While the Harry Potter Universe is teeming with symbols, one of the more significant ones throughout the novels has been the spider. The most fascinating thing about spiders in Harry Potter is that they are given a dual nature, as they represent both usefulness and fear, depending on the perspective. To Harry, spiders have never been any cause for concern. In fact, as the story progressed, Harry's opinion of spiders may have even improved. However, from Ron's point of view, spiders are a great cause for concern, resulting in fear and panic.
We know from the beginning of The Philosopher's Stone that Harry has cohabitated agreeably with spiders. "Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks. He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them, and that was where he slept." (PS page 20 - note: all text references are UK version) This demonstrates that Harry is perfectly tolerant towards spiders - they don't bother Harry and Harry doesn't squash them if they climb on his socks- whereas for most people (myself included) having to spend a night in a cupboard full of spiders would be considered a horrific form of torture.
Then, in Chamber of Secrets, spiders play an even more important role in Harry's adventures. Hagrid tells Harry and Ron, "If anyone wanted ter find out some stuff, all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the spiders." (CoS page 194) However, Harry's agreeable view towards spiders is put to the test when, after following them into the Forest, he meets Aragog. "Craning his neck sideways, he realised that they had reached the rim of a vast hollow which had been cleared of trees, so that the stars shone brightly onto the worst scene he had ever clapped eyes upon. Spiders. Not tiny spiders like those surging over the leaves below. Spiders the size of carthorses, eight-eyed, eight-legged, black, hairy, gigantic." (CoS page 204) However, Harry comes out of this experience only slightly traumatized, and realizes that even though Aragog didn't tell him what was in the Chamber, they did get other useful information out of him. " 'Ron - that girl who died. Aragog said she was found in a bathroom,' said Harry, ignoring Neville's snuffling snores from the corner. 'What if she never left the bathroom? What if she's still there?' Ron rubBed">bed his eyes, frowning through the moonlight. And then he understood. 'You don't think- not Moaning Myrtle?" (CoS page 209) In this case, the spiders give Harry the clue that he needs to solve the mystery, thus saving Ginny and preventing the school from being closed.
Spiders have helped Harry, though indirectly, another time so far in the series. During the Third Task in The Goblet of Fire, Harry is presented with a difficult choice- he can reach the centre of the maze quickly by solving a riddle, or else take a longer route around. The riddle states:
"First think of the person who lives in disguise,
Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.
Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend,
The middle of middle and end of the end?
And finally give me the sound often heard
During the search for a hard-to-find word.
Now string them together, and answer me this,
Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"
(GoF page 546)
Once again, spiders play a crucial role in the story. " 'A creature I wouldn't want to kiss... a spider!' The sphinx smiled more broadly. She got up, stretched her front legs, and then moved aside for him to pass." (GoF page 547)
Therefore, to Harry, spider references do not evoke feelings of terror, but instead symbolize a cooperative relationship that has proven its usefulness many times throughout Harry's life.
On the opposite side of the spectrum is Ron, who fears spiders more than anything else, as demonstrated by his Boggart in The Prisoner of Azkaban. To Ron, spiders symbolize pure terror. "Many people had their eyes shut tight. Ron was muttering to himself, 'Take its legs off.' Harry was sure he knew what that was about. Ron's greatest fear was spiders." (PoA page 103) Ron's fear of spiders is almost ingrained in him, considering that despite his Gryffindor daring, he cringes at the mere mention of them. A considerably traumatic childhood experience accounts for this fear: " 'It's not funny,' said Ron fiercely. 'If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my - my teddy bear into a dirty great spider because I broke his toy broomstick. You wouldn't like it either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and...' He broke off shuddering." (CoS page 117)
Meeting Aragog only heightens Ron's fear. "Ron looked exactly like Harry felt. His mouth was stretched wide in a kind of silent scream and his eyes were popping." (CoS page 204-205) Ron even becomes sick following the encounter. Being afraid also causes him to disregard any usefulness of the meeting with Aragog, "What was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out, I'd like to know?" Only Harry can look past the trauma resulting from their meeting to derive merit from it.
Therefore, Ron's reaction to spiders is exactly opposite that of Harry's. Ron can stand dead spiders in potions, but while they are alive he wants nothing to do with them, and fears them so much that he disregards their usefulness.
Which brings us to a vital question: why is this duality important? Well, for one, it has created a considerable amount of comic relief during tense moments in the first five books, but it could also play a critical role in future books. There have been too many references to spiders and their dual nature of being both useful and frightening to stop at the end of book five. In fact, they may be more useful than we think: J.K. Rowling recently stated, "The link I mentioned between books two and six ...relates to a discovery Harry made in 'Chamber' that foreshadows something that he finds out in 'Prince'." (www.jkrowling.com) Among other things, Harry discovers a lot about spiders in CoS, including the fact that there is an entire battalion of spiders in the Forbidden Forest. Also, when asked whether Aragog would appear in any future books, J.K. Rowling replied, "Yes. But I'm not telling you anymore than that!" (source) Perhaps this is the ominous link between books two and six, but whether it is or isn't, it is very likely that Aragog, and the rest of the spiders, could carry more importance than we currently believe. However, the real question is whether the spiders prove themselves to be useful, or whether Ron was right to fear them. |
User reviews
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| bashful |
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| 2006.07.09 |
I do agree to an extent
there are some great points but i just have to add...
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| cho |
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| 2006.03.02 |
wow! i'm really amazed about your profecy.If you had read HBP correctly, yo...
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| hermyslilsis |
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| 2005.12.31 |
HBP reveals that the vital information we found out in CoS was that the dia...
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| Fantasy Lvr |
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| 2005.07.10 |
Hmm.. never really thought about that before...
For myself, I don't thin...
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| kiRa |
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| 2005.06.28 |
brilliant theory. it did shed some insight on a fascinating relation of HP ...
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| Luna |
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| 2005.03.30 |
Nice theory. When contemplating what the link was between book 2 and 6, I ...
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| Russell Lahy |
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| 2005.03.29 |
An interesting theory, and one I had not heard before. JKR did mention a li...
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