• spaceghoti
    +3

    Interesting theory, but it is really over interpretation. But that's what makes it fun to read.

    I agree. The part that fascinated me the most is that viewed from that perspective the story makes just as much sense.

    • Wenjarich
      +5

      Except the endin where they are all adults with kids and happy doesn't really fit into the theory as far as I can see.

      • septimine
        +4

        Unless he's cured at the end. That could work. They electroshock Voldemort out of Harry and he can go on with life.

      • Bastou
        +4

        I think it's not the ending J.K Rowling intended either, but she gave in to fan expectations.

      • spaceghoti
        +4

        Why not? It's an escape into fantasy, and who wants to live a fantasy that doesn't have a happy ending?

        • Wenjarich
          +5

          Well as far as I understand in the explanation, hogwarts represents the mental institute/ special school harry goes to. The death of voldemort suggests his alter ego no longer haunts him (would that be why he is allowed to leave/stop attending?) Or does his departure from the hospital imply that he has completely seperated from reality and everything he perceives is imaginary which allows for his happy ending?

          It's actually interesting to think about this sort of thing because I attempted to write a similar concept in the writing prompt tribe. It's how I interpreted the prompt given. I kept trying to ask myself, how would it look to him, which given I'm not insane, or at least don't think I am :P, was rather challenging.

          • spaceghoti
            +3

            That's the joy of fantasy, it could mean any number of things. The ending of the book could represent Harry's eventual rehabilitation and return to normal life, or it could represent his final descent into madness. It could represent relationships he's formed with his fellow patients and their caretakers. It could mean he's not cured but he's worked out a way to reconcile his fantasy with the real world so he's at least functional. Or he could be completely comatose and this is all just a dream he never wakes from.

            Part of the fun is that it becomes a Rorschach test. What you think it means says more about you than the story itself.