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

[ellielinton]

Wow this is a kewl topic. Before I start I'm really tired so if anything I say doesn't make sense, that is why.

I was going to write about how I thought the whole Harry and Neville thing (i.e Neville could have been in Harry's position) was a cool example of how fate works and how delicate and interesting the whole thing was. Only then it popped into my head how it was Voldemort's choice that really decided this.

There is a tonne of stuff in the series about choices and the impact they have. I guess in Dumbledore's backstory a mixture of fate and choices shaped the man he became?

Ok, I'm going to see what everyone else says and tune in with "mte" and 'IA' ate necessary points, since my thoughts are all over the place now.

[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

[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.

[sunset_leaf]

This is so interesting, I don't know which side of the fence I'm on.

I love the idea of a kind of fate-choice circle - something is predicted, then someone choices to act on that prediction, then through them choicing to act on it it comes true and it happens as it was foretold. i.e. Voldemort acting on Trelawney's prediction and only through his trying to kill Harry did he secure his fate/whatever.

I think I lean more to the side of choice on this though.

[danibel]

It's both, tbqh

[sofiascarlett]

Great post and OP! This is really interesting, I have thought of it myself. I was about to write something, but I realised I have to think about it some more.