Harry Potter And The Hero’s Journey

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Harry Potter and the Hero’s Journey

The Hero’s journey pertains to literature because it explains the all the stages of the literature such as departure, initiation and the return. The Hero's Journey is a special genre of a story about a person who firmly holds on to his goal and overcomes various life obstacles. The original intention of the writer cannot be determined for sure, JK Rowling had the ability to be perfectly tuned - consciously or unconsciously - with the heroic archetype and with transcendent ideas that were utility to build a fantastic world. Thoroughly analyzed, his works are an excellent example of the translation of the old scheme of the hero's journey to a youthful and magical environment. And there lies the value of Harry Potter. The Hero’s journey is portrayed through J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter in the protagonist, Harry when he departs from the normal world, joins Hogwarts, and latter departs again.

The protagonist of the series, an orphan Harry Potter, on whose forehead there is an unusual scar in the form of a lightning, on the tenth birthday will find out that he is a magician. He is sent to study at the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry Hogwarts. There he finds true friends, and also learns the truth about the death of his parents. He comes to grips with the evil wizard Volan de Mort and, after going through a series of difficult tests, triumphs over him (Berndt, Katrin, and Lena Steveker, eds)

The first stage is initiation. In the particular journey of our hero, Harry Potter crossing the walls of Hogwarts, the particular enchanted castle of mythology adapted to the new times, where he will have to overcome several tests and battles, in turn with numerous companions, mentors and enemies, way our hero learns the rules of the special world. This phase is known as 'The Way of the Tests', which corresponds to the classic training scene, where the hero meets the unknown world and where he must pass a series of tests that will help him increase his level of consciousness. In each part of the saga, Harry must overcome numerous tests, but it is the first installment that best reflects the large number of stages by which he must emerge victorious: his encounter with the Troll in the toilets to save Hermione; the Quidditch match in which he wins; his confrontation with the three-headed dog, which guards the entrance to get the philosopher's stone; the episode of the roots that imprison him and Ron and Hermione; that other one in which he must find the flying key that opens the door; the fateful game of chess in which Ron sacrifices himself; all these stages to finally reach the meeting with Voldemort.

Harry Potter lives a gray and frustrating existence with his uncles, the Dursleys, immersed in a place that is alien to him, the profane world ("muggle") where magic is forbidden and condemned. In this beginning, the hero completely ignores his purpose, ignores his potentialities and his inheritance. Harry does not belong to the Muggle world, but due to circumstances of destiny his adventure must begin in that place, occupying a gloomy little room under the cupboard, where he lives with dust and spiders. According to the story, Harry "had lived with the Dursleys for almost ten years, ten unhappy years, as far as he could remember, since he was a small child and his parents had died in a car accident. He could not remember having been in the car when his parents died. (...) His uncles never talked about them and, of course, he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no pictures of them in the house either.

The second stage: is The call (increased awareness). In that castrating and mundane reality, the hero receives a call to adventure, an indication that his destiny is not in the plane of the Muggles. The separation between good and evil is very clear in the world of JK Rowling, the light will be the one who helps Harry while the darkness will be the ones who oppose him. Harry found in Hermione and Ron his most faithful helpers and friends, who despite the continuous frictions (usually out of jealousy) will always be there to help him overcome all his tests. Harry also has a cast of teachers, the teachers, who will teach him all his skills. But if there is a teacher who stands out above all is, without a doubt, Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful magician, in which mythological influences can be clearly seen

The third stage is rejection of the call (resistance to transformation). Although the call is always obvious, the heroes often question their skills and fear leaving the comfort zone quiet, although frustrating does not require too many sacrifices or commitments. In the same way, Harry Potter doubts his magical abilities, and when the giant Hagrid appears before him to invite him to the Hogwarts school, this doubt becomes denial: Hagrid looked at Harry with affection and respect, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, was almost certain there was a terrible mistake (Robbins, Ruth Anne). A magician? The? How was it possible? He had been under Dudley's blows all his life and his fear of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. If he really was a magician, why had not he turned them into warty toad’s every time they locked him in the cupboard? If he ever defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how could Dudley always kick him like a ball? "Hagrid," he said calmly, "I think he's wrong. I do not think I can be a magician. "

The fourth Stage is meeting with the mentor (supernatural help). In the story of Potter, Hagrid acts as the herald and also as the supernatural help that the teenager needs to enter the magical world. This being so, and although Harry will later know his true master (Dumbledore), in this first book we can identify Hagrid as the mentor, the guide of the young magician in Diagon Alley, accompanying him in the purchase of his magic tool that will accompany him all the way: his wand, "an unusual combination, holly and phoenix feather, twenty-eight centimeters, pretty and flexible (Granger, John)."

The Fifth stage is crossing the threshold. Many times, to return home, the hero must die and be resurrected: there have been many confrontations that have left Harry badly injured, like his encounter with the Dementors, and he has had to recover in the infirmary, a place where our hero is born again but after each adventure, the hero must return to his home, he must return to his ordinary world, in our case Harry must return to England to spend the summer at the Dursleys' house, the only relatives he has left. With this we finalize our analysis of Harry Potter with the myth of the Journey of the hero. Throughout these posts you will have been able to verify that, structurally, Harry is not very different from other heroes who first stepped on literature and popular culture. However, the little magician has something magical (forgive the redundancy).

After being introduced to the magical world by Hagrid in Diagon Alley, Harry must start his odyssey, that is to say "take the step" that takes him from the Profane-Muggle world to the magical world, from number 4 from Privet Drive to Hogwarts. This crossing of the threshold occurs at the King Cross train station, on platforms 9 and 3/4. "He pushed his cart and headed towards the barrier. It seemed very solid. He started walking. The people around him went to platform nine or ten. It was faster. It was going to hit the box office and it would have problems. He leaned over the cart and began to run (the barrier was getting closer and closer). He could not stop (the cart was out of control), he was already there . He closed his eyes, prepared for the shock (Black, Sharon).

To conclude, Undoubtedly, Harry Potter has achieved on his own merits rise to the same level as many of the ancient mythological heroes. What's more, more than one would want a magic wand made with a phoenix feather like the one Harry has to pass his tests. Followed by millions of readers and a few million viewers, the future of the hero is in the hands of its author JK Rowling, who still doubts (pela is the peel) whether to continue the saga or not. Time will tell whether future generations will keep this great character in the cultural tradition, in someone who has overcome the barrier of time and age, someone who will accompany young people on their journeys through life, either through their books. The story of Harry Potter does not end here and six more stories will have to pass before the magician-hero finally reaches Mastery, thus becoming "Master of two worlds". As we see, if we leave aside the economic phenomenon of Harry Potter, we can find in him a clear manifestation of the pilgrim hero, the noble traveler who transits and fights against the dark forces to reach the center, thus becoming a warrior of light.

Works Cited

Berndt, Katrin, and Lena Steveker, eds. Heroism in the Harry Potter Series. Routledge, 2016.

Black, Sharon. "The magic of Harry Potter: Symbols and heroes of fantasy." Children's literature in education 34.3 (2003): 237-247.

Granger, John. Unlocking Harry Potter: Five keys for the serious reader. Cheshire, CT: Zossima Press, 2007.

Robbins, Ruth Anne. "Harry Potter, Ruby Slippers and Merlin: Telling the Client's Story Using the Characters and Paradigm of the Archetypal Hero's Journey." Seattle UL Rev. 29 (2005): 767.