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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Analysis

By: Harleen

    Hello everyone. In this article, I will be discussing one of the most prominent themes in this book as well as the rest of the series. Although this theme has been evident in the rest of the Harry Potter saga, I felt that it was referred to most often and was an integral part of the Chamber of Secrets more than any other Harry Potter book so far. The theme I am talking about is how are choices making us who we are, and not our innate qualities. I will also be discussing Fawkes and what he means in the Harry Potter saga.
    First of all, in Harry's world of magic, there are many race issues such as Mudbloods and Purebloods as well as "half-humans" such as Hagrid and the house elf Dobby. Harry realizes these issues when he meets Dobby and learns the history and fate of house elves. He also faces the other racial issues when Malfoy calls Hermione a Mudblood. However, all of this hardly stops Harry from associating with them, nor does it change his attitude toward them. He persists in this why? Because he chooses too. Although he shares numerous similarities with Voldemort in both their characteristics
and the circumstances in which they were born and raised, Harry takes a very different path than Tom Riddle did. 
    It became quite clear when Harry pulled Godric Gryffindor's sword out of the Sorting hat that, although they are taken from the same mold, Harry and Voldemort are of very different qualities altogether. These choices have made Harry who he is and will most likely save him in later books.
    Also, while rereading Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them, I noticed that Basilisk and Parselmouth both contain a name of an herb in their names. Basil in Basilisk and parsley in Parselmouth. Also, the wizard who made the first Basilisk was Herpo the Foul. Herpo is Latin for reptile.
    Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, is also an essential symbol in the Chamber of Secrets. Fawkes helps Harry defeat the Basilisk in the Chamber and the phoenix song strengthens Harry both in the Chamber and in the graveyard in the Goblet of Fire. This strengthening of courage shows the inextricable link between Fawkes the phoenix and Godric Gryffindor. And the phoenix is mentioned again in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when the name of the organization against Voldemort is named after a phoenix. It is most likely that Fawkes and the phoenix will stay an important part of the Harry Potter books, whether it saves Harry yet again or represents the end of Lord Voldemort, once and for all.