THANATOPSIS - "view of death"

So, I finally read this poem by William Cullen Bryant. I finally read it without distractions, and I must say that it is now one of my favorite poems.

It talks about the inevitability of death. The Earth, which has nourished you and I,will, in the end, "Claim thy growth, to be resolved to earth again." The poem further tells as that in death we are all equal: though we may have been wealthy or impoverished in our lives, in death there are no differences.

In the end, the poem says: So live, that when thy summons come to join The innumerable caravan, which moves To that mysterious realm, where each shall take His chamber in the silent halls of death, Though go not, like the quarry-slave at night, Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave, Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch About him, and liest down to pleasant dreams. In simpler words: live the kind of life worth remembering by those you leave behind.

Dobby is FREE

One of the characters who die in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is Dobby the house elf. The Harry Potter audience was first introduced to the lovable elf during the second installment of the series, The Chamber of Secrets. He was still the house elf - more like slave - of the Malfoy family. And though this may be the predicament Dobby is in, he believed in what is right by warning Harry of the dangers he may find himself in if he goes back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy in his second year. It was a risky move, nevertheless, Dobby was only doing what he can do to save a life.

By the end of Chamer of Secrets, Dobby is already a free elf, thanks to harry. From there after, Dobby is forever grateful for Harry's act of kindness.

During the 5 years  Dobby was a free elf, he would now and then turn up to be of help to the young man who gave him freedom. In the film version of Deathly Hallows, we see that Dobby is making the most out of his freedom, even wearing a pair of sneakers (or trainers), as one can see by looking closely at the photo below.

He helped save lives, and if in doing so he lost his own, I say that Dobby had not died in vain. Had he not shown up at Malfoy manor, grave things could have happened and we could have seen the end of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. So I believe that Dobby died a hero.

And I admit, I did get a bit teary-eyed when I watched his death in the film. He was such an adorable little creature and he was killed by a crazy bitch witch in the form of Bellatrix Lestrange.

One may also notice how different Dobby looks in Deathly Hallows. He looks better than he did in Chamber of Secrets. In Deathly Hallows, he looks realistic and almost tangible. Maybe it's the result of how much CGI technology progressed over the years. Or maybe the change in Dobby's appearance can be looked at symbolically: the freedom Dobby enjoyed for five years had an effect on his appearance. He was no longer distraught or punished for missteps he makes as a house elf. He was a happy elf and that showed.

When Dobby died, he definitely died in peace. He did a heroic act before he died by saving Harry Potter and his friends. 

Dobby said it best: "Dobby has  no master! Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby has come to save Harry Potter and his friends!"

From there, Dobby definitely became free.

Lost in a Symbol

Today's a fine Monday on the first day of November. The weather is not intolerably hot nor is it cold enough to make you feel sleepy. Yet, I actually still feel sleepy despite the eight hours of sleep I had last night. My sleepiness is brought on by my late night reading of the novel The Lost Symbol.

I am a fan of Dan Brown's writing, as proven by my good impression of his latest work. Symbols, suspense, mysticism, history, etc. all come together in this compelling novel. It's one of those books I don't want to put down but would have to because there are other things that I need to attend to.

But I guess that my want to read more and more of the book is a good thing. It means that the book was so well-written that I could not get enough of it.

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