Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Key Facts

full title ·  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

author · J. K. Rowling

type of work · Novel

genre · Fantasy, quest, bildungsroman

language · English (translated into sixty-five languages)

time and place written · Scotland, 2005–2007

date of first publication · July 21, 2007

publisher · Scholastic Inc.

narrator · Third person

point of view · Subjective, showing Harry Potter’s thoughts and feelings (Chapter One is third-person objective, following Snape)

tone · Brooding, emotional, suspenseful

tense · Past

setting (time) · Present day

setting (place) · Various locations in the UK including London, Diagon Alley, number twelve Grimmauld Place, the Forest of Dean, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

protagonist · Harry Potter

major conflict · Harry must find and destroy Voldemort’s Horcruxes, which are well-hidden and well-defended, but he struggles with the fact that Dumbledore’s instructions are extremely cryptic, and rumors about Dumbledore undermine Harry’s confidence in him.

rising action · Harry hears rumors about Dumbledore in the obituaries, from Aunt Muriel, and from Rita Skeeter’s biography. Harry and friends receive the Snitch, Deluminator, and book, which they don’t know what to do with. Harry and friends make progress on the quest, recovering the Sword of Gryffindor, the locket, the Hufflepuff Cup, and the Lost Diadem.

climax · Harry sees Dumbledore talking to Snape in the Pensieve and learns that Dumbledore planned Harry’s death.

falling action · Harry doesn’t die and learns that Dumbledore really loved him. Harry defeats Voldemort.

themes · The difficulty of loving the dead; the importance of second chances; keeping faith with the dead

motifs · Rumor and gossip; mastering death; Avada Kedavra

symbols · The Resurrection Stone; the Elder Wand; the locket Horcrux

foreshadowing · Bill Weasley warning Harry about cheating goblins, the Snitch’s message “I open at the close”