it is apparent that Harry does not yet understand that “the power the dark lord knows not” is love, and he is “impatient” and “let down” when the discussion of his ability to love is raised by Dumbledore (Rowling, Half-Blood 509). But Dumbledore is adamant on the point that Harry’s ability to love, his being “pure of heart” is his greatest protection against Voldemort (511).
While we will have to wait for the final installment to learn exactly how love has victory over death, there are a few things we can say in summary about Dumbledore’s teaching. There is a definite link being made by Dumbledore between love and choice. In Dumbledore’s first lesson on death, he explains to Harry, who is baffled that the Flamels would choose to give up the stone and die, that the stone’s ability to give eternal life is “really not such a wonderful thing,” because humans have a “knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them” (Rowling, Sorcerer's 297). Dumbledore also explains to Harry that his “mother had a choice” when it came to her dying for him (Rowling, Half-Blood 262). And in the prophecy discussion, Dumbledore is “impatient” and “agitated,” something very rare for Dumbledore, in trying to get Harry to realize that it is not the prophecy itself that makes the future happen, but the choices made by both Voldemort and Harry (509-512). Hence, Dumbledore want us to understand that it is the choice of sacrificial love that gives one victory over death.
Another important lesson of Dumbledore’s is that Voldemort’s greatest weakness lies in his inability to love and to see that “there are things much worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814; see also Half-Blood Prince 559, 566). Voldemort, the series’ “shadow” archetype, is key to understanding what not to believe about death. The name Voldemort, taken on by the young Tom Riddle, Jr. can literally mean, “willing death, flight of death, or flight from death” (Granger 108). Both ideas apply perfectly: he is simultaneously attempting to flee from death and willing death upon anyone who gets in his way.
Voldemort so despises and fears death that he has “gone further than anybody along the path to immortality” through certain “experiments” (Rowling, Goblet 653). We learn in Book 6 that these experiments are horcruxes, “wickedest of magical inventions” (Rowling, Half-Blood 381). They are so wicked because, in order to create them to keep one’s self alive, one must commit murder, “the supreme act of evil,” ripping one’s soul apart and placing the soul fragment into an object (497-98). Slughorn explaines to young Riddle that “death would be preferable” to an existence reliant upon a horcrux (497).
It is quite apparent that Riddle. did not agree. Even at the age of 11, Tom was convinced that someone who knew magic would be able to prevent death (275). The rest of his life is spent in pursuit of this goal, firm in his belief that “[t]here is nothing worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814). So determined was Voldemort to never die, that he was willing to live a “cursed life” by drinking unicorn’s blood, become less and less human, and kill anyone in his path to achieve his goal (Rowling, Sorcerer's 258).
It is also evident that Voldemort has nothing but disdain for sacrificial love. He called Lily Potter’s sacrifice “foolish” and challenged Dumbledore directly on his belief that “love is more powerful than [Voldemort’s] kind of magic” (Rowling, Goblet 653; Half-Blood 444). Voldemort is so unconvinced of the power of love that he thinks his use of Harry’s blood, in which the “old magic” that he had “forgotten” resides, for his rebirth will counter its power and give him victory over Harry (Rowling, Goblet 652-53). The twinkle of victory in Dumbledore’s eye upon learning this suggests something different, something that, alas, we do not yet know (696).
Since sacrificial love connects us to the theme of choice, we can also see Voldemort’s weakness in this area. As Dumbledore explains, the prophecy need not have been acted upon, but Voldemort “created his worst enemy” out of fear, making a “grave error” in marking his equal and establishing his own vanquisher, the one with power he could never know (Rowling, Half-Blood 510). In other words, Voldemort believes the prophecy to be necessarily fulfilled, because of his own fear of death, and therefore chose to act upon it when, in reality, he could have walked away. Because he did not understand the power of choice, “he not only handpicked the man most likely the finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons” (510). Voldemort’s fear of death and inability to comprehend love will be his own undoing.
There are a few connections we can establish between the phoenix and Voldemort which give us a symbol for the defeat of the one who wills and flees from death. Three times the phoenix symbol is present and active in the thwarting of Voldemort’s plans: in the chamber of secrets, as a result of the priori incantatem effect, and in the Ministry in his attack on Dumbledore. We will examine these in greater detail below, as we consider our hero’s escape from death.
Much of what Harry has learned about death has already been covered by looking at Dumbledore’s teaching, since most of that was directed at Harry. Suffice it to say that Harry’s entire life has been affected by many deaths, not least his parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore himself. While much could be said about all of this, there is an intriguing aspect of Harry’s yearly journey that is part and parcel of his development and that speaks volumes to the issue of love’s victory over death. In short, Harry passes through a figurative death and resurrection every year at Hogwarts (Granger 22). Three (Books 2, 4, and 5, and arguably a fourth (Book 6 - see below), of these cycles have been passed in the presence of the phoenix symbol.
Before proceeding through each year, we must look at Harry’s connection to the phoenix. The first obvious connection lies in his wand; it has a phoenix core, a reality that becomes significant in the death/resurrection scene of Goblet of Fire (Rowling, Goblet 663). Perhaps Harry’s most profound connection to the phoenix, however, comes in his loyalty to Dumbledore. This is illustrated in two distinct places in the series. In Book 2, it is clear that it is Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore as he stood face to face with Riddle that called Fawkes to the rescue (Rowling, Chamber 332). In Book 6, Harry recounts to Dumbledore Scrimgeour’s accusation that Harry was a “Dumbledore’s man through and through,” to which Harry responds in the positive. Upon hearing this incredible statement of loyalty, Dumbledore is silenced, but Fawkes responds with “a low, soft, musical cry” (Rowling, Half-Blood 357).
Now let us move briefly though the death/resurrection cycle of each book. A common pattern will be noticed: In each scene, there will be a “descent” representing death (except for Goblet, where the graveyard serves as an appropriate substitute); there will be at least one clear reference to death; and Harry will narrowly escape in the presence of a life/resurrection symbol.
In Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry figurative descends into the Underworld, passing by the three-headed dog Fluffy, a “comical version of the three-headed dog Cerberus that guards the path to the underworld in Greek myth” (Mills 3). In battle with Quirrell/Voldemort, which can almost be seen as a figurative battle for eternal life over the stone, Harry “knew all was lost, and fell into blackness” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 295). He awakes again in the hospital wing with Dumbledore watching over him. When Harry asks how long he has been out, Dumbledore replies, “Three days” (296). It is hard to miss the resurrection imagery there.
In Chamber of Secrets, Harry once again makes a descent, this time to do battle with a great serpent, the basilisk. Once again we see a clear reference to death, as Harry is succumbing to the basilisk’s poison (Rowling, Chamber 321). But as Riddle pronounces Harry’s death, and Harry is blacking out, he is saved by the healing tears of the resurrection bird, Fawkes the phoenix, and once again ascends victorious (321).
In Prisoner of Azkaban, after a descent underground where Sirius’ identity is revealed and a return to the surface, Harry is once again on the edge of death as the Dementor begins to perform its soul-sucking kiss on him. The text holds two clear references to death prior to the kiss, and Harry hears his mother’s final screams as it begins; once again, he was saved, this time by his own patronus charm, which appeared in the form of a stag (Rowling, Prisoner 384-85, 411). It is important to point out that in the absence of the phoenix symbol, a stag is present. The stag is also a medieval Christ symbol which represents new life because of its cycle of losing and re-growing its antlers (Granger 95).
In Goblet of Fire, the death/resurrection scene takes place, appropriately, in a graveyard. After Voldemort is reborn, he “attacks Harry with a spell that certainly is meant to call to mind the sacrifice of Jesus, the Cruciatus Curse” (Grimes 113). As the subsequent duel ensues, and once again Voldemort explains his intentions to kill Harry, his Avada Kedavra curse meets Harry’s Expelliarmus charm, and the Priori Incantatem effect links the two phoenix-core wands (Rowling, Goblet 668). Harry hears the same phoenix song he had heard when Fawkes came to his rescue two years prior in the Chamber of Secrets, and he is once again saved from certain death in the presence of the phoenix symbol (664-69)
In Order of the Phoenix, Harry descends into the Ministry and has to deal with the “very arbitrary and sudden death” of his godfather, Sirius (Rowling, “J.K. Rowling”). Facing Voldemort’s killing curse once again, Harry, entirely unable to defend himself this time, is saved by Dumbledore and Fawkes, the latter having to swallow a killing curse, burst into flames, and be reborn from the ashes (Rowling, Order 815).
While the first five books follow this yearly death/resurrection pattern, Half-Blood Prince deviates, and although the change is slight and subtle, it is also significant. Upon my first reading of the novel, Harry’s descent into the cave with Dumbledore seemed to fit the pattern perfectly. He is pulled by an inferius, a reanimated corpse, backward toward the water, and it is said that Harry “knew there would be no release, that he would be drowned, and become one more dead guardian of a fragment of Voldemort’s shattered soul” (Rowling, Half-Blood 576). The injured Dumbledore comes to the rescue with “crimson and gold” fire, clearly calling to mind the phoenix, especially considering Dumbledore’s connection with Fawkes (576). In a sense, Harry is resurrected from certain death just as the phoenix is - out of the flames.
Scott Moore, associate professor of philosophy and director of the “Great Texts Program” at Baylor University, suggested to me an alternative reading of the death/resurrection motif for Half-Blood Prince, which I find quite intriguing and a useful consideration with which to conclude my thoughts here. Upon reading my thoughts on Half-Blood Prince, he offered the following:
On resurrection: I think that there are (at least) two ways of reading this. The more plausible is that Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death. If there is to be a resurrection here, we will have to wait until the next book. As the disciples wondered what would become of them without the Christ, so the Order of the Phoenix awaits a new day without Dumbledore. I think JKR wants us to experience the full horror of Dumbledore’s death. A less persuasive (but still possible) interpretation is that we do get a figurative death and resurrection of Harry when Dumbledore freezes Harry, Harry is forced to watch the entire saga play out as if he were dead (he can’t do anything about it), and only coming back to life after Dumbledore dies. In both cases, the Christ symbol present is the Phoenix with his mournful lament. Remember, it was the song of the Phoenix which sustained Harry in the graveyard at the end of HP4. I expect we’ll hear it one more time. (We are, of course, not done with Dumbledore. Not only does Harry remember his words that he will never be gone as long as there remain those who are faithful to him, but also all of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts have their portraits hanging in Dumbledore’s office. They all speak and are pledged to assist the current Headmaster. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry gets more advice and consolation from Dumbledore’s portrait in HP7) (Moore, quoted in Prinzi).
The first option is quite intriguing to me, and I think it encapsulates what Rowling would like us to understand about death through Harry, Dumbledore, Fawkes, and (negatively) Voldemort. Dumbledore’s death is perhaps the most traumatic event to have taken place thus far in the series. Moore is correct in saying that “Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death.” Indeed, this is exactly what Dumbledore encouraged in Harry at the ends of Books 4 and 5 - the strength that comes from experiencing grief, from letting one’s heart feel so much love for someone that it hurts desperately to lose him or her. But in grief, there is hope, which is represented by the phoenix and the song he sings. There are worse things than death, and there is resurrection after, leading the “well-organized mind” to “the next great adventure.” As Half-Blood Prince closes with the death of Dumbledore and the mournful lament of Fawkes, a white tomb in flames and a phoenix rising, a hero - Harry Potter - is rising as well.
The real tragedy, the thing “worse than death,” is found in someone like Voldemort, who so fears death that he would rather have a less-than-human, cursed life than live a full life and die. Voldemort, despite his incredible magical skill, is ultimately a coward. Harry, “a true Gryffindor” is learning through Dumbledore, Fawkes, the negative example of Voldemort, and through his yearly experience of passing through the figurative death/resurrection experience the courage to live a self-sacrifical life of love (Rowling, Chamber 334). He is becoming “ Dumbledore’s man through and through,” and Dumbledore’s death has led him not to despair, but to courage and action against Voldemort (Rowling, Half-Blood 649).
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Fry, Stephen and Rowling, J.K. “J.K. Rowling at the Royal Albert Hall, 26 June
2003.” Quick Quotes Quill. 10 April 2005. 12 May 2006.
Granger, John. Looking for God in Harry Potter. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2004.
Grimes, M. Katherine. “Harry Potter: Fairy Tale Prince, Real Boy, and Archetypal
Hero” in The Ivory Tower and Harry Potter. ed. by Lana A. Whited.
Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2002. pp. 89-124.
Lindermans, Micha F. “Phoenix.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 09 June 2004. 12 May 2006.
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From The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the question of death has been explored in the pages of literature, not least in mythological works. There is hardly a more universal human experience than death, and its chilling finality has caused fear in not a few hearts and minds. J.K. Rowling has said that death is “possibly the most important theme” in the books (Rowling, “Harry Potter and Me”). So what does she want us to learn about death?
That this theme is central to the books can be seen in the multitude of plot twists, words of wisdom, and symbols, not the least of which is the phoenix, that speak directly to the issue of death. Ultimately, Rowling wants to teach us that a life lived out of sacrificial love makes death not something to be feared, but “the next great adventure” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297).
Working primarily in mythological categories, I intend to investigate how Rowling teaches this theme. We will begin by exploring the symbol of the phoenix and how it relates to the theme of death. All of the subsequent content will be linked to this central symbol. We will then hear various “perspectives on death” from the series’ three most prominent archetypes: the wise old man (Dumbledore), the shadow (Voldemort) and the hero (Harry Potter). I will then argue that Harry progresses through a figurative death and resurrection cycle in each book, teaching him, in effect, to live and die well. After exploring the first five books along the lines of this figurative death/resurrection motif, I will conclude with Half-Blood Prince, since it serves to springboard us into the final book and is so incredibly significant, being the real rising point of Harry’s status as hero.
The phoenix has been a powerful literary and religious symbol for thousands of years. Originally a crimson and gold bird of ancient mythologies of Egypt and Greece, the phoenix lived for 500 (or 1461) years, and as its death approached, it built itself a “nest of aromatic wood,” set a fire, and “was consumed by the flames” (Lindermans). Out of the ashes, a new phoenix would rise, becoming a potent symbol of “immortality, resurrection, and life after death” (Linderman).
As such, it achieved some prominence as a religious symbol. “Judaic lore mentions that the phoenix achieved its unique status as an immortal bird because it refrained from bothering the overburdened Noah during the Flood voyage” (Linderman). As early as 96 A.D., the Christian bishop Clement employed the phoenix as a Christ symbol, calling it a “remarkable token” of Jesus’ resurrection as well as a future resurrection day (Clement 55). Subsequent Christian leaders followed this example, and by the Middle Ages the phoenix was referred to as a “resurrection bird” and “was used in heraldic devices and shields to represent the bearer’s hope of eternal life in Christ” (Granger 94).
Alice Mills, who notices the Christ symbolism, explains for us the mythical significance of the phoenix as it relates to other symbols utilized by Rowling, such as unicorn blood (also a Christ symbol) and the three-headed dog:
All of these mythic figures…are linked to the human longing to transcend time and death, whether by descending to the underworld and returning unscathed, or by magically gaining eternal life through the use of a talisman, or by being resurrected from the dead (Mills 4).
Since the symbol of the phoenix does relate quite powerfully to the theme of death, we see its frequent use in the Harry Potter novels. As we continue through the rest of the argument, we shall see how the phoenix illustrates and reinforces Rowling’s theme of love’s victory over death.
Dumbledore clearly fits the “wise old man” archetype for the Harry Potter series, and his guidance on the question of death is perhaps his most significant contribution to Harry’s development. His conversation with Harry at the end of Sorcerer’s Stone about death being “the next great adventure” to “the well-organized mind” is a set up for his words of wisdom throughout the rest of the series (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297).
Before progressing to these words, however, we do well to consider his connection to the phoenix. Fawkes the phoenix is Dumbledore’s pet, whose home is in his office and whom Harry unfortunately first met on a burning day (Rowling, Chamber 207). In this scene, Dumbledore describes the phoenix to Harry, and Rowling puts specific emphasis on the phoenix’s nature as a “faithful pet” (207, emphasis in original). This is an extremely important word, as we will see when considering Harry’s relationship to Dumbledore and Fawkes later on.
The denouement of Goblet of Fire provides us with an intriguing scene that illustrates the connection between Dumbledore, Fawkes, and the theme of death. Rowling has explained that it was at Cedric’s death that Harry “really [felt] what death means” for the first time (Rowling, “F.A.Q.”). Upon entering Dumbledore’s office after the tragedy of the third task, it seems as though Fawkes recognizes the pain of death that Harry feels, because Fawkes immediately “left his perch, [flew] across the room, and landed on Harry’s knee” (Rowling, Goblet 694). Harry absolutely does not want to talk about it, but Dumbledore presses him:
If I thought I could help you…by putting you into an enchanted sleep for a while…I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will only make it worse when you finally feel it (695).
As Harry realizes that he would have to tell the whole story of Cedric’s death right then and there, the interplay between Dumbledore and Fawkes continues: Fawkes “let out one soft, quavering note” that warms and strengthens Harry for the story he is about to tell (695). With the combination of Dumbledore’s wise words and Fawkes’s song, Harry learns how to begin to grieve Cedric’s death not by pushing it down, but by speaking and letting it all out. Though it is painful, it is simultaneously a “relief” for Harry to relive the night’s awful events (695).
In Half-Blood Prince, we learn that the connection between Dumbledore and Fawkes is so strong that when Dumbledore dies, Fawkes sings a very long lament and then “[leaves] Hogwarts for good,” just as his master had (Rowling, Half-Blood 632). When Dumbledore’s white tomb had burst into flames, Harry “thought…he saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue” (645). It seems quite obvious that the Dumbledore/Fawkes connection is a primary vehicle for what Rowling wants to teach about death; we will see below how Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore connects him to the phoenix.
The Dumbledore/phoenix connection symbolizes resurrection and victory over death, but it is Dumbledore’s teaching that explains it. There is much that Dumbledore teaches Harry about death. Harry learns that death is not the worst thing that can befall a person (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 297). He learns that if faced with the choice to do what is right or what is easy, to “Remember Cedric Diggory,” who died at the hands of Voldemort (Rowling, Goblet 724). He learns much about how to grieve (Rowling, Goblet 695; Order 823-34).
Ultimately, the lesson that Dumbledore wants to teach Harry over and over is that it is only love that holds the power to conquer death. We find this taught significantly in three places: the final Dumbledore/Harry conversations in Books 1 and 5 and at the end of Dumbledore’s teaching about horcruxes in book 6.
At the end of Book 1, we begin to learn something of the mystery of how Harry survived Voldemort’s killing curse. Dumbledore explains that it was Harry’s mother’s sacrificial love that “left a mark” that saved him from death (Rowling, Stone 299). Somehow, though it is in no way explained, Lily’s willingness to stand in Voldemort’s way to protect her son and be killed in the process protected Harry from death.
After another four years has passed and just after Sirius’s death, Dumbledore, regretting that he had not told Harry more of his story earlier, continues to explain this phenomenon. Calling it “ancient magic,” we almost hear echoes of Calvary in his explanation that it was her “shed blood,” which runs still through the veins of Harry and Aunt Petunia, which continues to protect Harry, especially when he lived at the Dursleys (Rowling, Order 836). After explaining the prophecy made by Trelawney so many years ago, Harry is quite convinced that, as an average wizard, he does not have “power the dark lord knows not” (843). Dumbledore disagrees, of course, and says:
There is a room in the Department of Mysteries…that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all…It was your heart that saved you (843-44).
This mysterious power, one that is so fascinating, wonderful, and terrible that it must be perpetually locked, resides in Harry’s own heart. The power, of course, is love, and Dumbledore presses the point even further in discussing the prophecy with Harry in Book 6. By this conversation, it is apparent that Harry does not yet understand that “the power the dark lord knows not” is love, and he is “impatient” and “let down” when the discussion of his ability to love is raised by Dumbledore (Rowling, Half-Blood 509). But Dumbledore is adamant on the point that Harry’s ability to love, his being “pure of heart” is his greatest protection against Voldemort (511).
While we will have to wait for the final installment to learn exactly how love has victory over death, there are a few things we can say in summary about Dumbledore’s teaching. There is a definite link being made by Dumbledore between love and choice. In Dumbledore’s first lesson on death, he explains to Harry, who is baffled that the Flamels would choose to give up the stone and die, that the stone’s ability to give eternal life is “really not such a wonderful thing,” because humans have a “knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them” (Rowling, Sorcerer's 297). Dumbledore also explains to Harry that his “mother had a choice” when it came to her dying for him (Rowling, Half-Blood 262). And in the prophecy discussion, Dumbledore is “impatient” and “agitated,” something very rare for Dumbledore, in trying to get Harry to realize that it is not the prophecy itself that makes the future happen, but the choices made by both Voldemort and Harry (509-512). Hence, Dumbledore want us to understand that it is the choice of sacrificial love that gives one victory over death.
Another important lesson of Dumbledore’s is that Voldemort’s greatest weakness lies in his inability to love and to see that “there are things much worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814; see also Half-Blood Prince 559, 566). Voldemort, the series’ “shadow” archetype, is key to understanding what not to believe about death. The name Voldemort, taken on by the young Tom Riddle, Jr. can literally mean, “willing death, flight of death, or flight from death” (Granger 108). Both ideas apply perfectly: he is simultaneously attempting to flee from death and willing death upon anyone who gets in his way.
Voldemort so despises and fears death that he has “gone further than anybody along the path to immortality” through certain “experiments” (Rowling, Goblet 653). We learn in Book 6 that these experiments are horcruxes, “wickedest of magical inventions” (Rowling, Half-Blood 381). They are so wicked because, in order to create them to keep one’s self alive, one must commit murder, “the supreme act of evil,” ripping one’s soul apart and placing the soul fragment into an object (497-98). Slughorn explaines to young Riddle that “death would be preferable” to an existence reliant upon a horcrux (497).
It is quite apparent that Riddle. did not agree. Even at the age of 11, Tom was convinced that someone who knew magic would be able to prevent death (275). The rest of his life is spent in pursuit of this goal, firm in his belief that “[t]here is nothing worse than death” (Rowling, Order 814). So determined was Voldemort to never die, that he was willing to live a “cursed life” by drinking unicorn’s blood, become less and less human, and kill anyone in his path to achieve his goal (Rowling, Sorcerer's 258).
It is also evident that Voldemort has nothing but disdain for sacrificial love. He called Lily Potter’s sacrifice “foolish” and challenged Dumbledore directly on his belief that “love is more powerful than [Voldemort’s] kind of magic” (Rowling, Goblet 653; Half-Blood 444). Voldemort is so unconvinced of the power of love that he thinks his use of Harry’s blood, in which the “old magic” that he had “forgotten” resides, for his rebirth will counter its power and give him victory over Harry (Rowling, Goblet 652-53). The twinkle of victory in Dumbledore’s eye upon learning this suggests something different, something that, alas, we do not yet know (696).
Since sacrificial love connects us to the theme of choice, we can also see Voldemort’s weakness in this area. As Dumbledore explains, the prophecy need not have been acted upon, but Voldemort “created his worst enemy” out of fear, making a “grave error” in marking his equal and establishing his own vanquisher, the one with power he could never know (Rowling, Half-Blood 510). In other words, Voldemort believes the prophecy to be necessarily fulfilled, because of his own fear of death, and therefore chose to act upon it when, in reality, he could have walked away. Because he did not understand the power of choice, “he not only handpicked the man most likely the finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons” (510). Voldemort’s fear of death and inability to comprehend love will be his own undoing.
There are a few connections we can establish between the phoenix and Voldemort which give us a symbol for the defeat of the one who wills and flees from death. Three times the phoenix symbol is present and active in the thwarting of Voldemort’s plans: in the chamber of secrets, as a result of the priori incantatem effect, and in the Ministry in his attack on Dumbledore. We will examine these in greater detail below, as we consider our hero’s escape from death.
Much of what Harry has learned about death has already been covered by looking at Dumbledore’s teaching, since most of that was directed at Harry. Suffice it to say that Harry’s entire life has been affected by many deaths, not least his parents, Sirius, and Dumbledore himself. While much could be said about all of this, there is an intriguing aspect of Harry’s yearly journey that is part and parcel of his development and that speaks volumes to the issue of love’s victory over death. In short, Harry passes through a figurative death and resurrection every year at Hogwarts (Granger 22). Three (Books 2, 4, and 5, and arguably a fourth (Book 6 - see below), of these cycles have been passed in the presence of the phoenix symbol.
Before proceeding through each year, we must look at Harry’s connection to the phoenix. The first obvious connection lies in his wand; it has a phoenix core, a reality that becomes significant in the death/resurrection scene of Goblet of Fire (Rowling, Goblet 663). Perhaps Harry’s most profound connection to the phoenix, however, comes in his loyalty to Dumbledore. This is illustrated in two distinct places in the series. In Book 2, it is clear that it is Harry’s loyalty to Dumbledore as he stood face to face with Riddle that called Fawkes to the rescue (Rowling, Chamber 332). In Book 6, Harry recounts to Dumbledore Scrimgeour’s accusation that Harry was a “Dumbledore’s man through and through,” to which Harry responds in the positive. Upon hearing this incredible statement of loyalty, Dumbledore is silenced, but Fawkes responds with “a low, soft, musical cry” (Rowling, Half-Blood 357).
Now let us move briefly though the death/resurrection cycle of each book. A common pattern will be noticed: In each scene, there will be a “descent” representing death (except for Goblet, where the graveyard serves as an appropriate substitute); there will be at least one clear reference to death; and Harry will narrowly escape in the presence of a life/resurrection symbol.
In Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry figurative descends into the Underworld, passing by the three-headed dog Fluffy, a “comical version of the three-headed dog Cerberus that guards the path to the underworld in Greek myth” (Mills 3). In battle with Quirrell/Voldemort, which can almost be seen as a figurative battle for eternal life over the stone, Harry “knew all was lost, and fell into blackness” (Rowling, Sorcerer’s 295). He awakes again in the hospital wing with Dumbledore watching over him. When Harry asks how long he has been out, Dumbledore replies, “Three days” (296). It is hard to miss the resurrection imagery there.
In Chamber of Secrets, Harry once again makes a descent, this time to do battle with a great serpent, the basilisk. Once again we see a clear reference to death, as Harry is succumbing to the basilisk’s poison (Rowling, Chamber 321). But as Riddle pronounces Harry’s death, and Harry is blacking out, he is saved by the healing tears of the resurrection bird, Fawkes the phoenix, and once again ascends victorious (321).
In Prisoner of Azkaban, after a descent underground where Sirius’ identity is revealed and a return to the surface, Harry is once again on the edge of death as the Dementor begins to perform its soul-sucking kiss on him. The text holds two clear references to death prior to the kiss, and Harry hears his mother’s final screams as it begins; once again, he was saved, this time by his own patronus charm, which appeared in the form of a stag (Rowling, Prisoner 384-85, 411). It is important to point out that in the absence of the phoenix symbol, a stag is present. The stag is also a medieval Christ symbol which represents new life because of its cycle of losing and re-growing its antlers (Granger 95).
In Goblet of Fire, the death/resurrection scene takes place, appropriately, in a graveyard. After Voldemort is reborn, he “attacks Harry with a spell that certainly is meant to call to mind the sacrifice of Jesus, the Cruciatus Curse” (Grimes 113). As the subsequent duel ensues, and once again Voldemort explains his intentions to kill Harry, his Avada Kedavra curse meets Harry’s Expelliarmus charm, and the Priori Incantatem effect links the two phoenix-core wands (Rowling, Goblet 668). Harry hears the same phoenix song he had heard when Fawkes came to his rescue two years prior in the Chamber of Secrets, and he is once again saved from certain death in the presence of the phoenix symbol (664-69)
In Order of the Phoenix, Harry descends into the Ministry and has to deal with the “very arbitrary and sudden death” of his godfather, Sirius (Rowling, “J.K. Rowling”). Facing Voldemort’s killing curse once again, Harry, entirely unable to defend himself this time, is saved by Dumbledore and Fawkes, the latter having to swallow a killing curse, burst into flames, and be reborn from the ashes (Rowling, Order 815).
While the first five books follow this yearly death/resurrection pattern, Half-Blood Prince deviates, and although the change is slight and subtle, it is also significant. Upon my first reading of the novel, Harry’s descent into the cave with Dumbledore seemed to fit the pattern perfectly. He is pulled by an inferius, a reanimated corpse, backward toward the water, and it is said that Harry “knew there would be no release, that he would be drowned, and become one more dead guardian of a fragment of Voldemort’s shattered soul” (Rowling, Half-Blood 576). The injured Dumbledore comes to the rescue with “crimson and gold” fire, clearly calling to mind the phoenix, especially considering Dumbledore’s connection with Fawkes (576). In a sense, Harry is resurrected from certain death just as the phoenix is - out of the flames.
Scott Moore, associate professor of philosophy and director of the “Great Texts Program” at Baylor University, suggested to me an alternative reading of the death/resurrection motif for Half-Blood Prince, which I find quite intriguing and a useful consideration with which to conclude my thoughts here. Upon reading my thoughts on Half-Blood Prince, he offered the following:
On resurrection: I think that there are (at least) two ways of reading this. The more plausible is that Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death. If there is to be a resurrection here, we will have to wait until the next book. As the disciples wondered what would become of them without the Christ, so the Order of the Phoenix awaits a new day without Dumbledore. I think JKR wants us to experience the full horror of Dumbledore’s death. A less persuasive (but still possible) interpretation is that we do get a figurative death and resurrection of Harry when Dumbledore freezes Harry, Harry is forced to watch the entire saga play out as if he were dead (he can’t do anything about it), and only coming back to life after Dumbledore dies. In both cases, the Christ symbol present is the Phoenix with his mournful lament. Remember, it was the song of the Phoenix which sustained Harry in the graveyard at the end of HP4. I expect we’ll hear it one more time. (We are, of course, not done with Dumbledore. Not only does Harry remember his words that he will never be gone as long as there remain those who are faithful to him, but also all of the previous Headmasters of Hogwarts have their portraits hanging in Dumbledore’s office. They all speak and are pledged to assist the current Headmaster. I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry gets more advice and consolation from Dumbledore’s portrait in HP7) (Moore, quoted in Prinzi).
The first option is quite intriguing to me, and I think it encapsulates what Rowling would like us to understand about death through Harry, Dumbledore, Fawkes, and (negatively) Voldemort. Dumbledore’s death is perhaps the most traumatic event to have taken place thus far in the series. Moore is correct in saying that “Harry and the reader must experience the full weight of Dumbledore’s death.” Indeed, this is exactly what Dumbledore encouraged in Harry at the ends of Books 4 and 5 - the strength that comes from experiencing grief, from letting one’s heart feel so much love for someone that it hurts desperately to lose him or her. But in grief, there is hope, which is represented by the phoenix and the song he sings. There are worse things than death, and there is resurrection after, leading the “well-organized mind” to “the next great adventure.” As Half-Blood Prince closes with the death of Dumbledore and the mournful lament of Fawkes, a white tomb in flames and a phoenix rising, a hero - Harry Potter - is rising as well.
The real tragedy, the thing “worse than death,” is found in someone like Voldemort, who so fears death that he would rather have a less-than-human, cursed life than live a full life and die. Voldemort, despite his incredible magical skill, is ultimately a coward. Harry, “a true Gryffindor” is learning through Dumbledore, Fawkes, the negative example of Voldemort, and through his yearly experience of passing through the figurative death/resurrection experience the courage to live a self-sacrifical life of love (Rowling, Chamber 334). He is becoming “ Dumbledore’s man through and through,” and Dumbledore’s death has led him not to despair, but to courage and action against Voldemort (Rowling, Half-Blood 649).
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