A Boy and His Broom:

Harry Potter as a Modern Hero

A Paper By Aurora Sartori

Spanning across time and cultural boundaries, the hero figure is the culmination of human (or even superhuman) potential. Every society has hero figures, and though these figures may seem superficially different from one another, all are defined by certain aspects of their life’s journeys and their places in society. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell explains and analyzes the commonalities shared by almost every hero, focusing on the classical Greek hero figure. Beginning with the hero’s birth, Campbell states that "herohood is predestined, rather than simply achieved" (Campbell 319). He also delineates the paradigm of the hero’s existence as "a separation from the world, a penetration to some source of power, and a life-enhancing return" (Campbell 35). In the contemporary children’s fantasy story Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, author J.K. Rowling breathes new life into the classical hero figure, who is reincarnated as the young wizard Harry Potter. Rowling’s Harry Potter closely follows in the tracks laid by so many heroes before him, beginning with his extraordinary birth and infantile separation from his parents, his childhood exile, his answer to the call of adventure, his descent into the abyss, and finally, Potter’s triumphant return.

A hero is set apart from birth, fated to be greater and more notable than his peers. Harry Potter demonstrates his ‘chosen’ status when he is only a baby, by defeating Lord Voldemort, a powerful evil sorcerer. Lord Voldemort, who is enjoying a reign of terror that even the most accomplished wizard can not stop, attempts to kill Harry Potter as a baby because of a prophecy stating that Potter will one day kill the evil Lord. The presence of a prophecy in Potter’s tale already links him to the vast majority of heroes past. A sign of predestiny, the prophecy can be seen in tales of heroes as diverse as Moses and Luke Skywalker, from Star Wars.

The extraordinary circumstances surrounding Harry Potter’s birth include not only a prophecy, but also the death of his parents and the materialization of a magical protection over the infant. In Voldemort’s pursuit to destroy Potter, he murders Harry Potter’s father; Potter’s mother dies when she throws herself between Voldemort and her infant son. Unexpectedly, her loving sacrifice transfers a powerful and eternal protection to Potter, which Voldemort cannot not withstand because of his inherently evil nature. Voldemort is thus reduced to a ghostly shadow of his former self and Potter is heralded as a savior. The fact that his mother’s love is something of an invisible shield that always resides within him solidifies and clarifies Harry Potter’s position as a fighter for all things good and against all evil. The event also endows Potter with a life-long connection to and strength against Lord Voldemort (who eventually regains his strength) and destines Potter to be brave, loyal, and triumphant against the evil sorcerer. Harry Potter then, is not the traditional mythic hero who is descended from the gods. He is undoubtedly human and yet from the beginning, Potter is designated as supremely good and is even physically distinguished by a special scar on his forehead. As Maria Nikolajeva says in her essay Harry Potter: A Return to the Romantic Hero, "His intrinsic goodness is his most momentous weapon" (Nikolajeva 128).

Once it is clear that he is destined for greatness, the hero must undergo a difficult childhood (Campbell 321-334), during which his status as a hero is either forgotten, unknown, or ignored. Albus Dumbledore, leader of the wizarding community, decides that Harry Potter should be raised by his non-magical relatives (the Dursley’s) to protect Potter from those loyal to Voldemort. Harry Potter’s dismal childhood with Vernon and Petunia Dursley and their spoiled, bullying son Dudley is what Campbell describes as an "infant exile," a "long period of obscurity" similarly experienced by heroes like Abraham, Chandragupta, Pope Gregory the Great, and Charlemagne (Campbell 322-327). During his time with the Dursleys, Potter has no knowledge of wizards, his own powers, or of the legacy of his birth. In the Dursley home, he is the unwanted adopted child who lives in a dark cupboard under the stairs. Harry Potter’s abusive childhood, however, only serves to prove his strength and worthiness as a hero. Only a child gifted from within could exist for ten years in a repressive, close-minded environment like the Dursley home and still grow up to be intelligent, kind, ethical, and extremely courageous.

Thus, full of innate virtue, Harry Potter escapes the Dursleys by answering one of several ‘calls’ to adventure. As Campbell describes, "this first stage of the mythological journey-which we have designated the "call to adventure"-signifies that destiny has summoned the hero" (Campbell 58) and for Potter, the call takes the form of an opportunity to go to wizarding school. On his eleventh birthday, significantly on the brink of adolescence, Potter receives an invitation to attend the wizarding school Hogwarts. Future-mentor and half-giant Hagrid personally transmits the letter of invitation. At this moment, Potter’s true identity as a famous wizard is revealed to him and he realizes the existence of a magical world beyond the dull Dursley’s. During this stage, Potter leaves behind the dreary world of ‘muggles’ (non-wizards) and enters into the fantastical world of wizardry. He physically enters a new place and simultaneously begins a new period of his life, filled with learning magic, making friends, and embarking on fantastic adventures.

During the departure from his homeland and the crossing of the first threshold (Potter’s entrance into the wizarding world and Hogwarts), the hero is "covertly aided by the advice, amulets, and secret agents of the supernatural helper whom he met before his entrance..." (Campbell 97). In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, this supernatural helper would be Hagrid, who physically took Potter to Diagon Alley, a place where the wizard world intersects with the world of ‘muggles’. In addition to accompanying Potter on his journey through the wizarding world, Hagrid aids Potter by getting him his school supplies, telling him about his mother and father, and buying him an owl (which allows Potter to send and receive messages through the wizarding mail system). Hagrid also ferries Potter and his fellow first-year students across a deep river to get to Hogwarts, an image which corresponds to the Greek heroes crossing the River Styx in descending into the underworld. The passage is described in Harry Potter: "And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead....They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor..." (Rowling 112). As Campbell states in his book, beyond the first threshold is "darkness, the unknown, and danger." (Campbell 77). Indeed, Potter is entering a fascinating but treacherous world where he encounters numerous threats, such as a giant troll, powerful curses, and of course, his arch nemesis, Lord Voldemort.

Harry Potter’s departure from the Dursley’s, however, differs from the traditional departure of the mythological hero. Campbell describes the hero’s departure as leaving the "parental watch" and the "protection of his society" (Campbell 77), yet in leaving the Dursley’s, Potter becomes an integral part of a society, receives more care than he ever did with Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and even gains loving parental figures like Albus Dumbledore and Mrs.Weasley. In Deborah De Rosa’s essay Wizardly Challenges to and Affirmations of the Initiation Paradigm in ‘Harry Potter’, she states "...Rowling inverts the traditional paradigm as she introduces Harry to the domestic safety and childhood nurture that life with the Dursley’s precluded" (De Rosa 165). At Hogwarts, Harry does live under the supervision and care of his professors, yet he still exercises a large degree of independence and it is at the school that he faces his most dangerous trials. In the climactic end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Potter finally encounters Lord Voldemort when he descends through a trapdoor and into the dungeons of the school. In the dark depths of Hogwarts, Harry passes through numerous dangerous tests and comes very close to death several times. The main upper levels of Hogwarts, where Harry lives and goes to class, can then be seen as an intermediary between the predictable, boring muggle world of the Dursley’s and the extremely perilous underworld of the school, from which Harry’s safe return is not guaranteed. In this intermediate ground, Harry becomes part of a wizarding society that teaches him the knowledge and skills necessary to defeat Voldemort. In contemporary society, school serves as the primary form of instruction and initiation of children and adolescents. It is the intermediate step between the safety of the home and the independence of the adult world. Since Harry Potter is a modern-day children’s fantasy hero, it makes sense that the main levels of Hogwarts would be the location of Harry’s initiation and would serve as a training ground to prepare him for future adventures.

After passing the first threshold and entering into Hogwarts, Harry Potter and his fellow first-year students are initiated into the body of wizard-students in an official ceremony. The ‘Sorting’ ceremony is a formalized placement into wizarding society. The first-year students put on a magical hat, which instantly analyzes the students’ brain, and shouts out the name of one of four school ‘houses’ that fits that particular student’s personality and values. The most important houses are Gryffindor, known for its honorable and brave occupants, and Slytherin, known to house cunning, ambitious, power-hungry, and mean students. After all, Lord Voldemort was from the Slytherin house. These two dueling houses can be simplified as good versus evil. Potter’s experience with the sorting hat is interesting because the hat vacillates between placing Potter in Gryffindor or in Slytherin; Potter is at a crossroads, looking into a mirror at an alternate self. While trying to place him, the Hat says to Potter, "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There’s talent, oh my goodness, yes- and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that’s interesting. . . . So where shall I put you?" (Rowling 121). As Campbell says in his chapter on Initiation, "the hero discovers and assimilates his opposite (his own unsuspecting self)" (Campbell 108). Harry Potter’s ultimate goodness makes him beg the hat to be placed in Gryffindor, and the selfish, ambitious Harry, who existed for a mere moment in time, disappears forever.

One of the first aspects of the hero’s initiation that Campbell describes is the ‘Road of Trials’ (Campbell 97-109). Harry’s trials center around the sorcerer’s stone, a stone which transmits to its owner eternal life and which is hidden under various protective charms in the depths of the Hogwarts castle. For obvious reasons, the incapacitated Lord Voldemort, who lives a parasitic life hidden away behind Professor Quirrell’s head wrap, needs this stone and employs various tactics in his attempts to obtain it. During one episode, Quirrell and Voldemort let a giant troll into the castle to distract everyone, and Potter, who sees the troll heading for his friend Hermione, bravely goes in with his friend Ron to save her. They of course come out victorious.

The trial that corresponds most closely the Campbell’s paradigm is Potter’s descent, with Ron and Hermione, through the trap door to keep Voldemort from stealing the sorcerer’s stone. As Campbell states, the hero "undertakes. . .the perilous journey into the darkness by descending.. ..he soon finds himself in a landscape of symbolic figures" (Campbell 101). Before they can even get to the trapdoor, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have to get past a three-headed dog, yet another scene reminiscent of Greek mythology (Aeneas getting past Cerberus on his way through the underworld.) Once past the dog, the three students fall through the door and have to pass through the charms that were set up to deter a thief from getting to the sorcerer’s stone. Each student lends their abilities toward getting past the charms, but in the end, only Harry is left to actually confront Voldemort.

The battle between Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter is significant and symbolic because the two characters are so clearly polar opposites. Harry, who embodies the ultimate good, is fighting Voldemort, who is evil incarnate, over a stone which represents power over life. The timeless battle of good versus evil is represented in an obvious fashion primarily because Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a book for children, who are more likely to enjoy a story in which characters can easily be categorized as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Harry always "takes the right side in the struggle between good and evil, leaving no doubt to the readers as to where their sympathies should be" (Nikolajeva 135). Indeed, as Dumbledore explains later in the book, Harry magically ends up with the stone in his pocket because "only one who wanted to find the stone-find it, but not use it- would be able to get it" (Rowling 300). Once again, Harry’s selfless and courageous nature enables him to win the "ultimate boon" (Campbell 172).

Once Harry Potter has the sorcerer’s stone, he blacks out and is "rescued from without" by Dumbledore (Rowling 295-297), the all-powerful, all-knowing father-figure. The father’s role, as Campbell states is "the initiating priest through whom the young priest passes on into the larger world" (Campbell 136). Dumbledore’s role as the ‘initiating priest’ is evident at the end of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when Potter says of Dumbledore, "I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he taught us just enough to help." (Rowling 302).

Because Harry Potter is a child-hero, women do not play the role of the goddess or temptress, and there is no "mystical marriage" to complete the tale, as in many mythological hero tales (Campbell 109). In fact, besides Harry’s female companion Hermione, all the women in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s stone have either mother-son or professor-student relationships with Potter. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone fulfills the clean, modern ideas of what a children’s novel should be, and these ideas do not include themes of an adolescent reaching sexual maturity.

Harry Potter serves as a role model for its readers, who are able to relate to Potter in many ways. Harry Potter’s struggles in school, his relationships with his friends, and his less-than-perfect home life away from Hogwarts all contribute to Harry’s ‘everyman’ status. Even those not blessed with talents in magic can relate to a student who gets stressed about school and frustrated with school rules. Despite aspects of Harry Potter’s normalcy, he is undoubtedly outstanding in many ways. The traits that separate Harry from his peers are characteristics which reveal our current society’s ideals, especially concerning what is expected of children and adolescents. Harry Potter is not physically strong or violent. Instead he is loyal, caring, brave, selfless, kind, good at sports, and humble. After all, Harry’s motive for getting the sorcerer’s stone is to save the world from the evil Lord Voldemort’s return to power.

In addition to the traits idealized in his persona, the context of a hero like Harry Potter reveals his status as a modern-day figure. Heroes of the past were connected to gods or to the histories of civilizations. Though he follows many of the stages outlined by the great heroes of the past, a modern hero like Harry Potter exists in a purely fictional realm, and is an individual to be admired and entertained by, not carrier of great wisdom (like Buddha) or a supposed herald of salvation (like Christ). Harry Potter is not a hero who resides in our cultural history or religious beliefs; rather he resides in our imaginations as a child who escaped the ordinary, embarked on a fantastical adventure, and followed his destiny.

In creating the child-hero Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling obviously uses many of the ancient hero archetypes found in mythology. These archetypes make the story almost universally appealing because they are idealized versions of the cycles that every person undergoes in his or her life- from a childhood of learning and adjustment, to the changes that come with adolescence, continuing with the departure from one’s parents and the reintegration into adult society. Readers are able to relate to Harry Potter because of his implicitly human journey and imperfections (such as his academic mediocrity) but are still able to look up to him because of his extraordinary situation, bravery, and magical powers.

Works Cited

Campbell, Joeseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: University of Princeton Press. 1949.

De Rosa, Deborah. Wizardly Challenges to and Affirmations of the Initiation Paradigm in ‘Harry Potter’.Harry Potter’s World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Heilman, Elizabeth E. New York: Taylor & Francis Books, Inc., 2003. 163-187.

Nikolajeva, Maria. Harry Potter- A Return to the Romantic Hero. Harry Potter’s World: Multidisciplinary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Heilman, Elizabeth E. New York: Taylor & Francis Books, Inc., 2003. 125-140.

Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. New York: Scholastic Press. 1997.