Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (vol. I)

J.K. Rowling’s seventh installment of her highly successful Harry Potter book series proved to be an interesting work but left much to be desired. As a new comer to the series, I had only two basic ideas beginning the work: 1) as the seventh book, one infers that Harry has fought and defeated six villains/problems before making him a tested hero. 2) Harry has some special ability which must be developed in order to defeat the villain. However, the first half of the book finds Harry struggling with issues of his mission’s worth and even finding a course of action to take. His companion Ron remarks to Harry in desperation, “We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan” (307). The harsh assertion by Ron is quite accurate as Harry only formulates a firm sense of purpose and plan after the death of Dobby (page 485). I personally felt that the seventh installment of a hero series should wrestle with deeper issues in the heart of the hero. While Harry’s struggle to regain confidence in his mentor and his purpose was interesting, I think a deeper exploration of Harry’s sense of his own mortality (which was touched on at the end of the work) would have been more engaging.