The Sorcerer's Stone Sociology

Once stated by Joseph Campbell, “It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestations.” Joseph Campbell used four different functions to explain myths. The mystical function, the cosmological function, the sociological function, and the pedagogical function. In my opinion, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is best represented by Campbell’s sociological function. As described by Gary Z McGee, the sociological function is, “all about supporting and validating a certain social order (McGee).” There are a lot of example of social order that are used throughout the story, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. These examples include: Harry’s relationship with the Dursley’s, the use of the word “muggle”, and the different types of social order at Hogwarts.
When we first met Harry, he was treated like a slave by his relatives that raised it. It was very similar to the story of Cinderella. He lived in a closet, cooked and cleaned, and never got any respect from his family. The way the Dursley’s treated Harry was based off class. They thought Harry was beneath them, since he was a wizard, so they treated him that way. This resembles that sociological function because the Dursley’s wanted to validate that they were

The reader is first introduced to this word in chapter four whenever Hagrid refers to Uncle Vernon as one. It is used again on page 91 whenever Harry is able to find out that a woman is magical after he over heard her use the word. Throughout history, there have been many words and nicknames to describe people of different classes. For example, there is a British term “prole” that is an insulting word for working-class people. The use of the word muggle in this story shows that there is a social difference between the magical and nonmagical