Fate vs. Free Will

[fleurdelacour]

A discussion topic to ponder...

Harry’s story is a powerful demonstration of the importance of choice or free will in shaping our lives.

OR

Harry’s story demonstrates the influence of fate upon the course of our lives.

Comments

[gallimaufrys]

I was thinking about this the other day when we had to chose between Harry and Hermione.

Because in same ways you could argue that Hermione was stronger than Harry because she chose to stay and fight in this war that she very easily could have walked away from (not that her personalilty would have let her, just that in theory, she could easily have rejected the magical world and the war and been just as successful as a muggle). Harry had kind of all this thrust on him, he didn't really get a say in any of it. In the end you could argue that he was pretty much only fighting voldemort because of how Dumbledor had manipulated things.

For me what it boils down to is the perspective the character themselves take. And Harry very much believes, at least by the end, that this is his choice.

I think JK sums it up best anyway:
It was, he thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Dumbledore knew - and so do I, thought Harry, with a rush of fierce pride, and so did my parents - that there was all the difference in the world.

[coffeebean1287]

Yea, definitely the last part. Harry had a choice too. It wasn't all just because he was the "chosen one."

[improved]

One of my favorite quotes in the series.

[sofiascarlett]

I love that part, it says a lot about Harry as a character.