Rowling on Love, Hope, Happiness 2018

January 5, 2022 by 1 Comment

Rowling has stated more than once that she has been working on The Christmas Pig story since 2012, but, other than her word on this, there isn’t much evidence to support such a prolonged gestation. I think, though, I have found one marker that the story has been on her mind at least since 2018 in an interview done in that year to promote the release of Crimes of Grindelwald.

As both Elizabeth Baird-Hardy in ‘The Faerie Queen and Christmas Pig‘ and I in ‘Christmas Pig 3: The Quadrigal Reading‘ have argued, the vote held in the Palace of the City of the Missed is best read as a Spenserian allegory. The balloting is taken to decide the fate of Pajama Boy and Christmas Pig and all those taking part represent one of the conflicting voices in Everyman’s head about what to do with the fact and witness of unconditional, maternal, divine love in the Heart. Those voices in support of the Heart win the vote but worldly concern and egotism, exteriorized as Power and Ambition, annul the polling and order the Loss Adjusters to seize the pair. Hope and Happiness intercede to save Love — which intervention and rescue eventually brings Jack to DP and his fateful decisions on the Isle of the Beloved. Love, Hope, and Happiness are the keys here.

When Rowling was asked once again in 2018 to revisit her Cinderella story of writing Harry Potter as a single mother on the dole, she responded (the video above is cued to this response):

I think, y’know, that poverty is tough. It’s just tough. And I don’t like to hear poverty romanticized ever. It grinds you down; it’s really, really tough. And I can remember, y’know, just some very hard times so I feel tremendous empathy for anyone in that situation. But, y’know, it’s .. I still had a lot of love in my life so I look back and I still see a lot of hope and happiness there.

Love is the critical point, the touchstone of the Real that buoyed her through the waves of poverty and depression. As if on cue, the interviewer segued immediately to the subject of Rowling’s mother and her death with a question of how often Rowling still thinks of her. She responded:

Constantly. I mean, in a positive way, I think the last time I got quite teary about my mother’s passing was I was given an honor at Buckingham Palace and, oh, my God, if my mother had known (laughter). It’s a moment like that you think ‘What would she have said?’ and I was quite teary about that.

“When would your mother have been the proudest?” The actress who plays Tina Goldstein shares a look with Rowling and whispers, both nodding, “Buckingham Palace.” Rowling confirms this:

To be honest, my mother was a traditionalist, if I had taken her to Buckingham Palace that would have been, yeah, the ultimate. But she was a huge reader, yeah, so it wasn’t just that I was successful at something of which she was going to be incredibly proud of whatever I’d done but it’s sad to me that she never got to read the books. But life is weird because the books wouldn’t be what they are if she hadn’t passed on so it’s a bittersweet situation…

I argue in Parts three and five of the Perennialist reading series of posts about Christmas Pig that maternal love — sacrificial, unconditional, and selfless — has been Rowling’s primary symbolism of the Heart or the logos light and love that “cometh into the world in every man” (John 1:9). Harry is suffused with and protected by Lily’s love of which he becomes the exteriorization or symbol of himself. Strike is who he is because of the mysterious death of his mother Leda and his being haunted by her to become an avenger or  agent of justice. Jack Jones and his bean-bag plush pig toys that are his “transitional” or transference and projection objects of maternal love is cut from this same cloth, hence his being a Christ figure in the end, a representation himself of this absolute love who conquers death.

In this brief exchange in 2018 with, forgive me, a news reporter who knows little about Rowling beyond her celebrity and rags-to-riches story, The Presence touches on the love that is the bedrock of her stories, the personal crisis inspiring the stuff from her Lake that she fashioned into a universal allegory in the Shed. In addition to Love, she also talks about a Palace, Hope, and Happiness.

That may, of course, only be a coincidence, but Strike readers I think have been trained to think seriously about coincidences. Yes, Rowling has talked about her time on the dole and her mother’s death before; it is something every reporter feels obliged to ask along with “Who are your favorite writers?” I think, though, her bringing up the palace, “traditionalism,” love, hope, and happiness are pointers to the fact that the critical, decisive moment in Christmas Pig — as it is in every person’s life, the decision either to protect and heed the voice of the love in our hearts or to conform with the demands of the world and fear — was very much on her mind in 2018. 

I covet your comments and corrections; please share them below.

Filed Under: Christmas Pig

‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts

January 4, 2022 by Leave a Comment

The small screen celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the big screen adaptation of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone under its Scholastic edition title, Sorcerer’s Stone, was a great hit, I’m told, on New Year’s Day in both the UK and US. HogwartsProfessor certainly saw a big upswing in visitors that we usually see only on the day of a book publication or movie release. Fans expected us to comment on it or at least provide a forum or thread on which to discuss it amongst themselves.

We failed, alas, to provide any of that, for which I suppose an explanation is in order. Join me after the jump for my thoughts — not those of other writers here — and a comment thread for anyone wanting to discuss the special. Cheers! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Happy Birthday to the True Ringbearer!

January 3, 2022 by Leave a Comment

On January 3, 1892, John Ronald Ruel Tolkien was born, and our world has been significantly enriched by his presence in it. In addition to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, he translated Beowulf, created all of Middle Earth and its many cultures, places, and languages.and helped found a little group called The Inklings.  Professor Tolkien and the Inklings,  particularly C.S. Lewis, helped lay the foundation of the mythopoetic worldview that is so central to all we do here and to the books we love to read and discuss. Thus, as I heard someone suggest this morning, we should all lift our classes this evening and declare a toast, “To the Professor!” If you prefer, you may wish to honor him by reading some of his beautiful words, or even by enjoying some of the many creative interpretations of them. I can recommend one I’ve been enjoying lately: Ambient Works Rivendell Ambience video (very pleasant in the background on asnowy day). There are also videos for the Misty Mountains and other aspects of Middle Earth to put one in a fit state of mind to celebrate the day. Or, one could simply shoot off some fireworks or make a dramatic disappearance and go on an adventure.

Happy One Hundred and Thirtieth Birthday, Professor Tolkien, and thank you for letting us into your world!

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Elizabeth Baird Hardy Tagged With: ,

Does Anyone “Really” Die in Stories?

January 2, 2022 by Leave a Comment

As one year dies and another begins, and, at least in my part of the world, most outdoor growing things are dead or wisely biding their time to emerge in a few months, it is a fitting time to think about how stories, like those we analyze and discuss here, address the idea of death. Perhaps this is a rather glum subject, but it does not have to be. I sometimes joke with my literature and mythology students that no one ever “really” dies in mythology, that characters morph from one myth into another, that the stories themselves sustain thecharacters. In literature, characters can continue to live, as we revisit them, even if they “die” within the structure of the narrative. Rowling, like all the good storytellers and myth-makers who create the tales that teach and entertain us, works with the idea that those who die don’t really leave, whether they are family members or cuddly pigs; but perhaps it is a bit of stretch to assume no one “really” dies in these stories. Let’s ponder that further and see.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Christmas Pig, Cormoran Strike, Cuckoo's Calling, Elizabeth Baird Hardy

Fred Blundun: Deathly Hallows Finish Revealed in Goblet’s Quidditch Cup Final

January 1, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Happy New Year, Gregorians! I’m taking a break from Christmas Pig today and thought this Guest Post was in order for several reasons. First, it not only points to several HogwartsProfessor touchstones — the ‘Hanged Man’ tarot card, ring composition, and the theory put forward by Emily Strand and Caitlyn Harper that Quidditch matches reveal the meaning and ending of the novel they are in — but combines them. What better way to start the New Year than with a little three-dimensional chess?

Second, that combination highlights the fun of reading J. K. Rowling a challenge specific to her stories. There are embedded puzzles, plot clues, and alchemical, astrological, and tarot notes sounded through-out, especially in the cryptonyms — but when are what might be a connection actually be an over-reach? It helps to remember that I was ridiculed in 2002 for suggesting Rowling was writing in the English tradition of hermetic literature, an idea that was really only accepted when the 1998 interview surfaced in 2007. What seems an overreach or fantasy, may be substantive.

Third and perhaps most important, I want to introduce Fred Blundun to HogwartsProfessor readers. You’ll be reading more of his finds in the coming year!

That being said, here is Mr Blundun’s theory that the World Quidditch Cup Final in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a snap-shot pointer to the finish of Deathly Hallows, a connection he made while reflecting on a post here about the Hanged Man tarot card —

I think I have found another reference to hanging in the Harry Potter books: the Irish Seeker is named Lynch, a word meaning “(of a group of people) kill (someone) for an alleged offence without a legal trial, especially by hanging”.

I think there’s a general parallel in this match: Lynch and the green-robed Irish team correspond to Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Krum and the red-robed Bulgarian team correspond to Harry and his allies. Lynch’s name brings to mind the Death Eaters’ unjust murders. Krum’s first name, Viktor, is for Harry’s eventual victory.

The point of all this: Harry intuitively understands Krum’s decision to catch the Snitch and end the game despite Bulgaria being one goal short (“He wanted to end it on his own terms, that’s all…”). This foreshadows Harry’s own decision to open the Snitch and end his life despite still being one Horcrux short of making Voldemort mortal.

Some more possibly intentional parallels, some of which may be a huge stretch:

  • Immediately after catching the Snitch, Krum is seen rising into the air, “his red robes shining with blood from his nose” – a reference to the blood magic that becomes the key to Harry’s victory at the end of Deathly Hallows?
  • Following Ireland’s victory in the match, the Irish players are seen “dancing gleefully in a shower of gold descending from their mascots”… but this leprechaun gold will evaporate in a few hours, much like the Death Eaters’ apparent victory in The Flaw in the Plan.
  • Meanwhile, after his collision with the ground and subsequent trampling, Lynch can’t stand on his own and is clearly very out of it  – mirroring how Voldemort collapses at the start of The Flaw in the Plan, and is then unable to harm others with magic due to Harry’s sacrifice?

Again, this made my day because it connects the tarot card image with ‘Lynch,’ the ring idea of the center reflecting the story latch, hence Goblet foreshadowing Hallows, and the Strand-Harper idea of Quidditch as signifier. That’s a treat…

Your New Year’s challenge is to review Lethal White with the question, ‘What signifier does Galbraith give us in each of the Strike mysteries that appears in the fourth book that may point us to the ending of Strike7?’ Enjoy!

Filed Under: Guest Posts