Harry Potter and the Unresolved Oedipus Complex – Part 2
Continued from PART ONE.
Another major symbol in the Harry Potter series is the snake. It is almost needless to point out that a snake is a phallic symbol. I would argue that the climax of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, in which Harry must go through a secret entrance in a girl’s bathroom to a cave in which he does battle with a massive snake, represents his struggle for normal development. In addition to this, Harry is able to talk to snakes, and this is a massive taboo within the wizarding world. The fact that speaking parseltongue is an indication of evil for most wizards could be a symbol for the way in which the subject is alienated from his primitive instincts and desires by the demands and judgements of society. Further phallic imagery abounds throughout the novel. Wands are obvious, as is the sword of Gryffindor. All of these are objects through which Harry can channel his power throughout the novels. They are expressions of his inner power, and if they are taken away he is powerless. Hagrid, who had his wand snapped, serves as a warning throughout the novels. It could be argued that the frilly pink umbrella, in which he stores the pieces of his wand, is a sign of Hagrid’s feminisation by the loss of his wand. Expulsion is a constant threat, and Harry comes very close to it and escapes several times throughout the series. I view this as a representation of castration anxiety.
The other evidence that Harry has an Oedipus complex is extensive. Ginny, the girl who Harry ends up marrying, looks like his dead mother. Lily Potter has long, thick, dark, red hair. Ginny also has long, thick, dark red hair. They must look pretty similar. Does the fact that Harry is attracted to Ginny point to an unconscious attraction to his own mother? In addition to this, you could argue that since Ginny is his best friend’s sister, she is ‘forbidden’ and off-limits in the same way that marrying his own mother would be. Also, when Voldemort kills Harry’s parents, his father is killed first. This means that his mother dies cradling him, and this results in the lightning shaped scar he has. He gets full possession of his mother before her death, and evidence of this is left in a permanent mark on his head. This doesn’t mean that Harry is happy on a conscious level about his father’s death, and in fact it causes him a great deal of trauma as would be expected. The Oedipal conflict operates completely in the unconscious, and the effort it takes to repress traumatic memories and desires is what causes symptoms to manifest themselves. If the death of Harry’s parents represents a kind of wish fulfilment, he is unaware of it.
It is also important to remember that Voldemort, the representation of pure evil, literally has achieved the Oedipal fantasy. He killed his father, Tom Riddle, to avenge his mother’s death. Voldemort represents what happens when the demands of society are ignored for the primitive demands of the unconscious, (what Freud would call the Id). He also clearly has some unresolved issues- his obsessive protection of Nagini throughout Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows could be argued to represent a kind of castration anxiety.
Overall, I think it would be really interesting to look into this subject further and with real academic research. There are lots of things I haven’t mentioned, such as the antagonism between Harry and Snape, who loved Harry’s mother, the excessive inadequate father figures throughout the novels, etc. I would love to talk more about it, but if I don’t stop now I am going to start waffling about people ‘riding’ around with wood between their legs playing with their balls. (Quidditch.) And sometimes a broomstick is just a broomstick.
End of Article
Written by Lucy Pratt, Edited by Sara Slack
