The Love Connection - Harry Potter discussion forum for movies, books, and more!

1 User(s) are reading this topic (1 Guests and 0 Anonymous Users)

Thanks for attending our Leaky Love Fest - and thanks to all the staff members who helped! This event is now closed, but the event forum is archived for your enjoyment!

The Love Connection, Reading Group discussion: love as a theme in Harry Potter

twiddlethosedial... twiddlethosedials View Member Profile	Feb 12 2008, 11:00 AM Post #1
Mischievous Manager Posts: 5,375 Joined: 9:14am February 16, 2006 Location: Behind the sofa, watching Doctor Who	The Love Connection: A reading group style discussion about love as a theme in Harry Potter FanArt courtesy of the talented makani What is it about LOVE that ties together each of the seven Harry Potter books so nicely? It's not just the love of a parent for a child -- there's the love between friends, romantic love, obsessive love and even a little bit of love lost. We know that love is important. Sure, Dumbledore tells us so. But it becomes apparent even without his having said it. Lily loved Harry enough to stand in front of him and take the shot from Voldemort's wand. Harry loves Ginny enough to walk away from her, so that she is not endangered in his quest to defeat Voldemort. Ron loves Hermione enough to find a way to come back, even after leaving in disgrace. Harry loves Lupin enough to tell him the truth to his face. Fleur loves Bill enough not to care about his scarred face. Molly loves her children enough to take on the sickest Death Eater single-handed. I could keep going, but I think you get the idea! Here are a few points to ponder to help us study love as a theme in Harry Potter. But please feel free to raise points or questions of your own -- we're an equal opportunity discussion here! How does love factor into the downfall of Voldemort? Is love really the power that Harry has and the Dark Lord lacks? Looking beyond Harry, does love impact any of the other characters enough to help defeat Voldemort? Why is Harry still capable of love after all he's been through? Compare and contrast the love between Molly and Arthur and the love between Petunia and Vernon. What is the difference between the way Molly loves her family, and Petunia loves hers? We talked about the different types of love -- love between friends, a mother's love, romantic love, obsessive love -- which type of love do you think is the most important to the outcome of the series, and why? -------------------- Sorting begins soon for HBP! Follow the Lily and Stag on twitter, too!

fw00per View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 10:19 AM Post #2
Mischievous Manager Posts: 2,289 Joined: 2:20pm October 14, 2006 Location: Playing with Fire	I find it very interesting to compare Harry's love to Voldemrot's lack of love throughout the series, but particularly with regards to something neither had control over - their parents. Harry had two parents who loved each other and Harry is the proof of that love. Voldemort, on the other hand, was conceived by one parent who was obsessively in love and another who was under the influence of a love potion. Neither parent had a good kind of love, so he wasn't the result of a good kind of love by any means and thus, didn't understand the good side of love and never could. Merope couldn't even love her own child enough to care for herself and remain living, so he didn't even get to experience a mother's love. Which brings me to another aspect. While I do feel for Merope, I don't think she truly loved Tom Riddle, and given her circumstances and upbringing, I'm not sure that she could have understood a true love. If she had reallly loved Tom, she would have been more concerned with his happiness and would never have slipped him the love potion. I'm wondering though, if she came to have that true real love for him and that that's why she stopped giving him the love potion. -------------------- Sorting begins soon for HBP! click here if you like shiny stuff - Hogwarts House Colors by request!

DorisTLC View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 10:34 AM Post #3
Waiting for Wednesdays Posts: 9,150 Joined: 7:57am January 28, 2005 Location: Hiding from Hurricanes	QUOTE How does love factor into the downfall of Voldemort? Is love really the power that Harry has and the Dark Lord lacks? Looking beyond Harry, does love impact any of the other characters enough to help defeat Voldemort? This makes me think of Huey Louis' song "The Power of Love!" It amazes me how simple, yet beautiful the powerful message of this series is. A powerful wizard defeated by a baby; this same wizard's plans are thwarted by the same baby now a teen; in the end this baby, now a young adult finally kills him. Yet it's not magic that made him who he is, Harry Potter is "The boy who lived" because of love. That love gave his mother the power to step in front of him to save him, and the same love gave him the power to step in front of his friends to save them. Love was the true magic, and one we can all posess. QUOTE Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 The Dark Lord had power, and in a duel of magical talents might have won, but Harry had the power the Dark Lord knew not. Love! Harry is the greater man. -------------------- avatar by The Rockin Leaky Staff, WWDD icon by JeffHPFan Tell us what Dumbledore has taught you!

leakylurker View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 10:48 AM Post #4
Resident Speech Therapist (It's dahy-uh-dem, Crabbe!) Posts: 2,232 Joined: 9:18pm July 11, 2005 Location: Second star to the left...	fwooper I think that part of the reason why Merope stopped giving Tom Riddle, Sr. the love potion, is because she really did care about or love him, but I also think part of it is because she wanted to experience true love herself. She knew Tom was with her only because of a trick, and that obviously just wasn't the same as him being there of his own will. Bummer it didn't work out when the potion stopped! Aw, I do feel bad for Merope. She never learned how to foster and grow real love as a child I suppose, so the only thing she knew how to do as an adult was use magic. Why is Harry still capable of love after all he's been through? My opinion here is based on real life experience. I work with kids from birth to three and I have learned over the years how unbelievably important that first year to 18 months in terms of "shaping" your child. The more love and caring and nurturing and guiding and setting good examples the better. We all know bratty toddlers who grow up to be bratty teenagers and bratty adults. So in my opinion- and from what we know about the Potters- Harry must have had a really wonderful 15 months before he was orphaned. He may not remember Lily and James's love cognitively, but I think he remembers it emotionally, and so he has that base to work off for his entire childhood. This for me is the fundamental difference between Tom Riddle, Jr. and Harry. They have so many things similar in their backstory, but Tom never had the advantage of parental love in those very early and important months. -------------------- I wish you peace and love and happiness in everything you do, I pray that everywhere you go some one will be in love with you… The Mudbloods thanks fw00per!

cloudpic View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 11:53 AM Post #5
Leaky Cauldron Napkin Folder Posts: 3,432 Joined: 7:07pm July 23, 2005 Location: waving from the attic window of the Lily and Stag	Why is Harry still capable of love after all he's been through? It's difficult, isn't it? to comprehend the impact those earliest years of loving, nurturing parenting has on a person's being? leakylurker, your personal experience underlines my own concerning those earliest years! Even within a family, when the parents are distracted by a life crisis of some sort, their can be huge differences in the children. From what I've read, it seems research bears out our observations. JKRowling seems to be a keen observer of human nature, perhaps that's why we see the strength we do in some characters and the fragility in others. So, I guess I agree that his early loving nurturing... and the later knowledge that Doris mentioned that Harry's mother (and his father too) both gave their lives for him are what sustained this boy. The love of friends both peers and adults bolstered him too. Much has been said about the lack of "presence" Hermione's parents seem to have in her life in the series.... but Hermione seems to be a very loved child to me. The Grangers gave this child a strong love foundation it seems, even if we weren't given many glimpses of it. Just having read that awful scene from HBP with Merope, she seems nearly the most damaged and the one who passed on the most damage. I lean toward fw00per's idea that Merope didn't love Tom Riddle Sr., but after reading leakylurker's note about her withdrawing the potion... perhaps as a test? Maybe she did try? Poor thing. They say boys especially learn about love from their mothers. Tom Riddle Jr. had little knowledge of his mother, and when he did gain a bit, it seemed to reinforce only the bad in him. I love your question about contrasting Molly and Arthur's love to Petunia and Vernon's, Becky... but I'll have to stop back later for that!! -------------------- mokey's blessing: Lily and Stag Butterfly

fidelia View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 01:16 PM Post #6
Ollivander's Apprentice Posts: 1,994 Joined: 7:39pm March 11, 2007 Location: wandering in the Forbidden Forest, listening for the Phoenix song	QUOTE(becky920 @ Feb 12 2008, 11:00 AM) We talked about the different types of love -- love between friends, a mother's love, romantic love, obsessive love -- which type of love do you think is the most important to the outcome of the series, and why? [/b] What great questions! I think I'll start with the one which most intrigued me! I would have to say that romantic, passionate love had its place in HP. If Severus hadn't loved Lily since the age of 10 and never waivered in his devotion, Harry would have been dead many times over - and he never would have been able to make the profound choices he did. Severus is a case in point that passionate love does have a ripple effect beyond the two people it encircles. But I'd have to say that the broader love of family and of society holds pride of place. Lily's love for Harry was the only known instance where certain death was defeated through love. Likewise, Harry's deep love for the entire wizarding world enabled him to put one foot in front of the other to go to what he presumed to be his certain death. If I walk away with any one image of the power of love in HP, it is that image of Harrry walking into the forest. That scene is the culmination of the entire series! JKR did the most amazing "visual" there of loving the people in your life so much as to want more for them than you want for yourself. This post has been edited by fidelia: Feb 16 2008, 01:19 PM -------------------- Sorting begins soon for HBP! Follow the Lily and Stag on twitter, too! thanks, twiddlethosedials, for the siggy

Oxymoronic View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 01:56 PM Post #7
Monster Book Stacker Posts: 373 Joined: 7:34pm September 10, 2007 Location: Wandering through wondering...	QUOTE We talked about the different types of love -- love between friends, a mother's love, romantic love, obsessive love -- which type of love do you think is the most important to the outcome of the series, and why? Ah yes, one of my favorite topics. As to which type of love I think is the most important in this series - I'd have to agree with fidelia I suppose and say the more general love between family and friends. After all, Harry and Ginny (and Ron and Hermione of course) were friends before they became romantically involved. Friendship is the basis for any solid romance, I think. And friendship of course, brings me to my lovely Luna Lovegood. (Sorry, that name gets me every time! ) That ceiling in her bedroom that Harry stumbles upon is one of my favorite parts in the entire series. Just a simply lovely and eloquent message about the power of friendship. Neville grew to love his friends as well - actually, that group that went to the Ministry in OoTP were bonded ever tighter by those shared experiences. And of course, Harry and Hermione have always been made to feel like family in the Weasley household. I think one of the things I'll miss the most about the stories is when Harry meets up with the people he loves best after spending a dreadful time with the Dursleys during the summer months. It's almost like, when Harry would arrive at the Burrow (or wherever the Weasleys happened to be at the time), I'd breathe a sigh of relief along with him. This was his family, and they became 'our' family too. Ok, enough of the mushy stuff! This post has been edited by Oxymoronic: Feb 16 2008, 02:01 PM -------------------- All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions - Leonardo da Vinci

Wandguardnoodle View Member Profile	Feb 16 2008, 02:50 PM Post #8
Smart Cookie Posts: 3,108 Joined: 1:26am September 30, 2006 Location: Somewhere in time and space	QUOTE(cloudpic @ Feb 16 2008, 11:53 AM) They say boys especially learn about love from their mothers. Tom Riddle Jr. had little knowledge of his mother, and when he did gain a bit, it seemed to reinforce only the bad in him. That's interesting. I've never thought of it like that. But now I come to think of it - it must be very important that Harry knows that his mother (and father, for that matter) died for him, just as it's important that Tom Riddle knows that his mother didn't put more effort to stay alive for her son. To add that to the fact that Harry got to experience a lot of love for the first months of his life and Tom didn't get that - and here you go: one evil kid and one kid that's full of love. Compare and contrast the love between Molly and Arthur and the love between Petunia and Vernon. What is the difference between the way Molly loves her family, and Petunia loves hers? I think, these two couples are very different. We know that Molly and Arthur fell in love when at Hogwarts and rushed to get married. I don't think that they cared about anything else (well, maybe only about the fact that they might die before they get married). Whereas I've always got the impression that Petunia and Vernon (even though they probably love each other in some way, too) also care a lot about the status that the marriage gives them, and it's important that they both care about that - I mean, Vernon has a pretty high position at work and Petunia certainly got a convenient and comfortable life when she married him, and so they both try to preserve that. I think, Petunia and Molly love their families very differently. Petunia lets Dudley do anything, fusses about him all the time (when she's not fussing about cleaning the house). And Molly understands that love is more than just letting her kids do anything they want. She wants to teach them about life and stuff like that. -------------------- I could easily forgive his pride, if he had not mortified mine. (P&P) Images from hallonpaj, phistolemon_, alata_elentari @LJ.