Reflection week 13

This week, I’ve decided to reflect on my going to the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as I was sick and missed class Thursday. While this may sound like an unusual topic to connect to international relations, Harry Potter does relate to our class discussions, although perhaps not to our previous week.

Within the movie, the Death Eaters can be easily equated to what are terrorists today. They thrive on others fear, spreading panic throughout the wizarding community. The Death Eaters banded together through a common loathing of another ‘race’ of people, with a leader to intimidate and coerce them all into compliance, becoming more and more radical as time goes on. The Death Eaters are not permitted to leave Voldemort’s service, for fear of their own death as well as harm to their loved ones. The Death Eaters operate through chaos, and some of their notoriety comes from the fact that no one knows when they will strike, or how to prevent it. The Death Eaters remain loyal to their leader at all costs, some out of genuine fidelity, others out of fear. But the fact remains that they flock to Voldemort to do his bidding, regardless of the time, place, or request.

A direct comparison can be drawn to, for example, the Taliban. Members of the Taliban are at first drawn to it due to their hatred of those of a different religion or nationality. They remain in the Taliban after indoctrination with a fear that their families will be harmed if they attempt to disband. The Taliban’s Osama Bin Laden acts as Lord Voldemort in that he has absolute control of the Taliban, dictates their movements, and has control over their livelihood. The Taliban functions through their terrorist mentality, striking without warning and without mercy.

Therefore, by analyzing the Death Eater’s mentality, many parallels can be drawn to today’s Taliban, and the ‘mudbloods’ and other enemies of The Dark Lord can be seen as non-Muslims, or those enemies of the current Taliban.