Famous doors in literature

In the world of literature often the most mundane objects take on a magical and mystical meaning lending depth and dimension to the narrative, one such example being the door.Doors in literature often symbolise beginnings, ends or choices presenting an unknown path for the hero/heroine to embark on and often metaphorically representing emotional struggles or changes to the tone of the story.

One of the most famous doors in literature is the door of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens 1843 novel " A Christmas Carol". When Ebenezer arrives home the eventful Christmas eve on which the book's events take place the door knocker, an unremarkable but oversized piece of architectural ironmongery turns briefly into the face of his former business partner Jacob Marley, heralding the visit of the 3 ghosts that take Ebenezer on a whistle stop tour of his wrong-doings and failures to help him see the error of his ways.

Another famous door features in Lewis Carroll's " Alice in Wonderland". After falling down the rabbit hole Alice finds herself trapped, surrounded by locked doors and the only key she can find fits a door far too small for her. Eventually, after finding a way of shrinking herself down to size she manages to make it through the door, marking the beginning of her adventures in Wonderland.

In J.R.R Tolkien's " Fellowship of the Ring" , the first of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the fellowship are forced to take the dark and dangerous path through the mines of Moria but on their arrival find the way barred by a magical door lock in the form of a riddle.After managing to work out the answer they continue into the mountain but find the dwarven inhabitants have been murdered and are forced to flee losing Gandalf the wizard, a valuable member of the fellowship and barely escaping with their lives. The magical door and it's mystical door lock symbolise an ending and a transition. In losing Gandalf, the undoubted leader and source of knowledge, the company are forced to regroup and mature.

In the Harry Potter series the theme of doors reoccurs symbolising new discoveries in Harry's journey through the world of Magic.  A door such as the entrance to the "Chamber of Secrets" which looks like an architectural Ironmongery door with snake detail but instead is magically sealed and the chamber can only be opened using " parseltongue" the language of snakes, often a mark of darkness in a wizard. The door into the chamber of secrets marks a growing maturity for Harry as he begins to find out more about him and Lord Voldemort's complicated past.

Later in the series comes the book " The Order of the Phoenix" in which Harry arrives at 12 Grimmauld Place, ancestral home of his godfather Sirius Black and headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. The door to 12 Grimmauld Place is magically concealed and appears from between Numbers 11 and 13, only to those who are aware of its existence. Behind the doors of  Number 12 Harry is reunited with his godfather and learns more about his family, is subjected to abuse at the hands of a treacherous house elf and deals with loss and grief eventually becoming the person he needs to be to defeat Voldemort once and for all.

 

Finally, arguably one of literature's most famous doors, is the wardrobe door from C.S Lewis's "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe", book two of  "The Chronicles of Narnia".In the book 4 children have been evacuated from London during the world war II and are staying in a sprawling country mansion full of mysterious nooks and crannies ripe for exploring. During a game of hide and seek Lucy, the youngest finds a wardrobe which transports her to the magical world of Narnia. Much has been said about the allusions C.S Lewis made and the book is widely believed to be symbolic of the Christianity using Aslan, the omnipresent and benevolent lion, to represent God, guiding the children as God guides Christians.

Whether it is a wooden door complete with architectural ironmongery or a magical door accessible only through a spell most of us identify with the themes laid out by the authors.

 

Source : articlesbase.com