The Sorcerer's Stone Compare And Contrast

The concept of home and what it means to each character can be seen as important plot points within both pieces of literature. Within J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and L.M Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables, we are able to see two characters that were initially trapped and suppressed by their settings and surroundings, who eventually come to find themselves having the ability to change their current situations. Through the settings in which these characters come to inhabit within their worlds, we are able to see a shift of perspective through the love and compassion that they receive from their new homes.

To analyze and compare the similarities between both the novels Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Anne of Green

Montgomery emphasizes this when Anne states, “But the Asylum was the worst. I’ve only been in four months, but that was enough. (…) But there is so little scope for imagination in an asylum – only just in orphans (Montgomery 15). This suggests that the Asylum much like the Dursleys house cannot be classified as being a “Home” but rather just a set of negative places that propels both the characters desire and yearning to be in environments that are accepting and nurturing. In comparison to the Sorcerer’s Stone, there is almost an equivalent situation in which Harry was to be sent to Stonewall High by the Dursley Family. The unpleasantness of the school is described slightly by Dudley who states, “They stuff people’s heads down the toilet the first day at Stonewall,” He told Harry (Rowling 32). And also the assumption that the school is dreadful by Harry statement about the uniform stating, “He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High – like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably” (Rowling 33). Both of these descriptions of the school seemingly suggest that it is a place much like the orphan asylum, which would not actively be

The housing system at Hogwarts provides the students with all aspects of living in a household through communal living. Upon arriving at Hogwarts, McGonagall even articulates this by saying, “The sorting is a very important ceremony because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts” (Rowling 114). This shows that in the little time Harry has entered Hogwarts, the concept of family and home has become associated with its setting. Another unique quality that makes Hogwarts more like a home is the class system of House points. The awarding of points to students for good deeds and the deduction of points for rule breaking is indicative of a setting which teaches morality. It can be stated that through the setting of Hogwarts, Harry is gaining both relationships and skills that he would have acquired in a home environment, therefore to Harry, Hogwarts is not just a school, but a foster home. Similarly, the character Anne also finds refuge in Green Gables, which due to Marilla’s tough personality functioned more like a house as opposed to a home. It was not until Anne arrived at Green Gables when the house, transformed into a loving home. Once she resides within the Cuthbert household, like Harry. Anne is able to find a place that offers her comfort, an eventual acceptance of her flaws, and also