HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER S STONE AS A CHILDREN S FICTION, MONOMYTH AND

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1 HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER S STONE AS A CHILDREN S FICTION, MONOMYTH AND Harry Potter and the Philosopher s stone is mystery, magic, a spectacular cast of characters and a splendid plot (Frasern qtd. in Eccleshare 11). Critics take Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone as a cultural, socio-political, allegorical and literary text. J.K. Rowling through her stunning first novel (Cooling qtd. in Eccleshare 9) successfully brought together analysts and critics from a diverse culture and society at a single platform to provide cultural, sociological and psycho analysis of Harry Potter book. (The Guardian qtd. in Eccleshare 8) In this literary essay, I will prove Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone as a monomyth on the patterns set by Joseph Campbell. I will discuss this book as a children s fiction by mentioning how it resembles to fairytales and detective- mystery novels. I will also comment on its allegorical nature by acknowledging its importance as a socio-political allegory and a symbolical text by highlighting certain stereotypes. The word monomyth has a Greek origin mono means one and myth means a traditional story. According to Joseph Campbell monomyth, the archetypal heroic journey is composed of three main stages: departure, initiation and return. Within these stages are several other sub-categories. An archetypal hero has to leave behind his background or beginning so that he could discover his inner capabilities. In order to depart, a hero always gets a call to adventure to start off his quest. Campbell aptly says, Whether dream or myth, in these adventures there is an atmosphere of irresistible fascination about the figure that appears suddenly as guide, marking a new period, a new stage, in the biography (46). If this is applied to Harry Potter he also got letters from Hogwarts to learn magic. To learn Witchcraft was a whole new period or stage for Harry and it was the beginning of his quest. An archetypal hero refuses the call to create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration (Campbell 49). In Harry s case the call to an adventure was refused by Uncle Vernon. He did not want Harry to learn magic so he refused him to go to Hogwarts which made the circumstances for Hagrid to interfere. All heroes, when they start their heroic journeys encounte a protective figure (often a little old

2 crone or old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about to pass (Campbell 57). For Harry, the supernatural aid was his wand that was made from a feather of the same phoenix as the wand of Voldemort. After accepting the call of adventure and getting prepared for a pursuit, the hero goes forward in his adventure until he comes to the threshold guardian at the entrance to the zone of magnified power (Campbell 64). Harry crossed the threshold when he arrived at Diagon Alley and entered the magical world that was not known to him before. Now when an archetypal journey has started, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials (Campbell 81). Harry also went through trials and tribulations in order to prove himself an archetypal hero. Harry came across a troll, a three headed dog and a mirror of wish. He also met his rival Voldemort who was possessing Quirrell s body. Every hero comes across a goddess who helps him in continuing his journey. Campbell says The ultimate adventure, when all the barriers and ogres have been overcome, is commonly represented as a mystical marriage of the triumphant hero-soul with the Queen goddess of the World at the utter most edge of the earth or within the darkness of the deepest chamber of the heart (91). In the archetypal journey of Harry Potter, Hermoine played the role of Goddess by helping him and Ron in each and every quest and trial with her brilliant knowledge. In the monomyth, a hero at some stage faces the magic of the sacraments the protective power of primitive amulets and charms are mankind s assurances that the arrow, the flames, and the flood are not as brutal as they seem One must have faith that the father is merciful, and then a reliance on that mercy (Campbell 107, 110). For Harry, The Mirror of Erised (Rowling 157) acted as an object of atonement with his father. After confronting his father, a hero reaches the divine state to which he attains who has gone beyond the last terrors of ignorance (Campbell 127).In Harry s quest, he became more steadfast after he learned how to fight with his inner desires. He became more determined to find the Philospher s Stone. After going through so many difficult phases, a hero at last receives the ultimate boon and he can access the gifts of gods. As Campbell says, The gods and goddesses then are to be understood as the embodiments and custodians of the elixir of Imperishable Being What the hero seeks [is] their grace the power of their sustaining substance Its guardians dare release it only to the duly proven. But the gods may be over severe, overcautious, in which case the hero must trick them of their treasure (155). After trials and tribulations, Harry became successful in protecting the Philosopher s Stone from Voldemort.

3 After gaining success, a hero must return with his life-transmuting trophy. The full round, the norm of the monomyth, requires that the hero shall now begin the labor of bringing the runes of wisdom back into the kingdom of community But the responsibility has been frequently refused (Campbell 167). After defeating Voldemort, Harry had to go back to Dursleys but he refused to return. A hero wins the hearts of gods and goddesses, as a result he wins the blessing of the goddess or the god and is then explicitly commissioned to return to the world with some elixir for the restoration of society, the final stage of his adventure is supported by all the powers of his supernatural patron This flight may be complicated by marvels of magical obstruction and evasion (Campbell 170). After years of despondency, Harry found happiness in Hogwarts and it was like a home for him. All attempts of Harry regarding his refusal to return to the Dursley s went in vain and he had to cross the threshold to return. The hero attains the freedom to pass back and forth across the world division not contaminating the principles of the one with those of the other, yet permitting the mind to know the one by virtue of the other is the result of the master. The Cosmic Dancer does not rest heavily in one spot, but lightly turns and leaps from one position to another (Campbell 196). Harry becomes the master of two worlds i.e. Muggle World and Wizarding World after defeating Voldemort. He proves himself as to be the boy who lived. (Rowling 13) At the end of the archetypal journey, a hero is able to live freely. He becomes the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is nor is he fearful of the next moment Thus the next moment is permitted to come to pass (Campbell 209). At the end of Harry s quest, he was able to take his decisions freely and the Dursleys were not allowed to object anymore. The Mail on Sunday claimed that Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone is the most imaginative debut since Roald Dahl (Eccleshare 10). The comment is enough to make one wonder that after discussing it as an excellent monomyth then how does this book prove itself to be children s fiction. Philip Pullman claims that the adult authors concentrate on form and style, children's books have remained true to their origins in storytelling. Arguments over whether children's books are materially different from adult books except that they are published as such and are generally shorter are hard to resolve. There do tend to be, however, clear conventions within children's books which include the need for a child protagonist and a well-defined sense of right and wrong. One of the major differences is the need for a strong, dramatic plot. Children read more readily for action than they do for mood; their need to know 'what happens next' must be satisfied ( Eccleshare 16).

4 Children are always fascinated by fairytales and simple forms of story-telling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone can be termed as a fairytale because it has fairytale aspects. The opening chapters of the book, where the Dursleys make Harry do all the chores and treat him like a slave, fits into the storyline of Cinderella where she is mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. Harry can be taken as the male version of Cinderella in those chapters. Like Cinderella, when Harry learns about where he belongs, he becomes spiritually aware and a rich person. The phenomenon of rags to riches ( Eccleshare 11) is covered both in Cinderella as well as in Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone. Rowling is neatly playing with the children s psychology by using all those techniques that can catch the attention of children. She also mentioned magic and magical creatures (Giants, Goblins, etc) because they are an essential part of fairytales. Rowling also created the other world or a (magical world), again a fairytale element. In fairytales the other world is the Faerie World in Tolkien s words. Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone also contains rhymes. Rhymes and songs are also a part of a book that belongs to child fiction s genre. And the hat began to sing: "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be (Rowling 94). Harry Potter is the child protagonist who is necessary for any child story. He is an Arthurian hero: the boy who can pull the sword from the stone and who has a role to play in shaping the future of the magical world. (Eccleshare 11). J.K. Rowling by copying the general patterns of children s fiction has structured the plot into perfect changes which the hero undergoes and proves himself to be a true protagonist. Using the detective-mystery novel techniques, Rowling sets up dramatic conflicts, trials and quests which Harry resolves in a part- human, partmagical way (Eccleshare 15) using magic and intellect as his tools. The allegorical nature of this text produced by J.K. Rowling serves to the two- fold objective of educating while also providing a high level of entertainment (Eccleshare 33). The simplicity of the storyline enables the children to think like adults, experience travail and fatigue of an illtreatment and allows them to grow up and become independent. The powerful and thoughtprovoking themes make it a socio-political allegory. The concept of social hierarchies described in Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone can be compared to the racism in our society as well. By using the words like mud blood, pure blood, half blood and blood traitor Rowling is clearly criticizing our social norms that categorize people on the basis of races, castes, color, family backgrounds etc.

5 The description of stereotypes and usage of symbolism starts from the beginning of the novel. Dudley, the son of the Dursleys is a spoiled brat. Such spoiled Brats are the stereotypical children, often found in the capitalistic society. The ill-treatment by the Dursleys of Harry shows the family differences that we also come across in our society. Hogwarts has been presented like a proper school of our society. The officialdom of schools is mirrored in the equipment list for Hogwarts with its fussy details added in brackets and the loaded notepaper with the headmaster s impressive and rather dotty list of qualifications (Eccleshare 20). The Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Dumbledore is careful about rules and regulations like a regular headmaster in the schools of our society. Moreover, the qualities like the teaching methodology, body language and personal grudges of professors (especially McGonagall and Snape) teaching at Hogwarts matches those of our professors. Different varieties of children are studying at Hogwarts. Such differences can be easily observed in the schools of our society. Some kids are brainier and bookish like Hermoine. Some are proud, snobbish, bullies and kids of aristocratic parents like Draco who was proud of being a pure blood. Some kids are not happy with what they are and they are interested in other things like Ron s Dad who was more interested in Muggle World and was called a blood traitor. Some children are naughty and pranksters like Fred and George. Some children are like Neville who are shy and clumsy. Impressed by fantasy tales, J.K. Rowling used the technique of binary opposites. The usage of binary opposites makes the reader realize about the theme. The theme of Good vs. Evil can be easily interpreted through the fact that Voldemort, the enemy of Harry, is the embodiment of evil in our society and Harry, as a protagonist is the personification of good around us. The lifestyle observed in the magical world symbolically resembles our normal world. Gringotts Bank acted like the banks we have in our society. The newspapers, publication system, educational system, political system and the social system matched with that of ours. Rowling, even laid an emphasis on the importance of a certain sport and the nation s affiliation with it. For that purpose she introduced the sport of Quidditch. The whole text written by J.K. Rowling is symbolical and allegorical in nature because she has a remarkable imagination (Cooling qtd. in Eccleshare 9). She introduced a variety of new words and terms by using the technique of neologism. She created a different language for the magical world. Her skill at neologism can been by observing the words of this spelling Wingardium Leviosa (Rowling 136). Wingardium is from the word wing and Leviosa is from the word leviate which means to lift up and as the meaning of the spelling indicates, this word was used to move and lift up the objects. J.K. Rowling has produced a phenomenal novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone by using the literary techniques that describe a monomyth, childrens fiction and an allegory. Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone has all the merits of becoming a classic. REFERENCES:

6 Contemporary Classics of Children s Literature: A Guide to Harry Potter Novels - Julia Eccleshare, 2002 edition, Cromwell Press. The Hero with a Thousand Faces Joseph Campbell, 2004 edition, Princeton University Press. https: Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone J.K. Rowling, 2004 edition, Bloomsbury Press.