This was a short response written for a Humanities course so when I say 'we' I am referring to what was talked about in class. If you are familiar with the Canterbury Tales then you should understand what I am talking about. Although I have realized that the word limit forced me to condense a lot and so this might be hard to follow my train of thought.
Recently, I was watching all of
the Harry Potter movies when I noticed something quite similar between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales,
specifically in The Pardoners’ Tale.
The Deathly Hallows Part 1 follows Harry as he leaves school for the
first time and sets out in pursuit of the knowledge needed to defeat Voldemort,
and ultimately death. I saw Harry’s journey as very similar to that of a
pilgrimage, although he is not on this journey because he sinned, he is doing
it for life. In analyzing the Canterbury
Tales we talked about a pilgrimage being like a road, a metaphor for life.
The pilgrims are on their journey to repent for their sins and to find
knowledge, much like Harry is on his journey to find knowledge and this is his
journey to adulthood, to find life.
We also talked about human
suffering being a result of human sin, and this directly applies to Voldemort,
whom has ‘sinned’ multiple times not only with murder and torture, but also by
cheating death. By this time in the film series you have learned much of
Voldemorts past and you know that he suffered as a young child. In Deathly Hallows you can see the
transformation this has caused him, he only cares for complete power and the
ability to exact revenge on those who caused him to suffer. The Deathly Hallows film focuses a lot on
death, and the consequences that can lead one to death, most importantly greed.
This is very similar to the tale
that the Pardoner tells. And this is seen most clearly in “The Tale of Three
Brothers” scene. The tale, read to Harry in the Deathly Hallows film, shows him what he must do to defeat Voldemort
but it also shows him what the consequences would be if he were to choose the
wrong path. When the three brothers are approached by Death they each have to
make a decision and which decision, or ‘path’, they take will determine their
fate. Two of the brothers act on greed and are later taken by Death, but the
third brother who takes a different path lives a long life.
In basic terms the decision is
black or white, good or bad, and it is very similar to the decisions Harry has
to make, and it is much like choosing a path on the road of life. That decision
determines what kind of person you are and what your fate will be. In being
forced to make these decisions the three brothers and Harry are similarly on
the same journey of self-discovery that the pilgrims are on. In the Pardoners’ Tale the three friends are
all taken by Death because of their greed for wealth and power, just as two of
the brothers from “The Tale of Three Brothers” are overcome with greed. This is
also Voldemort’s downfall, his thirst for power and for greed lead to his
death.
The themes presented in Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales, mainly The Pardoners’ Tale, are the same themes
in the storyline of Harry Potter and the
Deathly Hallows Part 1, interwoven between Harry, Voldemort, and the three
brothers.