Abstract

The British author J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series has attracted attention widely by academics since it was first published. The study of it can be said to be diversified. This essay took the snake image as the main point, discusses from several aspects, to do some meaningful exploration on the study of Harry Potter.

 The first part is a brief introduction of J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter series. The literature review at home and abroad, and a comparison between the Eastern and Western culture about serpents are also in this part. 

Part 2 is about Harry’s first encounter with the snake and Harry resonated with this snake in the zoo. 

Part 3 presents a relatively systematic and detailed analysis of the symbol of Slytherin. 

Part 4 focuses on the Basilisk in the secret chamber. It’s not only the terrible monster hidden in the chamber, but also the guard of Slytherin.

 Part 5 is about the most important serpent image, Voldemort’s pet and horcrux Nagini. It was the tool of killing and also reflects the alienation of Voldemort’s human nature. 

The last part comes to the conclusion and gives an evaluation to the serpent images in Harry Potter series. The opposition between good and evil is well showed and the growth of Harry is connected with Voldemort through serpent images.

Key words: Harry Potter; serpent image; Slythrin; Voldemort

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1 Introduction.1

1.1J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter..1

1.2Serpent image in culture.2

2The first interaction between Harry and a snake.3

2.1 Harry’s first encounter with the snake3

2.2 The empathy between Harry and the snake4

3The symbol of Slytherin.5

3.1 The House mascot of Slytherin5

3.2 The connection between serpent and the Slytherins.6

4The Basilisk in the secret chamber.7

4.1 The monster in the chamber.7

4.2 The guard of Slytherin8

5Voldemort’s pet— Nagini.10

5.2 The Horcrux and the tool of killing .10

5.2 The alienation of Voldemort12

6 Conclusion13

References15