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The Significance Of The Hero's Journey In Harry Potter

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The common theme we see in Harry Potter, in both The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Order of the Phoenix is that in both book Harry Potter is just a variant on the same hero. Do you believe that? Well, Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell studied myth and stories from all over the world and wrote the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” in that book he retold many popular stories and myth, and he explained how each story can be categized into the Hero’s Journey. Harry Potter journey in The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Order of the Phoenix can also be categized into Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey.” Harry Potter journey begins and ends in the Dursley or as Joseph Campbell calls it the “ordinary world” in both book, but Harry Potter’s journey goes through …show more content…

In the beginning of the book, Harry Potter lives with the Dursley, who are made up of his mean aunt, Petunia, his cruel uncle, Vernon, and their spoiled son, Dudley. The Dursley do not really want to raise Harry Potter, so the treat him badly by giving him a room in a cupboard under the stairs. Harry Potter is an outcast in the “ordinary world” mostly thanks to his cousin Dudley scaring all the children away from him at school and his aunt and uncle spreading lies about his dead parents, but he himself is weird thanks to wearing his cousin extra-large clothes, which make him look even more smaller and skinner than he already is, messy hair that never goes down, glasses held together with tape, and a scar on his forehead that was shaped like a bolt of lightning. We the reader know just from the first chapter that Harry Potter does not belong in the “ordinary world” but that he is bound to do much greater …show more content…

“He'll be famous -- a legend -- I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter day in the future -- there will be books written about Harry -- every child in our world will know his name!" "Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember!” (pg.14) Growing up at the Dursley has kept Harry humble, able to look out for himself, and able to tell the rotten people. Then comes along “the call to adventure” in the form of owl sending invitation to Hogwarts, somewhere Harry Potter never heard about. The Dursley refuse “the call to adventure” for Harry Potter and they go to extreme length to deny him “the call to adventure” but it seems like hiding in a cabin on a island cannot stop “the call to adventure” because Hagrid comes along and gives Harry Potter the choice of coming to the “special

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Without a doubt, the biggest struggle in an individual’s life is to show his true face in a society that only acknowledges those who wear flawless façade. In Damon Knight’s The Handler, Harry is faced with the same ordeal, as he struggles to show his true self, while the people around him pressure him to hide inside his attractive mechanical façade named Pete. Throughout the story, Knight uses characters such as, Harry, George and Pete to express one of the major flaws in society. Indeed, through these characters Knight argues that society only offers acceptance towards those who satisfy their arbitrary ideals and forces those who do not to conform to it. To begin with, Knight uses Harry’s failed attempt to stay comfortable in his own skin to validate his argument.

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What do Harry Potter, Star, and The Wizard of Oz, all have in common? They all follow the Hero’s Journey. The Hero’s Journey is a popular method of storytelling that has been used around the world for centuries. Joseph Campbell first noticed this in 1949 and put it in his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Many famous characters throughout history have followed what he outlined, including Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, which follows what Campbell described in his book.

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When Jean Houston, visionary leader and teacher, asked Oprah this question she was referring to "the hero's journey," the concept that has been the ongoing theme in all the greatest stories and myths ever told throughout history. In particular, she was referring to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, another one of my all time favorite movies. Even as a child I felt that it was so much more than just a children's fairy-tale. I've always felt a deep spiritual message within it, which is why Dorothy's last line in the movie makes me cry - Every single time that I watch it. All the great narratives are basically the same tale.

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With the books having such a worldwide fan base it is shocking to know that many fans don 't know of the series many hidden themes. Themes of over coming difficulties, Finding ones self in the mist of all the chaos, and the most prevalent theme, the fight against good, evil and knowing about the absolute sacrifice. Most associate the Harry Potter series with magic and death, but in reality the books have many hidden christian themes. When one first reads the books it would appear that this young boy wizard and Jesus Christ could never have anything nothing to do with one another – but in actuality they have more than one could ever imagine.

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The Harry Potter series have been an interesting series for me ever since I have enrolled in Professor Fox’s class. I personally have not read any of the Harry Potter series during my childhood, but once I have enrolled in Professor Fox’s class I have recently just finished Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Throughout my readings of these two books I have had many observations on certain aspects of the story that I would not have noticed when I was younger. These three aspects that I can’t imagine as a child noticing is how the Dursleys abused Harry, the stance on gender, and prejudgement based on appearance.

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Harry is still only 12 years old and growing up, and in the end he’s a bit worried about some similar traits between him and Voldemort, the most evil wizard during this time. But at page 245 Dumbledore, the headmaster at school tells him that ”It is our choices, Harry, that shows what we truly are, fare more than our

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Harry Potter’s narrative follows Campbell’s pattern. In Harry’s case, he is living with his Muggle relatives, when letters from Hogwarts arrive to notify him that he has been accepted to the wizarding school (cf. Ahmed, 2012,

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Throughout his life, Harry has been hidden away and abused in the Muggle (human) world by his family and those around him while the wizard world that he never knew he belonged to revered him. It’s only after a decade that a small giant named Hagrid says, “Harry-yer a wizard,” (Rowling 60) and reveals Harry’s magic filled past and the heroic status he carries in the wizard world. Upon learning of his origin, Harry is forced to be reborn from being a small boy hidden away in a cupboard under the staircase to a wizard and hero known as the “Boy Who Lived”, for defeating the greatest threat his world had ever known. Despite the shock he receives after hearing the news, Harry overcomes his doubt and decides to not run away from his past but instead to embrace it. He willingly joins the world he was meant to be part of and evolves from a timid young boy into someone who defends the weak and helps others.

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Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone Life wouldn’t be the same, if people weren’t able to connect through friendship. The book Harry potter and the philosopher’s Stone written by J.K. Rowling in 1997 is about a boy who finds out he is a famous wizard, but more importantly finds a place where he belongs. The sense of belonging somewhere is important to kids and the story of a boy who starts out as loner, but ends up with a lot of friends is something that many children will find attractive to read about. This book can not just be read by children, but also by grown ups who might find the characters charming, but also will realize some of the deeper connections in the book.

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From the interview with Oprah, it is stated that J.K. Rowling’s ideas for Harry Potter first came when she suddenly thought of a wizard and a boy when she was riding a train from Manchester to London in the 1990s. But we may be wondering what caused her to think about a wizard boy. The inspiration for J. K. Rowling to make Harry Potter might be taken from the story of her life. J. K. Rowling has gone through many hardships throughout her entire life before Harry Potter was published where her life stories seems a bit similar to Harry Potter’s life which shows that her life might be an inspiration towards making Harry Potter. For example, the story when she has been married to a man named Jorge Arantes, a Portuguese television journalist on

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