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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Book Themes

You Can’t Fight Evil With Evil

Prisoner of Azkaban harbors some of Harry’s most delicate personal contradictions among all seven books. For the first and only time in the series, Voldemort’s presence is completely absent from the story. Thus, Harry isn’t struggling with the external battle between him and Voldemort, but instead he’s coping with the fiery feelings of anger and hatred brought on by finding out that Sirius Black-—his godfather and parents’ dear friend—-betrayed Harry’s parents to Voldemort.

Harry is out for vengeance: he even considers killing Sirius Black. He carries these feelings of hatred until the climax, when he learns that the true betrayer of his parents was not Sirius, but Peter Pettigrew. Despite Harry’s previous conviction at condemning his parents’ betrayer, Harry surprises us all by sparing Pettigrew’s life. Harry’s ability to set aside his insurmountable hatred for Pettigrew and pain at his parents’ death is incredible. How easy would it have been to let Sirius or Lupin kill Pettigrew? All too easy.

Instead, Harry chooses mercy over revenge, embodying the type of integrity that would make his parents proud. And good thing he did, because justice was served in the end anyway — when Pettigrew was strangled by his own hand in Deathly Hallows. Vengeance is never the key, because vengeance only puts a person on the same level as their betrayer. Like Harry, those who choose not to fight against evil will find themselves conquering it all the same.

Standing for Justice

There is a definite thread running through the plot of Azkaban on the innocent being condemned. First, we have Buckbeak—-an animal, for goodness sake-—being sentenced to death for a “crime” he didn’t purposefully commit. Then, we have Sirius Black, wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he certainly didn’t commit. Lastly, we have Peter Pettigrew, awaiting punishment for a crime he positively did commit.

It’s not until the end of the book that justice is served in each situation. Even though Buckbeak and Sirius are innocent and Pettigrew is guilty, all three experience the same result: being spared from death. This brings up an interesting point about the many faces that “justice” can take. Foremost, justice and law are two very different things. Both Sirius and Buckbeak are trapped by bad law, given punishments for crimes they did not commit. They face justice as freedom.

Conversely, Pettigrew has benefitted by bad law, awaiting punishment from his old friends. Instead of receiving justice as punishment, Pettigrew faces justice as mercy from death. Sparing even a guilty man from death reminds us that doling out punishments is not what’s important; instead, what matters is seeking justice in a situation—which is exactly what Harry, Ron, and Hermione do.

Fearing Fear Itself

With the introduction of dementors in this book, the presence of fear and darkness rises like never before. In fact, Harry’s boggart happens to be a dementor, which suggests, according to Lupin: “What you fear most of all is fear. Very wise, Harry.” But what exactly is fear? What does Lupin even mean?

Well, since dementors bring up the worst memories in a person, it’s safe to say that fearing dementors means that Harry’s greatest fear is his past. Okay, but why is this wise? Perhaps because instead of fearing Voldemort, Harry fears something much deeper within himself — and internal fears can be overcome. Whereas, if Harry’s greatest fear was Voldemort like Lupin assumed it was, then Harry’s greatest fear would be death, which is impossible to overcome.

Fearing fear itself is what motivates Harry to pursue Voldemort, and put to rest all the terrible pain of his past that Voldemort has caused. Harry’s motivations show that if we are to truly stand up against evil, we must be unafraid to face death as well.

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