I find myself confused by why Harry’s interpretation of “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” is the logical one. The use of the word “last” in conjunction with Harry’s interpretation either makes the statement pessimistic—that death is clearly more intractable than all our other problems, and thus will be last to be defeated—or implies that death logically takes the backseat to all other problems. I feel like the quote makes much more sense in the context of death being the final obstacle for each individual to grapple with and accept.
Overall I greatly enjoyed the sentiment of the chapter, and I found the incorporation of the Peverells to be especially clever, but the aforementioned line brings with it a great deal of friction.
There’s another reasonable interpretation: that once you’ve solved death, that’s the last real problem you have, and everything else can be fixed given enough time, and there is no need to destroy one’s enemies (‘do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?’).
With enough time, even Satan can be redeemed (which is, of course, a serious heresy).
I understand it as, “when death is defeated, there won’t be real enemies anymore, because there is nothing so terrible someone can do to you or your friends if they can’t kill”. Of course it’s not fully true, Neville’s parents who were driven insane by torture are in a state as bad as death if not worse. But then, it can be considered that destroying their personality is killing them. And most importantly, it’s a motto, mottos are always a bit oversimplification and exaggerating.
I definitely see much more twisting in understanding this motto as “destroyed” is just “make peace with” than as “last enemy” meaning that once death if defeated, there aren’t any true enemies left.
It’s a semantics thing. Once death is destroyed, no (human) enemy can be; they can be disabled, rehabilitated, but no enemy can ever be killed again, because nobody can ever be killed again.
The absolute end of Death also requires the absolute end of Endings.
I think it’s kind of the video game concept of “the final boss.” Every other enemy is lesser, you have to build up your strength in order to defeat Death. “The last enemy to be defeated” doesn’t mean “Death is the last thing you should ever fight” or “Death has the lowest priority of all our enemies”, but rather “Death is the ultimate enemy, the worst of all, such that when we defeat it our task is done.”
I find myself confused by why Harry’s interpretation of “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” is the logical one. The use of the word “last” in conjunction with Harry’s interpretation either makes the statement pessimistic—that death is clearly more intractable than all our other problems, and thus will be last to be defeated—or implies that death logically takes the backseat to all other problems. I feel like the quote makes much more sense in the context of death being the final obstacle for each individual to grapple with and accept.
Overall I greatly enjoyed the sentiment of the chapter, and I found the incorporation of the Peverells to be especially clever, but the aforementioned line brings with it a great deal of friction.
There’s another reasonable interpretation: that once you’ve solved death, that’s the last real problem you have, and everything else can be fixed given enough time, and there is no need to destroy one’s enemies (‘do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?’).
With enough time, even Satan can be redeemed (which is, of course, a serious heresy).
I understand it as, “when death is defeated, there won’t be real enemies anymore, because there is nothing so terrible someone can do to you or your friends if they can’t kill”. Of course it’s not fully true, Neville’s parents who were driven insane by torture are in a state as bad as death if not worse. But then, it can be considered that destroying their personality is killing them. And most importantly, it’s a motto, mottos are always a bit oversimplification and exaggerating.
I definitely see much more twisting in understanding this motto as “destroyed” is just “make peace with” than as “last enemy” meaning that once death if defeated, there aren’t any true enemies left.
It’s a semantics thing. Once death is destroyed, no (human) enemy can be; they can be disabled, rehabilitated, but no enemy can ever be killed again, because nobody can ever be killed again.
The absolute end of Death also requires the absolute end of Endings.
The reminds me of Terry Pratchett. Both Hogfather and the Thief of Time have plots about ending time itself which would end Death.
I think it’s kind of the video game concept of “the final boss.” Every other enemy is lesser, you have to build up your strength in order to defeat Death. “The last enemy to be defeated” doesn’t mean “Death is the last thing you should ever fight” or “Death has the lowest priority of all our enemies”, but rather “Death is the ultimate enemy, the worst of all, such that when we defeat it our task is done.”