CHAPTER 5: HARRY POTTER, THE “HERO JOURNEY” AND OUR YOUTH
“Search for the hero inside yourself. Until you find the key to your life”
(M People, 1995)
“Heroes summarize individual and collective desires, and support the idea of the eternal
personal achievement which is therefore, the guide for the greatest advances of human race”
(Michelle Roche, 2003, pp. 24-25).
Introduction
Previous mention has been made of the relationship of the Harry Potter series to the
hero journey or monomyth. Many critics have commented on this relationship in their
opinions of the books (Applebaum, 2003, Nikolajeva, 2003, Alton, 2003, Schafer, 2000, et
al.). The connection between the Harry Potter series and the hero journey is an important one
because it helps us to understand one of the reasons that the books have been so successful in
engaging with our youth and how our youth can learn from the books.
What is the “Hero Journey”?
The monomyth or hero journey is a term used by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his
famous book, The hero with a thousand faces (1949/1993). This book built on the work of
German anthropologist Adolp Bastian (1826-1905) (Campbell, 1993, p. 18), who had
proposed the idea that myths from various parts of the world contained elementary ideas that
derive from the human psyche (Brennan, 1999, Booker, 2004). Campbell was also influenced by Arnold van Gennep’s (1909/1961) work on rites of passage (Campbell, 1993, p. 10).
Renowned Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, called these elementary ideas, “archetypes” which
he saw as the inherited, unconscious ideas and images that are the components of the
collective unconscious (Doty, 1986, pp. 148-158). Jung felt that while we could not see the
archetype we could see how the force had shown itself (Doty, p. 151). Jung claimed that we
needed mythical stories to help us:
make sense of the confusion of our society and our psyches. Myths voice the truths of
our unconscious selves, . . . the gods, goddesses, and heroes of myth embody aspects of
creativity, cleverness, grief, joy, aggression, and ecstasy. The monsters of myth are
really monsters of the mind (Mythology: Myths, legends. and fantasies, pp.12-13).
Campbell’s work took Jung’s theory of “archetypes” and looked for the common
underlying structure in the world’s myths and religions (Campbell, 1993, p. 18). He called
this common story pattern a “monomyth” (a term taken from James Joyce’s work Finnegan’s
Wake, 1939/1992, p. 581), yet it is now usually referred to as a hero journey. This story
pattern refers to the standard adventure path of mythological heroes, which Campbell divides
into three parts: departure (or separation), initiation and return. He saw these stages as a
magnification of the traditional rites of passage, which are separation, initiation and return:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of
supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory
is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to
bestow boons on his fellow man. (Campbell, 1993, p. 30)
In his research Campbell found that heroic adventure myths had similar stages even
though they came from all over the world. Even though others had noticed these story patterns too (Segal, 1999, pp. 117-118) Campbell published a more thorough analysis of
these patterns than had previously been produced. He divided each of the three parts of the
heroic adventure myths into a number of stages. They are:
Departure:
1) The call to adventure
2) Refusal of the call
3) Supernatural Aid
4) The crossing of the first threshold
5) The belly of the whale.
Initiation:
1) The road of trials,
2) The meeting with the Goddess
3) Woman as the temptress
4) Atonement with the father
5) Apotheosis
6) The ultimate boon.
Return:
1) Refusal of the return
2) The magic flight
3) Rescue from without
4) The crossing of the return threshold
5) Master of the two worlds
6) Freedom to live (Campbell, 1993, pp. 49-243).
Campbell did not state that each monomyth followed these stages exactly but he did
argue that there is little variation from this adventure path in most hero journey myths
(Campbell, 1993, p. 38).
Other critics have also analysed the stages of the hero journey (Brennan, 1999),
including David Leeming (1973), Michael Vogler (1992/1999) and Booker (2004). Leeming
settled on an eight-stage hero’s journey while Vogler settled on twelve-stages. The stages
outlined by these critics are very similar to those outlined by Campbell with Vogler
specifically basing his stages on Campbell’s work (Vogler, 1999, pp. 9-12). Vogler’s stages
are:
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir (1999, p. 12).
The hero journey occurs in some of the great stories of our world including that of
Moses, Jesus and Gautama Buddha (Campbell, 1993, pp. 30-40). A key structural stage of
any hero journey is when the hero has to face a number of trials. These can involve a hero undertaking trips to the underworld, labyrinths, caves, over seas, through the sky as well as
encounters with dragons (beasts) and confrontations with their opposite (Campbell, 1993, pp.
97-109).
While the Harry Potter series does draw strongly from the hero journey or monomyth
plot structure it is important to understand that it also draws from other plot structures as
well. Booker, also using a Jungian perspective, makes mention of seven basic story plots that
are found in stories (2004). These plots are labelled as: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to
Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy and Rebirth (pp. 21-213). While
the Harry Potter series draws mainly from “The Quest” plot, the series also draws from other
plots Booker cites, including “Voyage and Return”, “Rags to Riches” and “Overcoming the
Monster” (Booker, p. 319). This is not uncommon because, as Booker states, many stories
also draw from a number of these plots:
There are extensive areas of overlap between one type of plot and another. Indeed,
there are many stories which are shaped by more than on ‘basic plot’ at a time (there
are even a small number, including The Lord of the Rings, which include all seven of
the plots (pp. 5-6).
“Search for the hero inside yourself. Until you find the key to your life”
(M People, 1995)
“Heroes summarize individual and collective desires, and support the idea of the eternal
personal achievement which is therefore, the guide for the greatest advances of human race”
(Michelle Roche, 2003, pp. 24-25).
Introduction
Previous mention has been made of the relationship of the Harry Potter series to the
hero journey or monomyth. Many critics have commented on this relationship in their
opinions of the books (Applebaum, 2003, Nikolajeva, 2003, Alton, 2003, Schafer, 2000, et
al.). The connection between the Harry Potter series and the hero journey is an important one
because it helps us to understand one of the reasons that the books have been so successful in
engaging with our youth and how our youth can learn from the books.
What is the “Hero Journey”?
The monomyth or hero journey is a term used by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his
famous book, The hero with a thousand faces (1949/1993). This book built on the work of
German anthropologist Adolp Bastian (1826-1905) (Campbell, 1993, p. 18), who had
proposed the idea that myths from various parts of the world contained elementary ideas that
derive from the human psyche (Brennan, 1999, Booker, 2004). Campbell was also influenced by Arnold van Gennep’s (1909/1961) work on rites of passage (Campbell, 1993, p. 10).
Renowned Swiss psychologist, Carl Jung, called these elementary ideas, “archetypes” which
he saw as the inherited, unconscious ideas and images that are the components of the
collective unconscious (Doty, 1986, pp. 148-158). Jung felt that while we could not see the
archetype we could see how the force had shown itself (Doty, p. 151). Jung claimed that we
needed mythical stories to help us:
make sense of the confusion of our society and our psyches. Myths voice the truths of
our unconscious selves, . . . the gods, goddesses, and heroes of myth embody aspects of
creativity, cleverness, grief, joy, aggression, and ecstasy. The monsters of myth are
really monsters of the mind (Mythology: Myths, legends. and fantasies, pp.12-13).
Campbell’s work took Jung’s theory of “archetypes” and looked for the common
underlying structure in the world’s myths and religions (Campbell, 1993, p. 18). He called
this common story pattern a “monomyth” (a term taken from James Joyce’s work Finnegan’s
Wake, 1939/1992, p. 581), yet it is now usually referred to as a hero journey. This story
pattern refers to the standard adventure path of mythological heroes, which Campbell divides
into three parts: departure (or separation), initiation and return. He saw these stages as a
magnification of the traditional rites of passage, which are separation, initiation and return:
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of
supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory
is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to
bestow boons on his fellow man. (Campbell, 1993, p. 30)
In his research Campbell found that heroic adventure myths had similar stages even
though they came from all over the world. Even though others had noticed these story patterns too (Segal, 1999, pp. 117-118) Campbell published a more thorough analysis of
these patterns than had previously been produced. He divided each of the three parts of the
heroic adventure myths into a number of stages. They are:
Departure:
1) The call to adventure
2) Refusal of the call
3) Supernatural Aid
4) The crossing of the first threshold
5) The belly of the whale.
Initiation:
1) The road of trials,
2) The meeting with the Goddess
3) Woman as the temptress
4) Atonement with the father
5) Apotheosis
6) The ultimate boon.
Return:
1) Refusal of the return
2) The magic flight
3) Rescue from without
4) The crossing of the return threshold
5) Master of the two worlds
6) Freedom to live (Campbell, 1993, pp. 49-243).
Campbell did not state that each monomyth followed these stages exactly but he did
argue that there is little variation from this adventure path in most hero journey myths
(Campbell, 1993, p. 38).
Other critics have also analysed the stages of the hero journey (Brennan, 1999),
including David Leeming (1973), Michael Vogler (1992/1999) and Booker (2004). Leeming
settled on an eight-stage hero’s journey while Vogler settled on twelve-stages. The stages
outlined by these critics are very similar to those outlined by Campbell with Vogler
specifically basing his stages on Campbell’s work (Vogler, 1999, pp. 9-12). Vogler’s stages
are:
1. Ordinary World
2. Call to Adventure
3. Refusal of the Call
4. Meeting with the Mentor
5. Crossing the First Threshold
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
7. Approach to the Inmost Cave
8. Ordeal
9. Reward (Seizing the Sword)
10. The Road Back
11. Resurrection
12. Return with the Elixir (1999, p. 12).
The hero journey occurs in some of the great stories of our world including that of
Moses, Jesus and Gautama Buddha (Campbell, 1993, pp. 30-40). A key structural stage of
any hero journey is when the hero has to face a number of trials. These can involve a hero undertaking trips to the underworld, labyrinths, caves, over seas, through the sky as well as
encounters with dragons (beasts) and confrontations with their opposite (Campbell, 1993, pp.
97-109).
While the Harry Potter series does draw strongly from the hero journey or monomyth
plot structure it is important to understand that it also draws from other plot structures as
well. Booker, also using a Jungian perspective, makes mention of seven basic story plots that
are found in stories (2004). These plots are labelled as: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to
Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy and Rebirth (pp. 21-213). While
the Harry Potter series draws mainly from “The Quest” plot, the series also draws from other
plots Booker cites, including “Voyage and Return”, “Rags to Riches” and “Overcoming the
Monster” (Booker, p. 319). This is not uncommon because, as Booker states, many stories
also draw from a number of these plots:
There are extensive areas of overlap between one type of plot and another. Indeed,
there are many stories which are shaped by more than on ‘basic plot’ at a time (there
are even a small number, including The Lord of the Rings, which include all seven of
the plots (pp. 5-6).
No comments:
Post a Comment